
“Young men, hear an old man to whom old men hearkened when he was young.”
Miramon, in Ch. XXXII : The Redemption of Poictesme
Figures of Earth (1921)
“Young men, hear an old man to whom old men hearkened when he was young.”
“Young men," said Cæsar, "hear an old man to whom old men hearkened when he was young.”
Cæsar Augustus
Roman Apophthegms
The Columbia River Collection (1941), Biggest Thing That Man Has Ever Done
Not found in Twain's works, this was attributed to him in Reader's Digest (September 1939): no prior attribution known. Mark Twain’s father died when Twain was eleven years old.
Disputed
Variant: When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.
Source: Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), p. 62
Duane Dudek (October 12, 1995) "The Development of an Actor", Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, p. 1.