And why are you so firmly, so solemnly convinced that only the normal and the positive - in short, only well-being - is to man's advantage? ...After all, man may be fond not only of well-being. Perhaps he is just as fond of suffering? Perhaps suffering is just as much in his interest as well-being? And man is sometimes extremely fond of suffering, to the point of passion, in fact. And here there is no need to consult world history; ask your own self, if you're a man and have lived at all. As for my personal opinion, it's even somehow indecent to love only well-being.
--Dostoyevsky, Notes from Underground (39)
Destroy my desires, eradicate my ideals, show me something better, and I will follow you. You may say I'm not worth bothering with; in that case, I can say exactly the same to you. We are talking seriously. And if you do not deign to give me your attention, I will not bow before you. I have my underground.
-- (41)
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