“Human nature is so well disposed towards those who are in interesting situations, that a young person, who either marries or dies, is sure of being kindly spoken of
“Memory in youth is active and easily impressible; in old age it is comparatively callous to new impressions, but still retains vividly those of earlier years
“Youth is happy because it has the ability to see beauty. Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old.
“It is through the idealism of youth that man catches sight of truth, and in that idealism he possesses a wealth which he must never exchange for anything else
“Imagination grows by exercise, and contrary to common belief, is more powerful in the mature than in the young.
“He who would pass his declining years with honor and comfort, should, when young, consider that he may one day become old, and remember when he is old, that he has once been young
“The young do not know enough to be prudent, and therefore they attempt the impossible - and achieve it, generation after generation
“Boys are capital fellows in their own way, among their mates; but they are unwholesome companions for grown people
“How beautiful is youth! how bright it gleams with its illusions, aspirations, dreams! Book of beginnings, story without end, each maid a heroine, and each man a friend!
“In sorrow he learned this truth: Though one may return to the place of his birth, he cannot go back to his youth
“Young men of this class never do anything for themselves that they can get other people to do for them, and it is the infatuation, the devotion, the superstition of others that keeps them going. These others in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred are women.
“There are so many things about which some old man ought to tell one while one is little; for when one is grown one would know them as a matter of course