it's better to have love and lost...

An excerpt from Waiting By: Ha Jin.
"In other words, emotionally he hadn't grown up. His instinct and ability to love passionately had withered away before they had had an opportunity to blossom. If only he had fallen in love soulfully just once in his life, even though it might have broken his heart, paralyzed his mind, made him live in a daze, bathed his face in tears, and drowned him in dispair! ... What else could he do other than to endure?"