There's an old joke about an adult offspring saying to his father, "Dad, the older I get, the smarter you get." The joke is usually told rather smugly by the father. But, at fifty-eight, something I've learned is that an old man's wisdom is completely useless to the young person we're trying to impart it to. Youth is a time for doing, rather than reflecting on why you shouldn't.
I recently found a quote in Naguib Mahfouz's Palace of Desire that agrees with my opinion. Keep in mind, though, that the quote is from a very young character.
"Be careful not to mock youthful dreams, for that's a symptom of senility. People afflicted by this disease term their sarcasm 'wisdom.'"
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment