“At thirty, man suspects himself a fool;
Knows it at forty, and reforms his plan;
At fifty chides his infamous delay,
Pushes his prudent purpose to resolve;
In all the magnanimity of thought
Resolves, and re-resolves; then dies the same.”

Source: Night-Thoughts (1742–1745), Night I, Line 417.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "At thirty, man suspects himself a fool; Knows it at forty, and reforms his plan; At fifty chides his infamous delay, …" by Edward Young?
Edward Young photo
Edward Young 110
English poet 1683–1765

Related quotes

Matthew Arnold photo

“Resolve to be thyself; and know, that he
Who finds himself, loses his misery.”

Matthew Arnold (1822–1888) English poet and cultural critic who worked as an inspector of schools

"Self-Dependence" (1852), lines 31-32
Source: The Poetical Works of Matthew Arnold

“The evolution of scientific thought is inseparable from the history of man's efforts to resolve the perplexities of his own existence.”

Tobias Dantzig (1884–1956) American mathematician

Henri Poincaré, Critic of Crisis: Reflections on His Universe of Discourse (1954), Ch. 2. The Age of Innocence

Aeschylus photo

“His resolve is not to seem, but to be, the best.”

Aeschylus (-525–-456 BC) ancient Athenian playwright

Source: Seven Against Thebes (467 BC), line 592; compare: esse quam videri.

Horace photo

“The man who is tenacious of purpose in a rightful cause is not shaken from his firm resolve by the frenzy of his fellow citizens clamoring for what is wrong, or by the tyrant's threatening countenance.”
Iustum et tenacem propositi virum non civium ardor prava iubentium, non vultus instantis tyranni mente quatit solida.

Horace book Odes

Book III, ode iii, line 1
Odes (c. 23 BC and 13 BC)

Joseph Addison photo

“The man resolved, and steady to his trust,
Inflexible to ill, and obstinately just,
May the rude rabble's insolence despise”

Joseph Addison (1672–1719) politician, writer and playwright

Translation of Horace, Odes, Book III, ode iii.
Context: The man resolved, and steady to his trust,
Inflexible to ill, and obstinately just,
May the rude rabble's insolence despise,
Their senseless clamours and tumultuous cries;
The tyrant's fierceness he beguiles,
And the stern brow, and the harsh voice defies,
And with superior greatness smiles.

Ursula K. Le Guin photo

“He resolved not to speak again until he had controlled his temper.”

Ursula K. Le Guin (1929–2018) American writer

Source: Earthsea Books, The Farthest Shore (1972), Chapter 3, "Hort Town"

John Dryden photo

“I am resolved to grow fat, and look young till forty.”

The Maiden Queen, Act iii, scene 1.
Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919)

Gerard Manley Hopkins photo

“On this day by God's grace I resolved to give up all beauty until I had His leave for it.”

Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–1889) English poet

Journal entry (6 November 1865), as reported in In Extremity: A Study of Gerard Manley Hopkins (1978) by John Robinson, p. 1

“His majesty could not see why the principle was not applicable to politics. He resolved to try it.”

Alexander Bryan Johnson (1786–1867) United States philosopher and banker

The Philosophical Emperor, a Political Experiment, or, The Progress of a False Position: (1841)
Context: His majesty recollected the celebrated quack doctor, who when asked why his patrons were more numerous than those of regular practitioners, replied, that he was patronised by the fools, who are numerous in every community, while regular physicians are patronised by the wise, who are few. His majesty could not see why the principle was not applicable to politics. He resolved to try it. He would so govern as to be patronised by the numerous class, and leave the desires of the few to be regarded by some future emperor, who should choose to make so unpromising an experiment.

Related topics