When a man cannot find meaning, he numbs himself with pleasure.
Winning intoxicates you, and numbs you to the sufferings of others.
Ingratitude is the frost that nips the flower even as it opens, that shrivels the generous apple on the branch, that freezes the fountain in mid-flow and numbs the hand, even in the very act of giving. It is a sin of silence, absence and omission, as winter's sin is a lack of light; a sin against charity, which otherwise warms the heart and, in the truest sense, makes the world turn.
A cigar numbs sorrow and fills the solitary hours with a million gracious images.
When mothers talk about the depression of the empty nest, they're not mourning the passing of all those wet towels on the floor, or the music that numbs your teeth, or even the bottle of capless shampoo dribbling down the shower drain. They're upset because they've gone from supervisor of a child's life to a spectator. It's like being the vice president of the United States.
Money numbs your senses. People who touched paper money and then placed their hands in hot burning water didn't feel as much pain as those who hadn't touched money.
