Change So As to Preserve Oneself and One's Nature

"To tell the truth," one of my favorite writers once said, "you hardly ever encounter a satisfied person in Russia in our day … No matter whom you listen to, everyone is dissatisfied about something, complaining, moaning. One will say they don't give us enough freedom; another will say there's too much of it. Someone complains that the authorities do nothing, another that the authorities are doing too much. Some people think stupidity has overwhelmed us, while others say we have become too clever; still others participate in every kind of dirty business and laughingly add: 'Where have you seen such bad manners!?' Even filchers of state property are dissatisfied because soon there will be nothing more to steal …"