There Comes A Moment During Which Almost

Denis Diderot

There comes a moment during which almost every girl or boy falls into melancholy; they are tormented by a vague inquietude which rests on everything and finds nothing to calm it. they seek solitude; they weep; the silence to be found in cloister attracts them: the image of peace that seems to reign in religious houses seduces them. they mistake the first manifestations of a developing sexual nature for the voice of god calling them to himself; and it is precisely when nature is inciting them that they embrace a fashion of life contrary to nature's wish.