In all times and in all places--in Constantinople, northwestern Zambia, Victorian England, Sparta, Arabia,. . . medieval France,Babylonia,. . . Carthage, Mahenjo-Daro, Patagonia, Kyushu,. . . Dresden--the time span between childhood and adulthood, however fleeting or prolonged, has been associated with the acquisition of virtue as it is differently defined in each society. A child may be good and morally obedient, but only in the process of arriving at womanhood or manhood does a human being become capable of virtue--that is, the qualities of mind and body that realize society's ideals.
I think you can measure how pathetic your life is by how much joy you get from learning about other people's faults and troubles.