Dostoevsky and the Beauty of Caprice

We are not creatures of reason despite our pretensions. Caprice and irrationality determine most of what we do, and always should.

For this stupidest of all, this caprice of ours, gentlemen, may in fact be the most profitable of anything on earth for our sort, especially in certain cases. And in particular it may be more profitable than all other profits even in the case when it is obviously harmful and contradicts the most sensible conclusions of our reason concerning profits – beca…