"When people accept futility and the absurd as normal, the culture is decadent. The term is not a slur; it is a technical label." -- From Dawn to Decadence (200

"When people accept futility and the absurd as normal, the culture is decadent. The term is not a slur; it is a technical label." -- From Dawn to Decadence (2000), Jacques Barzun. Clarification: here the slur is "decadent", not the one mentioned in the article.