It is impossible to think of Howard Hughes without seeing the apparently bottomless gulf between what we say we want and what we do want, between what we officially admire and secretly desire, between, in the largest sense, the people we marry and the people we love. In a nation which increasingly appears to prize social virtues, Howard Hughes remains not merely antisocial but grandly, brilliantly, surpassingly, asocial. He is the last private man, the dream we no longer admit.

Summary

This quote highlights the paradoxical nature of Howard Hughes and the contradictory desires that exist within individuals and society. It emphasizes the distinction between the public image we project, characterized by social virtues and norms, and our true, often suppressed, desires and aspirations. Hughes is depicted as an embodiment of this conflict, being both antisocial and grandly private, embodying a dream that society no longer openly acknowledges. This quote reflects on the complex dynamics between what we claim to want, what we actually desire, and the tension between our public and private lives.

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