Things were not the same and now life only came in flashes. He had flashes of the old greatness with his bulls, but they were not of value because he discounted them in advance when he picked the bulls out for their safety … and when he felt the greatness again coming, just a little of it through the pain that was always with him, it had been discounted and sold in advance, and it did not give him a good feeling. It was the greatness, but it did not make bull-fighting wonderful to him any more.
The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway