I wish I could believe that everything which befel me then had remained entirely without influence on my inner life.
A demon--I can find no other name--urged me to all sorts of follies, many of which I still remember with pleasure, and, thank Heaven, not a single one which a strict teacher--supposing that he had not forgotten how to put himself into the place of a youth--would seriously censure.
The effervescing spirits which did not find vent in such pranks obtained expression in a different form.
I had begun to write, and every strong emotion was uttered in verses, which I showed to the companions from whom I could expect sympathy.

My school-mates were very unlike.

Among the young gentlemen who paid a high price to attend the school not a single one had been really industrious and accomplished anything.

But neither did any one of the few lads whose fathers were peasants, or who belonged to the lower ranks, stand at the head of his class.

They were very diligent, but success rarely corresponded with the amount of labour employed.