"It would be better if there weren't so many [patients]. If there are a large number, it will instantly be ascribed to bad supervision or incompetent medical treatment.
"Our rule is: the nearer to nature the better. We use no expensive medicines. A man is a simple affair. If he dies, he'd die anyway. If he gets well, he'd get well anyway. Besides, the doctor would have a hard time making the patients understand him. He doesn't know a word of Russian."
- The Government Inspector, Nikolai Gogol