[Jean-Christophe’s father] was not a bad man, but a half-good man, which is perhaps worse — weak, without spring, without moral strength, but for the… - Romain Rolland

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[Jean-Christophe’s father] was not a bad man, but a half-good man, which is perhaps worse — weak, without spring, without moral strength, but for the rest, in his own opinion, a good father, a good son, a good husband, a good man — and perhaps he was good, if to be so it is enough to possess an easy kindness, which is quickly touched, and that animal affection by which a man loves his kin as a part of himself. It cannot even be said that he was very egoistic; he had not personality enough for that. He was nothing. They are a terrible thing in life, these people who are nothing. Like a dead weight thrown into the air, they fall, and must fall; and in their fall they drag with them everything that they have.