Eugene Onegin ( without commentary )

XIV

But among us there's even no such friendship: having destroyed all prejudices, we deem all men naughts 4 and ourselves units. We all aspire to be Napoleons; for us the millions of two-legged creatures are but tools; 8 feeling to us is weird and ludicrous. More tolerant than many was Eugene, though he, of course, knew men and on the whole despised them; 12 but no rules are without exceptions: some people he distinguished greatly and, though estranged from it, respected feeling.