Would that things were so simple

[asthenos]

"[The newspapers] seem surprised to discover that someone with a questionable reputation can also have virtues. I cannot recognize such distinctions and reservations, for I exist as a single whole. My only claim is to be natural; if something gives me pleasure, I take that as a sign that I should do it."

"That can have consequences," I said.

"I certainly hope so," Ménalque replied.

-Ménalque to Michel,
The Immoralist by André Gide