Page 938 - the-brothers-karamazov

it for some time past,, not only in you. Nowadays the very
children have begun to suffer from it. It’s almost a sort of
insanity. The devil has taken the form of that vanity and en-
tered into the whole generation; it’s simply the devil,’ added
Alyosha, without a trace of the smile that Kolya, staring at
him, expected to see. ‘You are like everyone else,’ said Alyo-
sha, in conclusion, ‘that is, like very many others. Only you
must not be like everybody else, that’s all.’
‘Even if everyone is like that?’
‘Yes, even if everyone is like that. You be the only one not
like it. You really are not like everyone else, here you are not
ashamed to confess to something bad and even ridiculous.
And who will admit so much in these days? No one. And
people have even ceased to feel the impulse to self-criticism.
Don’t be like everyone else, even if you are the only one.’
‘Splendid! I was not mistaken in you. You know how to
console one. Oh, how I have longed to know you, Karam-
azov! I’ve long been eager for this meeting. Can you really
have thought about me, too? You said just now that you
thought of me, too?’
‘Yes, I’d heard of you and had thought of you, too... and if
it’s partly vanity that makes you ask, it doesn’t matter.’
‘Do you know, Karamazov, our talk has been like a dec-
laration of love,’ said Kolya, in a bashful and melting voice.
‘That’s not ridiculous, is it?’
‘Not at all ridiculous, and if it were, it wouldn’t matter,
because it’s been a good thing.’ Alyosha smiled brightly.
‘But do you know, Karamazov, you must admit that you
are a little ashamed yourself, now.... I see it by your eyes.’