"So we shall let the reader answer this question for himself: Who is the happier man, he who has braved the storm of life and lived, or he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed?" --Hunter S. Thompson, 1955
Poet, Mad Scientist of Electronic Musical Components, Vocalist, Thereminist, Dominatrix.

Just scraping the surface...

Show me you're a genuine, open-minded individual who believes in self-evolution and I'll stick by you through it all... Show me you're an ignorant, judgemental neanderthal and I'll avoid you like the plague.