He may be conceited, ill-mannered, presumptuous or fatuous, but I do not turn for protection to dreary cliches about respect for elders--as if mere age were a reason for respect.
College graduates, he said, are who this country must turn to for a citizenship that is tolerant but not indifferent, loyal but not bigoted, aggressive but not conceited, alert but not alarmed.
Suddenly she wanted to cry, to lie down on the bed and sob endlessly. He hadn't changed, nothing had changed, and she had been a fool, a stupid, conceited, silly fool, thinking he loved her.