Dickens on the difficulty of saying goodbye

Why is it that we can better bear to part in spirit than in body, and while we have the fortitude to act farewell have not the nerve to say it?
On the eve of long voyages or an absence of many years, friends who are tenderly attached will separate with the usual look, the usual pressure of the hand, planning one final interview for the morrow, while each well knows that it is but a poor feint to save the pain of uttering that one word, and that the meeting will never be.Should possibilities be worse to bear than certainties? We do not shun our dying friends; the not having distinctly taken leave of one among them, whom we left in kindness and affection, will often embitter the whole remainder of a life.