For this new life he is neither armed, equipped, drilled and hardened.
That solid common sense, that determination and those steady nerves, indispensable tools in life, are not dispensed by our schools; quite the contrary; far from qualifying him for his approaching independence the schools disqualify him for it.

Accordingly, his entrance into the world and his first steps on the field of practical life are generally a series of painful failures; as a consequence he remains bruised, often for a long time, offended sometimes permanently crippled.

This is a rude and dangerous ordeal; the moral and mental balance is altered and risks never being restored; his illusions vanish too suddenly and too completely.

His deceptions have been too great and his disappointment too severe.

Sometimes, among close friends, embittered and worn out like himself, he is tempted to tell us: "Through your education you have led us to believe, or you have let us believe, that the world is made in a certain fashion.