Conventional people are roused to fury by departure from convention, largely because they consider such departures as a criticism of themselves. They will pardon much unconventionality in a man who has enough jollity and friendliness to make it clear, even to the stupidest, that he is not engaged in criticizing them.

Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) English mathematician and philosopher

Conquest of Happiness, Part 1, ch. 9 “Fear of Public Opinion” (1930)
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