John Stuart Mill
In 1806, John Stuart Mill was born in Pentonville, United Kingdom. At the age of 3, Mill began studying Greek and at age 8, he began studying Latin. By age 12, Mill had mastered algebra and had read novels from many Scottish and English historians. In his early teenage years, he studied political economy and calculus. Along with this tough course load, John was required to teach his younger siblings. These lessons were conducted by his father, James Mill. James Mill was a Scotsman who had been educated at Edinburgh University. He was a rigorous man who believed in ensuring John was as educated as he could be, that way he could become a successful man.
This rigorous school schedule, eventually began to take a toll on Mill. At age 20, he suffered a mental crisis. During his rough time, Mill discovered the Romantics’ poetry and fell in love with it - especially “Wordsworth - though his new interests quickly led him to the work of Coleridge, Carlyle, and Goethe” (Stanford). Mill’s love for poetry led him to great literary success and was (one of) the reasons he met Harriet Taylor and fell in love.
Sources
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/mill/
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