Lipton’s Journal/December 31, 1954/138

My ambition remains my contact with the world, and perhaps it is not all bad—I would certainly prefer to be a genius than a saint. That is why Bob [Lindner] is right about the petty Hitler in me. I have to do it all, all by myself only with Adele and Bob and Dan [Wolf] (and Malaquais and [Charles] Devlin) if only they could come around, can I see a collaboration of love. With the others, I am competitive. Every bit of evidence I see, as in television, of hipsterism makes me worry, “My God, somebody may do it before I do it.” No fear of me becoming a saint.