The worst of it was that he sincerely believed the gibberish he was talking. Due to an inferiority complex, he had encased himself in an armor of the cheapest nationalism, through which not a ray of common sense could penetrate. And he, François, had to listen to all this rubbish with attention and courtesy. What terrible days these were. Once more Goethe was right: “There is nothing the rabble fears more than intelligence. If they understood what is truly terrifying, they would fear ignorance.”
