‘And I declare,’ squealed Stepan Trofimovich, throwing all caution to the winds, ‘and I declare that Shakespeare and Raphael are of higher value than the emancipation of the peasants, of higher value than the national principle, of higher value than socialism,17 of higher value than the younger generation, of higher value than chemistry, of higher value than almost all mankind, for they are already the fruit, the real fruit of mankind, and perhaps the most precious fruit there can possibly be!
Im. Hand over my open mouth type of shock rn. I mean I agree with him, but he is so cooked. Good for him though; he had the courage to denounce this 'changing of goals'.
