"But set thy joints! to that end thou art a human being, a man; thou hast no need to borrow energy! But, at any rate, is it possible, is it permissible, to erect a private fact, so to speak, into a general law, into an immutable law?"
"Where is the rule?"—interrupted Lavrétzky,—"I do not admit...."
"Yes, it is thy rule, thy rule," Mikhalévitch interrupted him in his turn....
"Thou art an egoist, that's what thou art!"—he thundered, an hour later:—"thou hast desired thine own personal enjoyment, thou hast desired happiness in life, thou hast desired to live for thyself alone...."
"What dost thou mean by personal enjoyment?"
"And everything has deceived thee; everything has crumbled away beneath thy feet."
"What is personal enjoyment,—I ask thee?"
"And it was bound to crumble. For thou hast sought support where it was not to be found, for thou hast built thy house on a quicksand...."
"Speak more plainly, without metaphors, because I do not understand thee."
"Because,—laugh if it pleases thee,—because there is no faith in thee, no warmth of heart; mind, merely a farthing mind; thou art simply a pitiful, lagging Voltairian—that's what thou art!"