““I see, I see! From association Messala, in boyhood, was almost a Jew; had he remained here, he might have become a proselyte, so much do we all borrow from the influences that ripen our lives; but the years in Rome have been too much for him. I do not wonder at the change; yet”--her voice fell--“he might have dealt tenderly at least with you. It is a hard, cruel nature which in youth can forget its first loves.””
![“So this little boy was--I became her confidant a little too early, I think. It didn't seem to warp me exactly, but it left me with a little too much knowledge at an early age. [p. 143]” quote by Mary Catherine Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/941/mary-catherine-bateson-11582_too-early_so-this-little-boy-was-i-became-her-conf_1589176.jpg)
