« I was going to hone my knowledge of mathematics, physics and chemistry, and build my brain brick by brick, neuron by neuron. I was a machine being built, a work in progress, a form of intelligence in constant mutation. The other side of the coin was life in boarding school, in an institution known for its quasi-military rigor. I could not escape the Darwinian s e l e c tion of boarding school life, where "only the strongest survive," my father had thought it appropriate to tell me. "Life is a jungle, Alan. You'll have to play elbows for the rest of your life to get a place in the sun. » »

« From an early age, those who crossed my path thought I was crazy. I was an ugly duckling, unable to assimilate the most mundane social conventions. Every middle-class Englishman had to look like a gentleman. For my great misfortune, I had the manners of a farm boy. I was accused of being in the moon, badly dressed, covered with ink stains. My hair was still in battle and my nails were too long. I was not in the mould, and my chronic inability to get along with children my age did not help my reputation as an asylum seeker. »

« Each society, depending on the era, obeys a particular set of norms and its own vision of what a good life is. This set of norms and vision is called "morality." In ancient times, the Greek child learned from childhood that there was nothing more beautiful or desirable than to participate as a citizen in the direction of his city and, if necessary, to die for her in battle. »