I was silly enough till now to think that even in a drawing-room one saw something of the highest form of humanity, and that aristocratic society is the flower of civilization." "Those are opinions which are spread by clever men of the world to excuse their shallow behavior in their own eyes and in the eyes of others.

What these people come here for is to satisfy their lower inclinations--you must see this for yourself; if you do not allow yourself to be influenced by these pretentious, ceremonious forms, at least try to discover the reality that lies beneath them.

What you call the height of civilization seems to me the lowest.

Do you understand?
I feel that cultured people in their drawing-room society are in the condition of savages, and even allied to animals." "Bravo, Wilhelm! go on; this is most edifying." "You may jeer, but in spite of you I believe that this is so.

Try to discover what is going on in the brains of all these people at this moment.