Wasn’t being a dilettante the result of an inner conviction that you were too good for routine living? - Algis Budrys

I do what seems best—I live, I let live; so far I’ve done well. I don’t see why I should act like a predator, simply because I’m in a predatory society. I’m a human being, I’m myself—if I make my life something vicious, who’ll give me another if, too late, I regret what I’ve done?

There has to be an end somewhere, he thought. Each thing has to end, or there will never be any room for beginnings.

I'm not frightened.
"None of us are ever frightened. Now and then, we'd just like more time to plan our responses.