He was one of that countless and multifarious legion of nondescripts, putrescent abortions, and uninformed obstinate fools who instantly and infallibly attach themselves to the most fashionable current idea, with the immediate effect of vulgarizing it and of turning into a ridiculous caricature any cause they serve, however sincerely.

Feodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment, Part V, Chapter 1


Note: this is a really good thing to quote when someone starts talking about some dumb-assed thing like "Multi-culturalism" or "Emotional Intelligence" or "Hate Crimes" or "Adaptive Architectures" or "Re-engineering" or "Tough Love" or "Co-dependency" or whatever. Just say, "Dostoevsky speaks of the nondescripts, putrescent abortions, and uninformed obstinate fools who instantly and infallibly attach themselves to the most fashionable current idea, vulgarizing it and..." See what happens! Let me know!


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