I got no need to beat you

"I got no need to beat you; I just want to go my way," space freighter captain Malcolm Reynolds tells the government operative in the brilliant film Serenity. And though the operative has other ideas, in Reynolds' matter-of-fact statement lies a way of life.

I don't need to convince you that I am right and you are wrong; I simply desire to live my life on my terms and let you live your life on your terms, as long as we do no harm to one another.

There is plenty of room on this vast world for both of us.

It's as simple as that. And as complicated.