so many unscrupulous people have got hold of the progressive cause of late and have so distorted in their own interests everything they touched, that the whole cause has been dragged in the mire.
 Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Crime and Punishment (1867). copy citation

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Author Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Source Crime and Punishment
Topic selfishness politics
Date 1867
Language English
Reference
Note Translated by Constance Garnett
Weblink http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2554/2554-h/2554-h.htm

Context

“I began this discussion with an object, but I've grown so sick during the last three years of this chattering to amuse oneself, of this incessant flow of commonplaces, always the same, that, by Jove, I blush even when other people talk like that. You are in a hurry, no doubt, to exhibit your acquirements; and I don't blame you, that's quite pardonable. I only wanted to find out what sort of man you are, for so many unscrupulous people have got hold of the progressive cause of late and have so distorted in their own interests everything they touched, that the whole cause has been dragged in the mire. That's enough!»
«Excuse me, sir,» said Luzhin, affronted, and speaking with excessive dignity. «Do you mean to suggest so unceremoniously that I too…»
«Oh, my dear sir… how could I?…” source

Meaning and analysis

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