“Although I am powerless to acquire anything for myself or to save even the slightest bit from misfortunes, I am endowed (and certainly this is my only gift) with the power to often ensure the happiness of others, to relieve them from pain. I have reconciled not only enemies but also lovers, I have healed the disabled, although I am capable only of worsening my own illness, I have made the idle work, even though I myself remain sluggish...” Marcel Proust.

[Excerpt from the text on the back cover of the edition]