弗朗西斯·培根/Francis Bacon
A man that is young in years,may be old in hours,if he have lost n o time.But that happened rarely.Generally,youth is like the first cog itations,not so wise as the second.For there is a youth in thoughts,as well as in ages.
And yet the invention of young men,is more lively than that of old;and imaginations stream into their minds better,and,as it were,more d ivinely.Natures that have much heat,and great and violent desires and perturbations,are not ripe for action,till they have passed the meridi an of their years;as it was with Julius Caesar and Septimius Severus...
Young men are fitter to invent,than to judge;fitter for execution,than for counsel;and fitter for new projects,than for settled business.For the experience of age,in things that fall within the compass of i t,directeth them;but in new things,abuseth them.
The errors of young men,are the ruin of business;but the errors of aged men,amount but to this,that more might have been done,or sooner.Young men,in the conduct and manage of actions,embrace more than they can hold;stir more than they can quiet;fly to the end,without conside ration of the means and degrees;pursue some few principles,which they have chanced upon absurdly care not to innovate,which draws unknown inc onveniences;use extreme remedies at first;and,that which doubleth all errors,will not acknowledge or retract them;like an unready horse,tha t will neither stop nor turn.Men of age object too much,consult too lo ng,adventure too little,repent too soon,and seldom drive business hom e to the full period,but content themselves with a mediocrity of succes s.Certainly it is good to compound employments of both;for that will b e good for the present,because the virtues of either age,may correct t he defects of both;and good for succession,that young men may be learn ers,while men in age are actors;and,lastly,good for extern accidents,because authority followeth old men,and favor and popularity,youth.But for the moral part,perhaps youth will have the pre-eminence,as age hath for the politic.