Hovstad.
[Shouting amid the tumult.] The man who would ruin a whole community must be an enemy to his fellow citizens!
Dr. Stockmann.
[With growing excitement.] What does it matter if a lying community is ruined! Let it be levelled to the ground, say I! All men who live upon a lie ought to be exterminated like vermin! You’ll end by poisoning the whole country; you’ll bring it to such a pass that the whole country will deserve to perish. And if ever it comes to that, I shall say, from the bottom of my heart: Perish the country! Perish all its people!
A Man.
[In the crowd.] Why, he talks like a regular enemy of the people!
Billing.
Strike me dead but there spoke the people’s voice!
The Whole Assembly.
[Shouting.] Yes! yes! yes! He’s an enemy of the people! He hates his country! He hates the whole people!