Quest vs. Obsession

I think Victor's mistake was in allowing his quest for knowledge to become an obsession. It was healthy to begin with - I know I get eager when I'm interested in learning something new. Victor was the type of person to think that there are no limits; he wanted to go the distance instead of being satisfied with a less intense field of study. Henry supports this argument by searching for knowledge, even at the same university as Victor, but his goals were much more attainable. He was happy during his studies, finding joy in nature, socializing, and keeping in touch with his family. Even if Victor had attained an understanding cancer or something of that nature, it would have been an enormous discovery that was beneficial to mankind and it would give him the power that he wanted to "rid the human body of disease" or whatever it was. A quest is just a quest, but obsessions will destroy a person the way it did with Victor.