Cyril Connolly, quoted by Christopher Hitchens in “Arrested Development” (theatlantic.com). The article provides some other quotes on the above theme, such as: “…the experiences undergone by boys at the great public schools, their glories and disappointments, are so intense as to dominate their lives and to arrest their development… Early laurels weigh like lead…”
While at the office, I caught up on some Hitchens (it’s easier to alt-tab on a garbage Windows laptop when someone approaches than to hurl a book to the floor and pretend to be typing).
Among other things, I learned that his mother carried on an affair for years before running off to Greece and committing suicide with her lover. As his father would not attend to the arrangements, Hitchens had to travel to Athens, where he could still smell the putrefaction of their bodies in the hotel room.