Some activities are so important that their rewards far outpace their cost.
This line may actually reflect a kind of homage. A playful yet often intimidating man of gargantuan appearance and tastes, he wolfed down eight-course lunches, flirted with famous actresses and conquered anyone brave enough to negotiate with him with a stare that was likened to the headlight of a thundering steam locomotive. Yet he personally chose his daughter's wedding trousseau, and at the age of 60 climbed a rope ladder suspended down the topsides of a rolling Atlantic steamer to embrace his wife, returning from a European trip. He came to New York at age 20. After the Civil War, Morgan began to enter into the myth that was later woven by his own extravagant accomplishments.