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The accession to adulthood, or the process of becoming an adult (Alléon & Morvan), is constituted by the more or less successful integration of the reality and pleasure principles that conjoins the assumption of boundaries without losing hope. The author emphasises the place of the infantile, and especially the pleasure both of desiring (Diatkine) and of playing with mental representations in the transition to adulthood. Erotic and grandiose imaginings and daydreams that continue throughout life then foster the intrinsically limited achievements which, at the accession to adulthood, become concentrated around “loving and working.” A clinical case of a murderous post-adolescent is used to illustrate failures of this process.