Quote of the Week: National Legends

In the United States, we have the tradition of the Lone Man. .... Usually our heroes and antiheroes follow their destinies alone. I think that's what caught my eye about the Bebo inscription - "I STAN ALONE" - and what appeals to me about the character of Gouverneur Morris. He was a lonesome person, suddenly going off by himself, or staying in Paris as the only remaining diplomat when chaos ruled. This sort of protagonist fills our national dreams. I like solitude myself, and I was eligible for social security before it occurred to me that a bunch of loners wandering around and doing as they pleased might not make for much of a society.

 - Ian Frazier, Paradise Bronx, p.437