The truth is that this individual of whom we are so proud is composed of such diverse elements as the boy he made friends with at nursery school, the hero of the first tale he ever read, even the dog belonging to his cousin Eugène. We do not exist through ourselves alone but through the environment that shaped us.… I have sought to recall those persons and events which I believe have played a part in making me what I am.* My own decision to write the present chapters, which in a slightly
