Self: Observed

And now some words of understanding from a local boy. (OK, so he never lived here, but he is buried in Rockville):

Amory, sorry for them, was still not sorry for himself—art, politics, religion, whatever his medium should be, he knew he was safe now, free from all hysteria—he could accept what was acceptable, roam, grow, rebel, sleep deep through many nights....

There was no God in his heart, he knew; his ideas were still in riot; there was ever the pain of memory; the regret for his lost youth—yet the waters of disillusion had left a deposit on his soul, responsibility and a love of life, the faint stirring of old ambitions and unrealized dreams. But—oh, Rosalind! Rosalind!...

"It's all a poor substitute at best," he said sadly.

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."

F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896–1940). "Book Two: The Education of a Personage," from This Side of Paradise, 1920.

What I don't understand is why the protagonist seems to be so bummed out about it. Maybe he understands now that ignorance is bliss? Discuss among yourselves.