Em "The Ambassadors" de Henry James há um trecho em que Lambert Strether exorta o seu jovem amigo Bilham, numa chamada garden party Parisiense a: "Don't forget that you're young - blessedly young; be glad of it on the contrary and live up to it. Live all you can; it's a mistake not to. It doesn't so much matter what you do in particular, so long as you have your life. If you haven't had that what have you had?"