Status Updates From Ravelstein (Penguin Classic...

“But can you explain what Nature does for you—a Jewish city type? You're not a Transcendentalist update."
"No. That's not my line."
“And to your country neighbors you're one of the beasts that should have been drowned in the Flood."
"Oh, absolutely. But I don't worry about fitting in or belonging to the community. It's the stillness all around that attracted me...."

He had, what is more, the courage to assert his right to be exactly what he seemed to be. This as Ravelstein pointed out was not posture. There was absolutely nothing in Nikki's appearance that was decorative or theatrical. He doesn't look for trouble, mind you, but "he's always ready for a fight. And his sense of himself is such that... hell fight. I've often had to hold him back."