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My boss told this quote, making me check it out - Who said "youth is wasted on the young"? What does that mean?
Steve Denton, I love learning, thinking and writing. Updated 10 May 2014 I turned 50 last year, although I am blessed (according to friends and acquaintances, and my own observations of other people my age) with unusually spritely, Peter Pan-like youthfulness - both psychologically and physically - for my age. I certainly don't feel like 50, and most days I don't look like it, either. With sufficient sleep and daily use of a good moisturizer to smooth the wrinkles - sorry, 'laughter lines' - around my eyes, I can pass for someone of 40 (well, on a good day...). But I think that I still have the philosophical perspective of a 50 year old (something for which I am frequently grateful), and I believe there is much truth in this maxim - 'Youth is wasted on the young' - for the following reasons:
For entirely understandable and forgivable reasons, young people usually fail to realize just how lucky they are to be young, with all their physical, sexual and intellectual energy, their optimism, lack of cynicism and jadedness, and the many decades of life they have stretching out before them in which they can achieve their dreams (if they actually decide on their goals and then apply themselves to achieving them - which many, sadly, do not).
When you are young (late-teens to early twenties, say), your old age seems impossibly far away. You are not yet aware of the way in which the lengths of the years shrink, relative to your entire lifespan, as you age. In terms of the psychological perception of the passage of time, the years pass more rapidly as you get older; the seasons become closer together; the birthdays, anniversaries and Christmases more frequent. Time literally seems to accelerate, and you become aware of the rapidly dwindling timeframe you have in which to achieve your life goals.
But young people simply do not have this perception of temporal nonlinearity, and so they live their lives as if they were immortal, as if there will always be time to do the things they want or need to do, because time is on their side. The philosophy of the young is 'mañana, mañana!': put off till tomorrow the difficult or unpleasant tasks, the responsibilities and duties; and there will always be more opportunities to have new experiences, acquire new skills or embark on new adventures.
"Go traveling in Europe? Learn the guitar? Visit relatives in New Zealand? See that band play? Dive on the Great Barrier Reef? Trek the Grand Canyon? Sure, that sounds like fun, but I can always do those things next year, or when I graduate, or get my first job," they think to themselves. "Today, I can just coast along, and maybe do exactly the same thing I did yesterday, or last week, or last month, because that's so much easier than thinking of something new to do, isn't it? Why not just drift wherever the tide takes my boat, amuse myself with simple things and pass the time in trivial ways, or just distract myself with easily attainable, transitory pleasures. If it takes too much effort or planning, or involves deferred gratification rather than immediate reward then, nah, that's not for me - not yet, maybe when I'm older.."
This is the philosophy of the impulsive, hedonistic procrastinator, of course (impulsiveness and procrastination are not necessarily mutually exclusive - it depends on what one chooses to be impulsive or procrastinating about, and people tend to be impulsive about easy, short-term goals but procrastinate about more difficult, long-term goals). But I don't begrudge the young this carefree spirit, because I shared it myself once, and was happy to do so. You are only young once, and to be a young adult, while feeling this freedom from the burdens of adult life, is a wonderful thing. You will only get this one chance to experience it, and everyone should get that chance (though, sadly, many young people - such as teenage parents, the young unemployed, child soldiers, and so on - do not). That is probably why many older people look back upon their late teens and early twenties - perhaps when they were college students - as amongst the happiest years of their lives (I know they were for me), simply because they were full of carefree fun and new friendships and experiences, and were relatively unburdened by the adult responsibilities that were to follow.
But when we look back upon our youth, we are painfully aware of all the opportunities we squandered, and the experiences we never had, all because of this naive belief that there would always be enough time tomorrow (or next year, or before we got too old). And when we see young people making the same mistakes, we think, 'Oh, if only they knew how fast these opportunities will pass them by; if only they understood the importance of squeezing the juice from life while they still have the chance.' But, equally, older people understand the importance of planning for the future (however tedious and 'responsible' that sounds to young people), because the future will arrive with frightening speed, and it is best to be prepared for it. Both these things are, from the perspective of more mature years, equally important: live for the moment, and seize life by the throat, by all means, but don't forget to make plans for the future, because you won't be young forever.
It is in this sense that we feel that 'youth is wasted on the young': we have learned from experience how quickly the opportunities for life experiences disappear, and it frustrates us to see young people squandering them when, if we had the chance to live our lives again, and be magically reborn as teenagers or college students, we would seize the day, and suck the marrow from life, in the knowledge that we are mortal, and that our time on this earth is finite, so we had better make the most if it while we can.
I think the song that best conveys the tragedy and pathos of wasted youth is 'Time', by Pink Floyd, from their classic album 'Dark Side of the Moon'. Read, and pay heed, young people :o) :
Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day Fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town Waiting for someone or something to show you the way
Tired of lying in the sunshine staying home to watch the rain And you are young and life is long and there is time to kill today And then one day you find ten years have got behind you No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun
And you run and you run to catch up with the sun, but it's sinking Racing around to come up behind you again The sun is the same in a relative way, but you're older Shorter of breath and one day closer to death
Every year is getting shorter, never seem to find the time Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way The time is gone, the song is over, thought I'd something more to say
Footnote: It is a cruel irony that for young people to be free to enjoy the opportunities of youth, they probably need a degree of financial self-sufficiency. And yet most young people are typically not very affluent (unless they have rich parents), and by the time they have acquired the financial means to pursue their youthful dreams, they are too old, either physically, psychologically, or in terms of their adult responsibilities (children, etc.), to really experience them to the fullest. So, it seems that young people have the energy and time to pursue their dreams, but not the financial means, while older people have the financial means, but no longer have the time or the energy for them. Life sucks, eh? Unless, that is, you decide to sponsor a young person to have the fun and do the things you missed out on when you were young. And there are far worse things to spend your savings on than empowering the youth of the world to make the best of their youth, eh? :o) (I know that's what I plan to do). 65.3k Views · View Upvotes
Related QuestionsMore Answers Below
Why is youth wasted on the young? Youth: Is 30 still young because I hope it is? How does a young person make sure that "youth (will not be) wasted on the young"? Am I wasting my youth? Youth: Are you still young in your 30s?
Barry Hampe, Former child, now a father and grandfather Written 10 Jun 2012 What does it mean?
It's sour grapes from some old guy who can no longer do what the kids do, and envies them. It's a legitimate comment that knowledge increases as the body's ability decreases. I remember Martina Navratilova saying, when she no longer played singles tennis, that she had reached the point where she knew exactly what to do on the court, but could no longer get her body to do it. It's wishful thinking. "If I could be 20 again knowing what I know now." And I agree with Stephanie Vardavas' answer to Who said "youth is wasted on the young"? What does that mean?. Young people lack perspective. They only know youth.
What would I do if I had the body of youth? Dunno, except I wouldn't abuse it. No smoking. Lots more exercise. Run. Enjoy it. 9.7k Views · View Upvotes · Answer requested by Jack Yu Stephanie Vardavas, I wonder. Written 9 Jun 2012 To me it means that those who are young lack the perspective to appreciate all the advantages of youth, and thus take them for granted.
Only a person who has experienced middle age and/or old age really has the perspective to appreciate the benefits of being young. It's like asking a fish how it feels about water -- it doesn't know anything else. Young people are familiar with youth, of course, but to them it is just the way life is. They have nothing to compare it to, and often think it tiresome when older people try to explain this to them (which we consider obvious). 8k Views · View Upvotes · Answer requested by Jack Yu Keith R. Lavimodiere, Entrepreneur Written 10 Jun 2012 It means bitterness. If you think about it, what a stupid thing to say. It's actually adults reflecting on their own life and has nothing to do with the children playing.
The phrase "youth is wasted on the young' is strictly about energy levels.
Kids have so much vitality they seem to have an endless supply of play and unproductive running around. As an adult it seems to be wasted time, as nothing is being accomplished. Adults are a little jealous and envious but dismiss the horse play as needless and foolish by calling it a "waste". Inside they are smiling and possibly reminiscing of those delightful early years.
I think the lack of perspective idea is saved for other idioms like "Ignorance is bliss". I'm almost 40 and I still don't see this play as a waste. Children have a way of teaching us how to live. I feel like I knew more when I was young and slowly I have been loosing the ability to make those important decisions that have made me happy. That is what I would truly consider a waste. 2.5k Views · View Upvotes Mahesh Soori, I won't fit in this bucket Written 20 Jun 2012 One way to look at it from the point of view of the stupid things done by the youth; you think you are invincible, dont think much about the consequences and jump in at the spur of the moment to do what seems to make sense (or not) for that micro-second. These actions can be physically, monetarily or emotionally devastating and may even be life threatening.
Youth is also easily manipulated thru idealism and emotion to the point that they are even willing to give up their lives in extreme cases, or willing to cause damage to others.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/as...
Talking about a more practical aspect of life, Education, most youth end up neglecting the "boring" aspects of math and science and by the time they realize their mistakes, its too late to catch up what was lost. This is partly due to how we are sheltered as children, and as we get in to the society to fend for ourselves, the burdens of life becomes apparent, but then you are caught up with life at full swing and harder to change sails.
You'd expect life to teach you lessons thru experience, so if you have been paying attention, you'd be wiser as you get old. Unfortunately, though, it comes with the cost of physical deterioration. With years of life experience on your side, you can now clearly see how the young keep repeating the same old care free lifestyle that you had in your youth... however, just as you didnt want to take advice from the old in your day, the young dont want to take your advice now. So, as you look back and reflect on your life, you might be able to look at the mistakes made in your past and say "youth is wasted on the young" because if you knew what you know now, you'd certainly had done things differently.
So, from this perspective, the statement is correct, but fails to realize that these are experiences sought out at different stages in life. So who is to say that these experiences are wrong? You just have to realize that the experiences came with a cost; a price you were willing to pay at the time, not fully understanding the life long effect it may have on you.
On the other hand, you might also want to coin a new phrase; "wisdom is wasted on the old!"
Great advice from Steve Jobs about his life to those lucky to graduate from STanford in 2005
Great quotes from Steve Jobs http://mashable.com/2011/10/05/s...
The best advice you can get from a movie about life and not getting involved in other people's wars is from AntZ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120...
Another good movie about finding direction in life http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119... 13.2k Views · View Upvotes Cyndi Perlman Fink, Getting old is pretty cool. Who knew? Updated Jul 3, 2015 Please listen carefully. If you're younger than 55, don't even try to answer this question, You'll be operating on supposition only and I think that's not allowed on Quora.
Young than 55, you think it means:
I can’t pass for 40-something anymore. Hot flashes. Will they ever stop? Is that a new wrinkle? It wasn’t there last night? Cellulite! OMG! Of course I can still pass for forty. Maybe not exactly forty, but forty-six for sure. Oy. I just learned the meaning of “puppet line” and I’m not happy about it. If I didn’t know better, and I do, I’d swear that my hearing wasn’t as keen as it used to be. Wait. Was that an ache in my back? No, I’m way too young. Gosh, I know I wanted something in this room but I can’t remember what it was. I’ll go back to the other room and see if I can remember.
Cyndi at 70. I’d kill for those fifteen years.
There must still be a place in my body that doesn’t hurt. I just can’t find it. I forgot what I wanted in this room. I’ll go back to the other room and wait until it comes to me. I’m here and I still have no clue. Oh well, if it’s important, it’ll come to me. A conversation with my husband.Him: I’m going to the (indistinct).
Me: Speak up! I can’t hear you.
Him: Pass the butter. Me: I’m feeling much better thank you.
Him: You need hearing aids. Me: I need hearing aids? No. You need hearing aids!
Huffing, puffing huffing, puffing. When did they crank up this hill and make it so much steeper? Dear God, I’ve never asked for much. Please. A little facelift? You’ll never miss the money. I promise.
A little breast lift. A little ass lift. A little face lift; upper eyes, lower eyes, brow lift, under the chin, the neck, inner thighs, outer thighs, between the thighs.
Okay, okay, so it’s more than a little bit of money, but I’m worth it.
It’s my last hurrah. I don’t want to look fifty-five. It’s just that I still have a hunger, to simply look a little younger. Can’t see, can’t hear, don’t know who is in the mirror looking back at me.
I know exactly what to do now, I’m wise. I can’t do it. Everything hurts or aches or breaks.
Look at yourself right now. So young, so pretty, so talented, so worthwhile, so amazing, so healthy and you have so much ahead of you. You can hear and you can see and you can climb mountains and soar over the earth.
You won’t listen of course because you suffer from a horrible disease, a terminal disease called, “I’m immortal and everything and everyday will be just like this.”
Youth is wasted on the young. 2.9k Views · View Upvotes · Answer requested by Gokul Raju Karen Opas, Professional writer and editor. Former non-profit fundraiser, potter, bartend... Written Nov 29, 2012 Qualifications: I'm about to turn 50 (my Quora photo is 4 years old, in case you're wondering).
As a woman, that quote makes me think about how little I appreciated my youthful beauty and the energy and capacity my body had in my teens and twenties. It makes me sad that I see so many young women so busy critiquing what is wrong with their looks that they don't enjoy their natural physical peak. Sure, they may--as they get older--take better care of their bodies in terms of exercise, what they eat, lotions, etc., but the glow of youth is a one time thing.
I wish I'd had more self-confidence, believed the compliments that came my way, and enjoyed the degree of comfort I have today within my my much less biologically attractive current body.
I wish I'd fully enjoyed the time I spent on nude beaches, instead of worrying about that nearly invisible tummy roll!
And I wish that the spring I decided to skip exams and head down to Tierra del Fuego from Alberta on my thumb, a few hundred dollars, and hope, I'd made it further than Texas before "good" sense kicked in. Because today I have far too much awareness of the risks to ever stick out a thumb and let the road take me where it might.
Youth is wasted on the young if they spend too much time worrying about the future instead of enjoying the present, if they waste energy worrying about what others think of them, if they lock into a joyless career simply because they can't imagine anything else, if they can't feel the love and admiration their friends and family of any age hold for them, and if they can't strut down the street enjoying the glances that come their way! 3.3k Views · View Upvotes Tom Byron, Graduate of The University of Alabama- B'ham ('87) Bachelor of Science (Economic Updated Feb 6
Original Question:
What does it mean to say, "youth is wasted on the young"?
________________________________
This question is obviously written by someone under the age of 22.
At some point in everyone's life, they realize, "... if I would have..." or "...I should have..." or better still, "... why did I..."
One realizes, at a much older age than my supposed guess as to the poster's age, that if I had the energy now to do (fill in the blank___) I would do _____. Your age will catch up to you sooner than you think.
You will, perhaps, learn enough in life, early enough, to realize that, "there is still time to do _____.
A lot of youth assume they will never get "old". "I have 'millions' of tomorrow's". Hopefully, with any luck, a young person will realize that regrets are actually the realization of time "wasted".
With a little hard work early enough, those hopes can become realities.
"Life is lived going forward now, not in reverse later." There is no Benjamin Button, that is a movie.
"Carpe Diem"!!
1.7k Views · View Upvotes Liz Mullen, Sports reporter, horseplayer @SBJLizMullen Written Jun 10, 2012 What it means is you realize how much MORE FUN you could have had, if only you knew then what you know now. LOL!
That includes, but is not limited to, all of the following:
1. Sex 2. Love 3. Food 4. Travel 5. Meeting New People 6. Education 7. Sports 8. The Arts--Music, Art, Films, Books 9. Going on Adventures
Etc., Etc. Etc.
I am so grateful that I have had a very interesting and cool life. But if I could do it all again? WOW! Can't even imagine how great it would have been.
But, no regrets.
Very, very grateful. :-) 1.6k Views · View Upvotes Bob Hooker, Quora admins are now openly engaging in political censorship Written Jul 25, 2013 I have lived my life to the theme of youth is wasted on the young, to some interesting results.
When I was young I decided to live in a way that would mean I had no regrets
I took jobs because they held passion for me, not because I wanted to make a quick buck
I travelled a great deal, going through Europe, North America, Asia and North Africa. I had been to almost 40 nations before I was 40, I was presumed dead in Japan, almost feel off an mountain in Nepal, got stranded for a while in a messed up Romania, and slept on the streets of Paris because I ran out of cash.
I filled much of my free time with art, composing a number of pieces myself and keeping a number of diaries.
I did a great deal of partying, having a lot of fun, seeing a great deal of cool concerts, and having a few wonderful relationships with amazing women.
I found the love of my life, an artist, who has made me happy.
I set out to learn a number of key that I learned to some degree, Godel's Proof, Relativity Theory, I studied Zen Buddhism, learned (very imperfectly) a foreign language, spent time in a Buddhist Monastery, and did a few things I am not proud of but wanted to do before I was too old to do them.
And you know something, it still sucks to get old. It has made no difference to the problems of facing death, lose of loved ones, seeing people's around you getting sick and not being the people you used to love.
I have lost to 2 greatest older people I ever knew.
So by all means do what you feel you want to do, but don't be foolish enough to think that by having no regrets its going to be easy to grow old, because it is not. 2.5k Views · View Upvotes JM Cortese Written Oct 5, 2015 Life is one of those tasks that you only ever get to do once, and it's always for the first time. By the time you know yourself, know what your wants and preferences are, know where your firm boundaries are located and where you are willing to bend, and know what makes you happy ... it's almost over.
It would be much better if life were iterative, so that you don't have to -- for example -- discover what it really was you should have majored in in college 30 years too late but could instead go back in time and tell yourself, "Hey idiot, get a math degree instead of physics because the math nerds are a lot nicer, and you'll be expected to hang with these idiots for the rest of your career." O:-)
That's what it means. When you have all those decisions in front of you and all the time to make them, you don't have the information you need to make them well. When it comes to life, we're all rookies. 699 Views · View Upvotes Will A Million Updated Aug 15
When I talk to the Youth, this is my favorite subject. THE YOUTH IS WASTED ON THE YOUNG.
Most people think young and youth are the same thing. They are not the same at all. When you are young, you have youth, at this stage of your development. Life is in stages, you are provided with the tools you need at each stage to. At the age where most consider to being young, you have at that which is called youth. Thank of it as a gas tank with precious fuel, every drop used is spent and will not be refilled. That’s youth when you are young. At the young stage, you are given youth, in it contains, Brain Power, Stamina, Endurance, Vitality, Virility.
What’s young people’s favorite expression? “ I’m young, I’m in my 20s, I just want to have fun, or the 20s are all mine. They put aside school for partying, while burning through precious brain power, learning lyrics to songs and mastering nothing positive. Using there vitality and virility to perform all night every night with the opposite sex. Using up their stamina and endurance partying 7 days a week and going to work the next day. By the time they are 30, and want to turn it around and go back to school, guess what, not much left in the tank.
So while you are young, you put all that fun on the shelf, all that mojo in that tank we call youth, should be spent toward hard work and becoming what ever it is you want to be. At that stage, you were provided with all that you need to make anything of yourself that you desire. Brain Power, Stamina, Endurance, Vitality, Virility…. |
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