Page 473 - the-idiot

conventional ‘eccentricity.’ Always restless, always on the
go, she constantly seemed to lose her way, and to get into
trouble over the simplest and more ordinary affairs of life.
We said at the beginning of our story, that the Epanchins
were liked and esteemed by their neighbours. In spite of his
humble origin, Ivan Fedorovitch himself was received ev-
erywhere with respect. He deserved this, partly on account
of his wealth and position, partly because, though limited,
he was really a very good fellow. But a certain limitation of
mind seems to be an indispensable asset, if not to all public
personages, at least to all serious financiers. Added to this,
his manner was modest and unassuming; he knew when
to be silent, yet never allowed himself to be trampled upon.
Also—and this was more important than all— he had the
advantage of being under exalted patronage.
As to Lizabetha Prokofievna, she, as the reader knows,
belonged to an aristocratic family. True, Russians think
more of influential friends than of birth, but she had both.
She was esteemed and even loved by people of consequence
in society, whose example in receiving her was therefore
followed by others. It seems hardly necessary to remark that
her family worries and anxieties had little or no foundation,
or that her imagination increased them to an absurd degree;
but if you have a wart on your forehead or nose, you imag-
ine that all the world is looking at it, and that people would
make fun of you because of it, even if you had discovered
America! Doubtless Lizabetha Prokofievna was considered
‘eccentric’ in society, but she was none the less esteemed:
the pity was that she was ceasing to believe in that esteem.

The Idiot