WIST Quotations

Thoreau, Henry David -- Walden; or, Life in the Woods, ch. 1 “Economy” (1854)

Dave — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 19:33:25 +0000

Age is no better, hardly so well, qualified for an instructor as youth, for it has not profited so much as it has lost.

Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) American philosopher and writer
Walden; or, Life in the Woods, ch. 1 “Economy” (1854)
(Source)

Lee, Tanith -- Drinking Sapphire Wine, Part 3, ch. 6 [Narrator] (1977)

Dave — Fri, 01 May 2026 22:15:16 +0000

Never respect years, only deeds.

Tanith Lee (1947–2015) British author
Drinking Sapphire Wine, Part 3, ch. 6 [Narrator] (1977)
(Source)

Doctor Who (1963) -- 26×02 “Ghost Light,” Part 2 (1989-10-11) [w. Marc Platt]

Dave — Wed, 14 Jan 2026 20:27:09 +0000

THE DOCTOR: It’s very, very old. Perhaps even older.

Doctor Who (1963–1989) British science fiction television series, original run (BBC)
26×02 “Ghost Light,” Part 2 (1989-10-11) [w. Marc Platt]
(Source)

(Source (Video))

Hoover, Herbert -- Speech (1944-06-27), “Freedom in America and the World,” Republican National Convention, Chicago

Dave — Mon, 15 Sep 2025 16:40:18 +0000

Older men declare war. But it is youth who must fight and die. And it is youth who must inherit the tribulation, the sorrow, and the triumphs that are the aftermath of war.

Herbert Hoover (1874–1964) American engineer, bureaucrat, US President (1929–33)
Speech (1944-06-27), “Freedom in America and the World,” Republican National Convention, Chicago
(Source)

Carlin, George -- Show (2008-03-01), It’s Bad for Ya, “Old Fuck,” Wells Fargo Center, Santa Rosa, California (HBO)

Dave — Wed, 10 Sep 2025 17:24:08 +0000

Another nice thing about getting old is you can leave any social event early just by saying you’re tired.

George Carlin (1937–2008) American comedian
Show (2008-03-01), It’s Bad for Ya, “Old Fuck,” Wells Fargo Center, Santa Rosa, California (HBO)

(Source (Audio); dialogue verified)

Variant: "One great thing about getting old is that you can get out of all sorts of social obligations just by saying you're tired."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1878-03), “Crabbed Age and Youth,” Cornhill Magazine, Vol. 37

Dave — Fri, 20 Jun 2025 17:51:42 +0000

When the old man waggles his head and says, “Ah, so I thought when I was your age,” he has proved the youth’s case. Doubtless, whether from growth of experience or decline of animal heat, he thinks so no longer; but he thought so while he was young; and all men have thought so while they were young, since there was dew in the morning or hawthorn in May; and here is another young man adding his vote to those of previous generations and riveting another link to the chain of testimony.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Essay (1878-03), “Crabbed Age and Youth,” Cornhill Magazine, Vol. 37
(Source)

Collected in Virginibus Puerisque and Other Papers, ch. 2 (1881).

Peters, Ellis -- Cadfael Chronicles No. 21, Brother Cadfael’s Penance, ch. 2 (1994)

Dave — Thu, 13 Mar 2025 17:37:06 +0000

Cadfael buckled his saddlebags before him, and mounted a little stiffly, but with plain pleasure. Considerately, Hugh refrained from offering help. Sixty-five is an age deserving of respect and reverence from the young, but those who have reached it do not always like to be reminded.

Ellis Peters (1913–1995) English writer, translator [pseud. of Edith Mary Pargeter, who also wrote under the names John Redfern, Jolyon Carr, Peter Benedict]
Cadfael Chronicles No. 21, Brother Cadfael’s Penance, ch. 2 (1994)
(Source)

Euripides -- Bellerophon [Βελλεροφῶν], frag. 291 (TGF) (c. 430 BC) [tr. Collard, Hargreaves, Cropp (1995)]

Dave — Tue, 29 Aug 2023 15:02:52 +0000

My son, young men’s arms are indeed taut for action, but old men’s counsels are better; for time teaches the most subtle lessons.

Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Bellerophon [Βελλεροφῶν], frag. 291 (TGF) (c. 430 BC) [tr. Collard, Hargreaves, Cropp (1995)]
(Source)

Another translation:

Son, the hands of young men always itch for action, but the
judgment of the old is sounder.
Time teaches discrimination
[tr. Stevens (2012)]

Homer -- The Iliad [Ἰλιάς], Book 3, l. 108ff (3.108-110) [Menelaus] (c. 750 BC) [tr. Lattimore (1951)]

Dave — Wed, 26 Aug 2020 20:30:14 +0000

Always it is, that the hearts in the younger men are frivolous,
but when an elder man is among them, he looks behind him
and in front, so that all comes out far better for both sides.

[Αἰεὶ δ’ ὁπλοτέρων ἀνδρῶν φρένες ἠερέθονται·
οἷς δ’ ὁ γέρων μετέῃσιν ἅμα πρόσσω καὶ ὀπίσσω
λεύσσει, ὅπως ὄχ’ ἄριστα μετ’ ἀμφοτέροισι γένηται.]

Homer (fl. 7th-8th C. BC) Greek author
The Iliad [Ἰλιάς], Book 3, l. 108ff (3.108-110) [Menelaus] (c. 750 BC) [tr. Lattimore (1951)]
(Source)

Alt. trans.:

All young men’s hearts are still unstaid; but in those well-weigh'd deeds
An old man will consent to pass things past, and what succeeds
He looks into, that he may know, how best to make his way
Through both the fortunes of a fact, and will the worst obey.
[tr. Chapman (1611), ll. 113-16]

And youth itself an empty wavering state:
Cool age advances, venerably wise,
Turns on all hands its deep-discerning eyes;
Sees what befell, and what may yet befall,
Concludes from both, and best provides for all.
[tr. Pope (1715-20)]

Young men are ever of unstable mind;
But when an elder interferes, he views
Future and past together, and insures
The compact, to both parties, uninfringed.
[tr. Cowper (1791), ll. 124-27]

For the minds of younger men are ever fluctuating; but for those among whom a senior is present, he looks at the same time both backward and forward, in order that the best results may accrue to both parties.
[tr. Buckley (1860)]

For young men's spirits are too quickly stirr'd;
But in the councils check'd by rev'rend age,
Alike are weigh'd the future and the past,
And for all int'rests due provision made.
[tr. Derby (1864), ll. 130-34]

Young men's minds are light as air, but when an old man comes he looks before and after, deeming that which shall be fairest upon both sides.
[tr. Butler (1898)]

Ever unstable are the hearts of the young; but in whatsoever an old man taketh part, he looketh both before and after, that the issue may be far the best for either side.
[tr. Murray (1924), #95]

The younger men
are changeable; he in his age among them,
looking before and after, can see clearly
what shall be in the interests of all.
[tr. Fitzgerald (1974), l. 128ff]

The minds of the younger men are always flighty,
but let an old man stand his ground among them,
one who can see the days behind, the days ahead --
that is the best hope for peace, for both our armies.
[tr. Fagles (1990), ll. 131-34]

Always in fact do the spirits in younger men flutter unsteady;
but with an elder among them, at once the before and the after
he can observe, so that things will become far better for both sides.
[tr. Merrill (2007), ll. 108-110]

Stross, Charles -- The Fuller Memorandum (2010)

Dave — Tue, 07 Feb 2017 17:44:22 +0000

As the man put it: Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. Any sufficiently advanced alien intelligence is indistinguishable from God — the angry monotheistic sadist subtype. And the elder ones … aren’t friendly. (See? I told you I’d rather be an atheist!)

Charles "Charlie" Stross (b. 1964) British writer
The Fuller Memorandum (2010)

See Clarke. .

Peter, Lawrence J. -- Peter’s Quotations (1977)

Dave — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 13:41:01 +0000

Middle age is when you stop criticizing the older generation and start criticizing the younger one.

Lawrence J. Peter (1919–1990) American educator, management theorist
Peter’s Quotations (1977)