When you're young, you don't feel iconoclastic - you're just kind of doing what seems natural, what moves you.

Where there's smoke, there's bound to be mirrors.

Freedom should always be discussed within the context of responsibility.

Lives have been altered in fundamental ways, and later, after they acquire a more complete understanding of what goals are actually attainable, many are left facing a lot of pain and frustration. And yet, there's no culture of complaint.

That's what fiction writers do: create characters and do terrible things to them for the entertainment of others. If they feel guilty enough, they write happy endings.

Isn't it possible that self-esteem isn't causal at all, but simply the happy side effect of a sturdy character, itself the product of unambiguous moral education?

When you're young, you don't feel iconoclastic - you're just kind of doing what seems natural, what moves you.