The mission to Cayta is left unspoken to help our attention to the deeper level of the dialogue. This line, applying on the surface to the dangerous ride and Nostromo's famous reputation, also applies to rejoining society as such, with "flattery" and "great risks" summing up the deadly nature of the dream-ideal that holds society together. See Monygham's own denunciation of the dream-ideal as "self-flattery."