Nobody minded what you did in bed or what you said about God, a very civilized attitude in 1948.
Scholarship was one thing, drudgery another. I very soon concluded that nothing would induce me to read, let alone make notes on, hundreds and hundreds of very, very, very boring books.
Art for art's sake, money for God's sake.
I loved the Army as an institution and loathed every single thing it required me to do.
... life is short and the world is wide
Since life is short and the world is wide, the sooner you start exploring it, the better.