Good abilities degenerate, go to waste  - I think of all the friends of my school and college years who showed such promise and didn't pan out...The vulgarity of life in the United States shows up in one of its very bad aspects in the inability of professional men to persist beyond their youthful years in living up to any standard of civic conscience or science or art. Since standards are not there in clear sight, since they are not supported by a hierarchy, the individual has to make more of a moral effort, which, combined with the effort involved in mastering any field with its skills, is likely to prove too much for him. -Edmund Wilson |
