Skipping Sharansky

"There are," Hawthorne writes in House of the Seven Gables, "chaotic, blind, or drunken moments, in the lives of persons who lack real force of character—moments of test, in which courage would most assert itself—but where these individuals, if left to themselves, stagger aimlessly along, or follow implicitly whatever guidance may befall them, even if it be a child’s. No matter how preposterous or insane, a purpose is a god-send to them."

A little less Sharansky and a little more Hawthorne on some people's night-tables might do some good.