No religion can long continue to maintain its purity when the church becomes the subservient vassal of the state.
Great minds are to make others great. Their superiority is to be used not to break the multitude to intellectual vassalage not to establish over them a spiritual tyranny but to rouse them from lethargy and to aid them to judge for themselves.
But I think it's more that when you're young you're invincible you're immortal - or at least you think you are. The possibilities are limitless you're inventing the future. Then you get older and suddenly you have a history. It's fixed. You can't change anything. I find that a bit disturbing to be honest.