He had a remarkable sense of worldview from a young age. At 17 he wrote:

"As things stand now, I am going to be a writer. I'm not sure that I'm going to be a good one or even a self-supporting one, but until the dark thumb of fate presses me to the dust and says 'you are nothing', I will be a writer."

His views changed a slight bit, but not much. He was truly a person who knew himself.