Youth
Robert Surcouf was born 12 December 1773 in Saint-Malo, France, a fortified town in Brittany, traditionally a corsair stronghold, from a Norman family. He attended a religious school and was educated by the Jesuits. At 13, he escaped his teachers and stole a small craft to prove his ability to sail; he was subsequently caught in a tempest and had to be rescued.
At age 15, he enlisted on a merchantman to India.
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Famous quotes containing the word youth:
“I loathe that I did love,
In youth that I thought sweet;”
—Thomas Vaux, 2d Baron Vaux Of Harrowden (1510–1566)
“Our Indian said that he was a doctor, and could tell me some medicinal use for every plant I could show him ... proving himself as good as his word. According to his account, he had acquired such knowledge in his youth from a wise old Indian with whom he associated, and he lamented that the present generation of Indians “had lost a great deal.””
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“But could youth last, and love still breed,
Had joys no date, nor age no need,
Then these delights my mind might move
To live with thee and be thy Love.”
—Sir Walter Raleigh (1552?–1618)