Yevgeny Zamyatin — We [780]

A physician will always prefer a rash and a forty-degree fever to the tormenting, slowly rising temperature of the incubation period: at least, the nature of the illness is clear. The MEPHI scattered on the walls today is the rash. I understood the smile. — Yevgeny Zamyatin, We, 780

Note

Brilliant psychological simile comparing a secret political rebellion to medical pathology, reframing terror as clinical relief.