[...] Lucien never returned home till morning, and rose in the middle of the day; Coralie was always at his side, he could not forego a single pleasure. Sometimes he saw his real position, and made good resolutions, but they came to nothing in his idle, easy life; and the mainspring of will grew slack, and only responded to the heaviest pressure of necessity.
"So little by little his character was undermined by idleness that rendered him day by day more indifferent to the good resolutions he made in those moments when he saw his position in its true light. His will became slack and no longer responded even to the strong pressure of necessity."