It’s commonly said that “youth is wasted on the young”. The implication is that the young have the energy, vigour and vitality to do all the things which the older and wiser wished they still could. That we’d relive things and “do it right” this time — dance more, love more, smile more, drink more (or less); in short live more. And probably borrow less.
But this is all backwards. Youth isn’t wasted on the young.
I think that it’s pointless pining for lost youth. Stupidity is part of being young. Wisdom is costly and there’s no way to earn it but to stick around for a while.
So instead of giving youth to the wise, it might be more useful to give wisdom to the young. After all, each is about as impossible as the other. So stuff wasted youth, here’s my new axiom of this ancient curse:
Wisdom is wasted on the wise.