This Side of Paradise

by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Amory resented social barriers as artificial distinctions made by the strong to bolster up their weak retainers and keep out the almost strong.

And he could not tell why the struggle was worth while, why he had determined to use to the utmost himself and his heritage from the personalities he had passed.... He stretched out his arms to the crystalline, radiant sky. "I know myself," he cried, "but that is all."