The joys of degradation, Indeed!

Picked Orhan Pamuk's 'Other colors' after reading this particular excerpt that I loved...so wanted to share...

"We all know the joys of degradation. Perhaps I should rephrase that: We must all have lived through times when we discovered it was pleasurable, even relaxing to run ourselves down. Even as we tell ourselves, we are worthless - over and over, as if repetition will make it true - we are suddenly freed from all those moral injunctions to conform and from the suffocating worry of having to obey rules and laws, of having to grit our teeth as we strive to be like others. When others degrade us, we arrive at the same place as we do when we take the initiative in humiliating ourselves. Then we find ourselves in a place where we can wallow blissfully in our existence, our smell, our filth, our habits, the place where we can abandon all hope of self-improvement and stop trying to nurture optimistic thoughts about other human beings. This resting place is so comfortable that we cannot help feeling grateful for the anger and selfishness that has brought us to this moment of freedom and solitude"