As in literature, so in life

Rico says it's always odd to see one's own life described in a book you're reading; in this case, a passage from The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas:

"While d'Artagnan was not a millionaire, he hoped to become one someday, but the time which, in his mind, he fixed upon for this happy change was still far distant. In the meanwhile, how disheartening to see the woman he loved longing for those thousands of things which contribute to a woman's happiness, and be unable to give her those thousands of things."

Even given the hyperbole (not thousands, surely), it's still disheartening...