Interesting phrase, that - the "Flame of Rebellion." Another one I've always liked, via Kundera in Life is Elsewhere -

"When we are young, letters from home are messages from a shore we are foresaking."

I probably butchered the quote, which gives you an excuse to read the book. It's about the perils of being young and rebellious.

The phrase interests me because "flame" implies fiery, immediate change. It is never gradual, it is never without consequence, it is never equally amenable to all parties. Revolutions are flame. they do, indeed, belong to the young.

And although I do not know your friend, I"m not sure it's fair to say that someone who has "lost his flame" has "fully bought into the system." After all, the quieter, more efficient version of revolution is subversion and that is definitely the game of those with patience.

Have you seen Charlie Wilson's War? Me neither. I've read it, though. It's worth your time. It's a tale of how a handful of men gathered $400m to defeat the Soviet Union in Afghanistan (and bring about global jihad but we won't get into that right now). None of it was voted on by the public. Hell, none of it was known to the public. Did you know that one 30-year-old noncomissioned officer basically dictated strategy for the largest American military campaign between Vietnam and Gulf War I? He went back to school, got an MBA and is now the man in charge of secret warfare.

Did that guy "lose his flame?" 'cuz I'll bet you've never heard of him, and he had more to do with the makeup of the modern world than Barack Obama.

Youth is all about tearing down the system. Maturity is all about working within the system. You break fewer things, and you're more likely to get out alive. Do you have to "buy into the system?" Well, at the very least, you need to be able to show a receipt. Otherwise they won't hear your complaints.

I will say this. Never conflate a lack of outrage with a lack of ambition.

I leave you with a song so obscure it only exists on Myspace.