YOUTH VERSUS AGE 



Every man is the product of his time, and the world is 

 never static. Wherefore it follows that each successive 

 generation must differ somewhat in the atmosphere of its 

 culture from every other generation. The attitude of 

 one generation toward another must then partake in 

 lesser degree of the attitude of one nation toward an- 

 other; an attitude expressed by the word alien. No 

 man finds himself quite at home, as the saying is, 

 among foreigners; and similarly no man can find him- 

 self quite at home except among companions of his own 

 generation. 



Familiar illustrations of the truth of this last ele- 

 mentary proposition may be found at once on examining 

 the various companies or cliques of companionship 

 among the individuals of your own community. But 

 the principle, to be of universal application, requires 

 a word of interpretation. It is necessary to understand 

 an important fact which is often overlooked; the fact, 

 namely, that mere age in years is not the necessary and 

 final test of the generation to which any given individ- 

 ual belongs. The phrase u An old head on young 

 shoulders " has its connotations in fact; so too are there 

 individuals who may justly be said to be seventy or 

 eighty years young. 



Generally, but not always, is memory so fleeting 

 that the later years bring forgetfulness of the thoughts 

 and aspirations of the earlier ones. Generally, but not 

 always, are the earlier years marked by visionary en- 

 thusiasms and immaturity of judgment. Alexander 

 by his own efforts became dictator of Greece before he 

 was twenty, and master of the world before he was 



