"If I were sufficiently romantic I suppose I'd have killed myself long ago just to make people talk about me. I haven't even got the conviction to make a successful drunkard"

This quote by John Dos Passos speaks to the concept of romanticism and the desire to be remembered. It recommends that if the speaker were more romantic, they would have eliminated themselves in order to make people speak about them. This implies that the speaker is not satisfied with their current level of fame or recognition, and that they feel the requirement to do something drastic in order to be remembered. The speaker likewise admits that they do not even have the conviction to make an effective alcoholic, recommending that they are not ready to take the essential steps to make a change in their life. This quote speaks with the concept of wanting to be remembered and the lengths people will go to in order to achieve that goal. It also speaks to the idea of self-doubt and the inability to take action in order to make a change.