“In youth men are apt to write more wisely than they really know or feel; and the remainder of life may be not idly spent in realizing and convincing themselves of the wisdom which they uttered long ago.”
The Snow-Image, and Other Tales, Preface http://www.eldritchpress.org/nh/sipf.html (1852)
Help us to complete the source, original and additional information
Nathaniel Hawthorne 128
American novelist and short story writer (1804 – 1879) 1804–1864Related quotes

A Narrative of Some of the Lord's Dealings with George Müller Written by Himself, Third Part.
Third Part of Narrative

“Sweet songs of youth, the wise, the meeting of all wisdom
To believe in the good in man.”
Lyrics of "Loved by the Sun", on the soundtrack of the film Legend (1986).
“The Phaedrus and the Nature of Rhetoric,” p. 24.
The Ethics of Rhetoric (1953)

Preface
1910s, The Doctor's Dilemma (1911)
Variant: A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.
Context: Attention and activity lead to mistakes as well as to successes; but a life spent in making mistakes is not only more honorable but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.