“No school I’ve ever seen, even the best of them, ever deals with these vital characteristics of human destiny: that lives most often end in tragedy, that extending life when you have a sensation-centered existence is an act of madness because the stupidity at your core will give you no rest, that failure is a common part of the human condition, that worthwhile pursuits are almost always lonely, that you can’t eat gold, that happiniess is absolutely free, and even the most honorable quests don’t always work.”

-John Taylor Gatto