Nessuno genera se non riconosce di essere stato generato. Il ruolo dell’adulto: alcune riflessioni ed esempi nella Letteratura Italiana dell’Otto-Novecento

St. Thomas Aquinas argues that "the perfect virtue" is achieved through the help of "others". This article shows a critical path in literature of nineteenth and twentieth centuries, from Foscolo to Levi, passing through Dante, Manzoni, Pascoli, De Marchi, Collodi, Mastronardi, based on this assumption. The models and examples given in this article show how the educational goal about future generations depends on adults and at the same time they prove that Italian literature is a privileged space to deepen some of the fundamental anthropological dynamics.