Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky (1821-1861), Russian writer and philosopher (and one of the favorite authors of Pope Francis), was wont to share his philosophy of life through his characters.
In one of his best novels: The Idiot, which he wrote in 1869, Dostoyevsky speaking through his character, Evgenie Pavlovitch, imparts some of his personal philosophy that certainly bears relevance to what we are faced with today.
Here's the quote:
“This hatred of Russia has been mistaken by some of our ‘Russian Liberals’ for sincere love of their country, and they boast that they see better than their neighbors what real love of one’s country should consist in. But of late they have grown more candid and are ashamed of the expression ‘love of country’ and have annihilated the very spirit of the words as something injurious and petty and undignified.”
