It is true that we sense our aloneness almost as soon as we are born. But children and adults can transcend their solitude and forget themselves in games or work. The adolescent, however, vacillates between infancy and youth, halting for a moment before the infinite richness of the world. He is astonished at the fact of his being, and this astonishment leads to reflection. As he leans over the river of his consciousness, he asks himself if the face that appears there, disfigured by the water is his own