Is youth wasted on the young?

MarkD

MarkD

Keeper of the Hounds & Garden
Location
San Francisco Bay Area
I don’t think so and this well respected novelist agrees with me.

Just came across a gem of a quote in a book of short stories titled Learning To Talk by Hilary Mantel, better known for Wolf Hall and its sequels, winning two Booker Prizes. From the story from which the collection is named reflecting back on when she was made to take elocution classes with a Ms Webster:

“There should be support groups, like a twelve step program, for young people who hate being young. Since I was at other people’s mercy, I did not care what I did, go to Miss Webster or whatever. It’s only later that you think about the years wasted; if I had to have a youth, I wish now it could have been misspent.”

Unlike Ms Mantel I think I squandered my youth brilliantly. No regrets.
 

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I will be 79 soon. I feel youthful, I think youthfully, and I want to stay that way. My mother, God rest her soul, passed on her apparently dominant youthful genes to me (and to my 2 sibs). I am the youngest of three and we are still full of youthfulness..
I am quite happy being at this point in life. I don't think I would trade it for a more youthful (in yrs) self. Or, maybe I just don't understand what that phrase means....youth is wasted on the young.
 

jpstrap said:
I will be 79 soon. I feel youthful, I think youthfully, and I want to stay that way. My mother, God rest her soul, passed on her apparently dominant youthful genes to me (and to my 2 sibs). I am the youngest of three and we are still full of youthfulness..
I am quite happy being at this point in life. I don't think I would trade it for a more youthful (in yrs) self. Or, maybe I just don't understand what that phrase means....youth is wasted on the young.
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I think it is said because they don’t seem to value it the way we would from our perspective. Not altogether fair, of course. It’s like expecting fish to value water. It is totally taken for granted as the world they swim in. And when you’re young do you really believe you will truly ever become decrepit?

You’re further along than I am but at 71 the only thing I have left that is youthful is my dog who turns three this month and my 18 year old niece.
 
It was the Irish dramatist and author George Bernard Shaw who famously declared that “youth is wasted on the young.” He later expounded upon his derogatory remark about young people of the day that “they're brainless, and don't know what they have; they squander every opportunity of being young, on being young.” Shaw, among other things, describes himself a socialist, an activist, an intellectual, a playwright, an author and a critic. He was never backward in coming forward, was he?

So if youth is wasted on the young, it can be said, at least in my case, wisdom is wasted on the old.
 
horseless carriage said:
It was the Irish dramatist and author George Bernard Shaw who famously declared that “youth is wasted on the young.” He later expounded upon his derogatory remark about young people of the day that “they're brainless, and don't know what they have; they squander every opportunity of being young, on being young.” Shaw, among other things, describes himself a socialist, an activist, an intellectual, a playwright, an author and a critic. He was never backward in coming forward, was he?

So if youth is wasted on the young, it can be said, at least in my case, wisdom is wasted on the old.
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That's an interesting viewpoint. What I miss about my youth is the high level of energy, the dexterity, athleticism, and the wide-eyed wonder at every turn. I do not miss the naivety and the indifference to risky activity. Too bad we cannot have youth and wisdom all through our lifespan. We'd be a different lot for sure.
 
The young don't know they are young. When we were young we thought we'd live to be a healthy, strong, 104; come in from a 12 K run, and a 10 mile hike, have sex and die in our sleep. I guarantee that we never thought, some day, we might not have the strength to get the lid off a mayonnaise jar. The young don't know what it means to be old, but the old know what it means to be young.
 
If it is, then I wasted my portion along with others. Here I am now almost 76, and I don't think I would wish to repeat my first 75 years. I've told my wife, that even though we have faced some difficult times during our lives, I still feel that we have lived a charmed life. We live comfortably, we have four good children and families from them. So what if we wasted a bit of our youth.
 
IDK. I don't miss years or eras so much as I miss people. I miss the people I cared about who have died.

Einstein's Opinion on Time:

"A close friend of Einstein’s, Michele Besso, passed away in 1955. Only a month before his own death, Einstein wrote to Besso’s grieving family.
His letter said, “Now he has departed from this strange world a little ahead of me. That signifies nothing. For those of us who believe in physics, the distinction between past, present and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion."

Obviously, at the time of his writing Einstein had some profound thoughts about the nature of time."
More here: Einstein's Theory and Time | American Museum of Natural History.
"Einstein passed by the clock towers again on his way home, a route he often took with his closest friend, Michele Besso. The two men regularly discussed science and philosophy—including the nature of time. After one such discussion, Einstein came to a sudden realization: Time is not absolute. In other words, despite our common perception that a second is always a second everywhere in the universe, the rate at which time flows depends upon where you are and how fast you are traveling. Einstein thanked Besso in his first paper on the Special Theory of Relativity."

I saw "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" on TV the other day. This has surely influenced this post. But yeah, more than youth I miss the people of that past. What can we do? Such is life.

But when I think about Time, I think, "These young people, they don't know. They don't know they really should have children." To have a child, is, IMO, a chance to introduce someone to the mysteries, troubles, and the glories, of this life - to let them grapple with Time too, and isn't that what life IS? Grappling with Time?

But they are so afraid - so afraid of letting others grapple with Time, as if ANY of us can actually win, right? Time always wins. Let's see Elon Musk beat TIME. But they are so afraid they won't even join in the fight.

And that's on US. That's on us older people to show them the way, show them it will be OK and every generation before you has grappled with Life and Time and you will too. And so will your children no matter how much money you earn.

I've gotten quite philosophical. But it was a philosophical question.
 
youth is the young - nothing is wasted - all is enjoyed - should be enjoyed. Don't we sometimes look back at our youth and wish we can return?
 
VintageBetter said:
IDK. I don't miss years or eras so much as I miss people. I miss the people I cared about who have died.

Einstein's Opinion on Time:

"A close friend of Einstein’s, Michele Besso, passed away in 1955. Only a month before his own death, Einstein wrote to Besso’s grieving family.
His letter said, “Now he has departed from this strange world a little ahead of me. That signifies nothing. For those of us who believe in physics, the distinction between past, present and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion."

Obviously, at the time of his writing Einstein had some profound thoughts about the nature of time."
More here: Einstein's Theory and Time | American Museum of Natural History.
"Einstein passed by the clock towers again on his way home, a route he often took with his closest friend, Michele Besso. The two men regularly discussed science and philosophy—including the nature of time. After one such discussion, Einstein came to a sudden realization: Time is not absolute. In other words, despite our common perception that a second is always a second everywhere in the universe, the rate at which time flows depends upon where you are and how fast you are traveling. Einstein thanked Besso in his first paper on the Special Theory of Relativity."

I saw "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" on TV the other day. This has surely influenced this post. But yeah, more than youth I miss the people of that past. What can we do? Such is life.

But when I think about Time, I think, "These young people, they don't know. They don't know they really should have children." To have a child, is, IMO, a chance to introduce someone to the mysteries, troubles, and the glories, of this life - to let them grapple with Time too, and isn't that what life IS? Grappling with Time?

But they are so afraid - so afraid of letting others grapple with Time, as if ANY of us can actually win, right? Time always wins. Let's see Elon Musk beat TIME. But they are so afraid they won't even join in the fight.

And that's on US. That's on us older people to show them the way, show them it will be OK and every generation before you has grappled with Life and Time and you will too. And so will your children no matter how much money you earn.

I've gotten quite philosophical. But it was a philosophical question.
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Pretty sure there is no rule against getting philosophical, only one against getting political. I enjoyed reading your reply even though I believe it is a good thing young people are not insisting on having more kids themselves. Without having any of my own I’ve been able to help many as a relative or teacher and over population has consequences which can be seen coming and avoided.
 
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One of my friends has a wonderful grandson, a young man in his early twenties. When that grandson learned that I didn't have any children he announced that he had adopted me as his honorary grandfather. That was over ten years ago, we text each other almost daily.

Thinking about this thread I sent him the message, "Is youth wasted on the young?" His reply made me smile. "Some say youth is wasted on the young, I say wealth is wasted on the old." Touché young man, I shall keep that up my sleeve until the time is right.

​

 
I don't know about youth being wasted on the young, but energy is. Too many kids sit around playing on their phones, instead of being active. If they aren't going to use the energy they have available, I would be glad to take some of it. I could use a bit more energy these days.
 
feywon said:
My problem is that the statement assumes ALL children have idyllic, carefree lives till they reach adulthood. Not so, a staggering number suffer neglect and/or abuse; inadequate nutrition, mental stimulation and emotional support.
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That's true. There is nothing inevitable about being young and being carefree. But I do think that having an opportunity for unstructured play and exercising their imagination is good for children in a way that makes becoming a well adjusted adult more likely. Though taking on ever more responsibility is also important.
 
'Who originally said youth is wasted on the young?
author George Bernard Shaw

It was the great Irish dramatist and author George Bernard Shaw who famously declared that “youth is wasted on the young.” He later expounded upon his derogatory remark about young people of the day that “they're brainless, and don't know what they have; they squander every opportunity of being young, on being young.” ..."
Is Youth Really Wasted on the Young?
 
MarkD said:
Pretty sure there is no rule against getting philosophical, only one against getting political. I enjoyed reading your reply even though I believe it is a good thing young people are not insisting on having more kids themselves. Without having any of my own I’ve been able to help many as a relative or teacher and over population has consequences which can be seen coming and avoided.
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Oh there re RULES about everything on the Internet ! Usually I don't know about them until I have broken one!

I got in trouble once for referring to young adults as "young" with an Internet devotee. E.g. Can't call anyone a pregnant woman anymore in many corners of the Internet. Now you must call them a pregnant person.

SIGH!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
MarkD said:
Pretty sure there is no rule against getting philosophical, only one against getting political. I enjoyed reading your reply even though I believe it is a good thing young people are not insisting on having more kids themselves. Without having any of my own I’ve been able to help many as a relative or teacher and over population has consequences which can be seen coming and avoided.
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But did you choose not to have kids because you were terrified of the future?

That's what I'm arguing against. I'm arguing against the blind terror that is, of course, spread by the Internet. I think there are people today who very much want children, but the terror or judgment of the peer group stops them.
 
jpstrap said:
I do not miss the naivety and the indifference to risky activity. Too bad we cannot have youth and wisdom all through our lifespan. We'd be a different lot for sure.
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I think that's the meaning of "youth is wasted on the young". I seem to occasionally fall into that sentiment, but there also seems to have been an inevitability to the naivety, the areas of ignorance. No matter how well one did in school, most are still "kids" at 25, and I believe some still are at 30. Learning, digesting, growing in perspective... that's how it goes.
 
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