The thing that impresses me most about America is the way parents obey their children.
—Edward VIII, 1957Quotes
Rejoice, young man, while you are young, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Follow the inclination of your heart and the desire of your eyes, but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.
—Book of Ecclesiastes, c. 200 BCI’ve never understood why people consider youth a time of freedom and joy. It’s probably because they have forgotten their own.
—Margaret Atwood, 1976No time to marry, no time to settle down, I’m a young woman, and ain’t done runnin’ round.
—Bessie Smith, 1926A sick child is always the mother’s property; her own feelings generally make it so.
—Jane Austen, 1816The distinction between children and adults, while probably useful for some purposes, is at bottom a specious one, I feel. There are only individual egos, crazy for love.
—Donald Barthelme, 1964I was born at a very early age. Before I had time to regret it, I was four and a half years old.
—Groucho Marx, 1959Childhood knows what it wants—to leave childhood behind.
—Jean Cocteau, 1947The young man must store up, the old man must use.
—Seneca the Younger, c. 63Blessed are the young, for they shall inherit the national debt.
—Herbert Hoover, 1936Bright youth passes as quickly as thought.
—Theognis, c. 550 BCGrown up, and that is a terribly hard thing to do. It is much easier to skip it and go from one childhood to another.
—F. Scott Fitzgerald, c. 1940Most men employ the first years of their life in making the last miserable.
—Jean de La Bruyère, 1688