Autobiography. The Story of My Life and Beliefs

John Stuart Mill would be called a wunderkind in our time — at the age of three he began learning classical Greek, at twelve he started studying higher mathematics, chemistry, logic, and political economy, and by fourteen his education was considered complete. At the same time, Mill's life lacked childhood entertainment and friends of his own age; he grew up as a physically weak boy. The youthful adversities resulted in a mental crisis, the way out of which Mill saw in suicide. However, the turning point in John Stuart's life, which he vividly described in his "Autobiography," changed Mill's attitude not only towards his own life but also towards society's life as a whole.