Most people don't grow up. Most people age. They find parking spaces, honor their credit cards, get married, have children, and call that maturity. What that is, is aging.
Democracy is not something you believe in or a place to hang your hat, but it's something you do. You participate. If you stop doing it, democracy crumbles.
I do not know anyone who has got to the top without hard work. That is the recipe. It will not always get you to the top, but should get you pretty near.
When I Was 17, My Father Was So Stupid, I Didn't Want To Be Seen With Him In Public. When I Was 24, I Was Amazed at How Much The Old Man Had learned In Just 7 Years.