It was grotesque: here she was prepared to give him everything, her virginity, and any sacrifice he could think up, and still she couldn’t bring herself to disobey a miserable school principal. Should she let herself be defeated by such pettiness? Her self disgust was unbearable and she wanted to get free of it at any cost; she wanted to reach some greatness in which her pettiness would disappear…

– Milan Kundera, Ignorance: 86