at age nineteen

[nauticka]

... at age nineteen when all of us reach our zenith of idealistic nonsense. Nineteen is the age of a perfect foot soldier, who will die without a murmur, his heart aflame with patriotism. Nineteen is the age at which the brain of a nascent poet in his rented room soars the highest, suffering gladly the assault of what he thinks is the god in him. Nineteen is the last year that a young woman will marry purely for love. And so on.
Jim Harrison
Revenge