“One of the virtues of being very young is that you don't let the facts get in the way of your imagination.”

—  Sam Levenson

Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "One of the virtues of being very young is that you don't let the facts get in the way of your imagination." by Sam Levenson?
Sam Levenson photo
Sam Levenson11
American journalist 1911–1980

Related quotes

Noel Gallagher photo

“You've got to say what you say / Don't let anybody get in your way”

Noel Gallagher (1967) British musician

Roll With It
(What's the Story) Morning Glory? (1995)

Joe Hill photo

“You can't let facts get in the way of the truth.”

Joe Hill (1879–1915) Swedish-American labor activist, songwriter, and member of the Industrial Workers of the World

Source: NOS4A2

Matthew Prior photo

“Be to her virtues very kind;
Be to her faults a little blind;
Let all her ways be unconfined;
And clap your padlock — on her mind!”

Matthew Prior (1664–1721) British diplomat, poet

An English Padlock (1707).

“The educated don't get that way by memorizing facts; they get that way by respecting them.”

Tom Heehler American author

The Well-Spoken Thesaurus (2011)

Lois McMaster Bujold photo

“Let me tell you, young man—the dirty little secret of democracy is that just because you get a vote, doesn’t mean you get your choice.”

Lois McMaster Bujold Vorkosigan Saga

Source: Vorkosigan Saga, Cryoburn (2010), Chapter 3 (p. 51)

James Baldwin photo

“And, at the risk of losing forever your so remarkably candid friendship, let me tell you something. Confusion is a luxury which only the very, very young can possibly afford, and you are not that young any more.”

James Baldwin book Giovanni's Room

Pt. 1, Ch. 2 - p.36
Giovanni's Room (1956)

George Orwell photo

“Most people get a fair amount of fun out of their lives, but on balance life is suffering, and only the very young or the very foolish imagine otherwise.”

George Orwell (1903–1950) English author and journalist

"Lear, Tolstoy and the Fool," Polemic (March 1947)
Context: A normal human being does not want the Kingdom of Heaven: he wants life on earth to continue. This is not solely because he is "weak," "sinful" and anxious for a "good time." Most people get a fair amount of fun out of their lives, but on balance life is suffering, and only the very young or the very foolish imagine otherwise. Ultimately it is the Christian attitude which is self-interested and hedonistic, since the aim is always to get away from the painful struggle of earthly life and find eternal peace in some kind of Heaven or Nirvana. The humanist attitude is that the struggle must continue and that death is the price of life.

Paul Claudel photo

“For things and for poems, there is but one way of being new, and that is to be true; there is only one way of being young, and that is to be eternal.”

Paul Claudel (1868–1955) French diplomat

Il n'y a pour les choses et pour les poèmes qu'une seule manière d'être nouveaux, c'est d'être vrais et qu'une seule manière d'être jeunes, c'est d'être éternels.
Positions et propositions (Paris: Gallimard, 1928) p. 16; John O'Connor (trans.) Ways and Crossways (London: Sheed & Ward, 1935) p. 49.

Related topics