If I might say so, an adventure that perhaps was good enough for a young and well-born man of spirit and enterprise without any particular resources, is no longer good enough for one who has the ball at his feet.

Think what a ball it is to a man of your birth, intelligence, record, and now, great fortune come to you in youth.

Why, with these advantages there is absolutely nothing that you cannot do in England.

You can go into Parliament and rule the country; if you like you can become a peer.
You can marry any one who isn't of the blood royal; in short, with uncommonly little effort of your own, your career is made for you.

Don't throw away a silver spoon like that in order, perhaps, to die of thirst in the desert or be killed in a fight among unknown tribes." "Oh, I don't know," he answered.