--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: How beautiful is youth! how bright it…" description: "\"How beautiful is youth! how bright it gleams with its illusions, aspirations, dreams! Book of Beginnings, Story without End, Each maid a heroine, and e..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e3/henry-wadsworth-longfellow-284_aspiration_how-beautiful-is-youth-how-bright-it-gle_2946763.jpg" --- # How beautiful is youth! how bright it gleams with its… ![“How beautiful is youth! how bright it gleams with its illusions, aspirations, dreams! Book of Beginnings, Story without End, Each maid a heroine, and each man a friend!” quote by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e3/henry-wadsworth-longfellow-284_aspiration_how-beautiful-is-youth-how-bright-it-gle_2946763.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e3/henry-wadsworth-longfellow-284_aspiration_how-beautiful-is-youth-how-bright-it-gle_2946763.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e3/henry-wadsworth-longfellow-284_aspiration_how-beautiful-is-youth-how-bright-it-gle_2946763.jpg) > “How beautiful is youth! how bright it gleams with its illusions, aspirations, dreams! Book of Beginnings, Story without End, Each maid a heroine, and each man a friend!” [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Youth shines with idealism, yet its dreams are fleeting and fragile. **In simple terms:** Youth is bright but fragile. Key Takeaway Cherish youthful aspirations. Themes idealism transience growth Mood nostalgic inspirational Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - education - career start - first love - creative projects Key Concepts poetry philosophy Questions to Reflect On - How can you sustain youthful optimism? - What balances dreams with reality? A Different Perspective Idealism may lead to disillusionment. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Aspiration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aspiration/) [Beautiful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beautiful/) [Beautiful Youth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beautiful-youth-1867975/) [Beauty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty/) [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Bright Gleams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bright-gleams-4420331/) [Dream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dream/) [Dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams/) [End times](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/end-times/) [Ends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ends/) [Gleam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gleam/) [Heroines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heroines/) [Illusion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illusion/) [Maids](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/maids/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Youth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/youth/) [Youth Bright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/youth-bright-4420330/) ## Related quotes > [“Being beautiful in itself, youth needs no transfiguration: in its abundance of strong life it is drawn to the tragic, and is happy to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-zweig/being-beautiful-in-itself-youth-needs-no-transfiguration-in-its/) [Stefan Zweig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-zweig/) > [“She was beautiful, but her youth, the very awkwardness of her age, prevented her from flaunting it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-j-o-brien/she-was-beautiful-but-her-youth-the-very-awkwardness-of-her-age/) [Richard J. O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-j-o-brien/) > [As the imagination is set to look into the invisible and immaterial, it seems to attract something of their vitality; and though it can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/as-the-imagination-is-set-to-look-into-the-invisible-and-immaterial/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [When thou are not pleased, beloved, Then my heart is sad and darkened, As the shining river darkens When the clouds drop shadows on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/when-thou-are-not-pleased-beloved-then-my-heart-is-sad-and-darkened/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [How can I teach your children gentleness and mercy to the weak, and reverence for life, which in its nakedness and excess, is still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/how-can-i-teach-your-children-gentleness-and-mercy-to-the-weak-and/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [Some feelings are quite untranslatable; no language has yet been found for them. They gleam upon us beautifully through the dim twilight of fancy,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/some-feelings-are-quite-untranslatable-no-language-has-yet-been-found/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [But the good deed, through the ages Living in historic pages, Brighter grows and gleams immortal, Unconsumed by moth or rust.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/but-the-good-deed-through-the-ages-living-in-historic-pages-brighter/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [ It is true that despite occasional gleams of Churchillian eloquence he \[Gen. Douglas MacArthur\] usually spoke poorly. He was far more effective in conversations… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-manchester/it-is-true-that-despite-occasional-gleams-of-churchillian-eloquence/) [William Manchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-manchester/) > [I seem to be a brief light that flashes but once in all the aeons of time a rare, complicated, and all-too-delicate organism on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/i-seem-to-be-a-brief-light-that-flashes-but-once-in-all-the-aeons-of/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [Who dreamed that beauty passes like a dream? For these red lips, with all their mournful pride, Mournful that no new wonder may betide,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/who-dreamed-that-beauty-passes-like-a-dream-for-these-red-lips-with/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [And all my days are trances, And all my nightly dreams Are where thy dark eye glances, And where thy footstep gleams-- In what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/and-all-my-days-are-trances-and-all-my-nightly-dreams-are-where-thy/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [I felt freed to please myself, to find my way as I would, in a world that was much vaster than I had realized…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margo-lanagan/i-felt-freed-to-please-myself-to-find-my-way-as-i-would-in-a-world/) [Margo Lanagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margo-lanagan/) > [ I glanced at Radu. "What, exactly is Louis-Cesare's problem?'. \[..\] Suddenly a speculative gleam lit his eyes. It made me nervous. 'He tends to… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-chance/i-glanced-at-radu-what-exactly-is-louis-cesare-s-problem-suddenly-a/) [Karen Chance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-chance/) > [No matter the style, the farther one goes the more obstacles increase, and the more distant appears the object it is desired to attain.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-georges-noverre/no-matter-the-style-the-farther-one-goes-the-more-obstacles-increase/) [Jean-Georges Noverre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-georges-noverre/) > [“Defy me not for gleam can only shine in my existence" said Darkness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/defy-me-not-for-gleam-can-only-shine-in-my-existence-said-darkness/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow > [The spring came suddenly, bursting upon the world as a child bursts into a room, with a laugh and a shout and hands full…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/the-spring-came-suddenly-bursting-upon-the-world-as-a-child-bursts/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [In old age our bodies are worn-out instruments, on which the soul tries in vain to play the melodies of youth. But because the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/in-old-age-our-bodies-are-worn-out-instruments-on-which-the-soul/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [“ Endymion The rising moon has hid the stars; Her level rays, like golden bars, Lie on the landscape green, With shadows brown between.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/endymion-the-rising-moon-has-hid-the-stars-her-level-rays-like-golden/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [There's nothing fair nor beautiful, but takes Something from thee, that makes it beautiful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/there-s-nothing-fair-nor-beautiful-but-takes-something-from-thee-that/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [Fame comes only when deserved, and then is as inevitable as destiny, for it is destiny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/fame-comes-only-when-deserved-and-then-is-as-inevitable-as-destiny/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [Nature paints not; In oils, but frescoes the great dome of heaven; With sunsets, and the lovely forms of clouds; And flying vapors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/nature-paints-not-in-oils-but-frescoes-the-great-dome-of-heaven-with/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [“  Thus dwelt together in love these simple Acadian farmers,—   Dwelt in the love of God and of man. Alike were they free from   Fear,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/thus-dwelt-together-in-love-these-simple-acadian-farmers-dwelt-in-the/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [The trees are white with dust, that o'er their sleep Wave their broad curtains in the south-wind's breath, While underneath such leafy tents they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/the-trees-are-white-with-dust-that-o-er-their-sleep-wave-their-broad/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [Heights by great men reached and kept were not obtained by sudden flight but, while their companions slept, they were toiling upward in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/heights-by-great-men-reached-and-kept-were-not-obtained-by-sudden/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [All things come round to him who will but wait.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/all-things-come-round-to-him-who-will-but-wait/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [Ah, how skillful grows the hand That obeyeth Love's command! It is the heart, and not the brain, That to the highest doth attain,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/ah-how-skillful-grows-the-hand-that-obeyeth-love-s-command-it-is-the/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [Thus departed Hiawatha, Hiawatha the Beloved, In the glory of the sunset, In the purple mists of evening, To the regions of the home-wind,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/thus-departed-hiawatha-hiawatha-the-beloved-in-the-glory-of-the/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [Books are sepulchres of thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/books-are-sepulchres-of-thought/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [Morality without religion is only a kind of dead reckoning - an endeavor to find our place on a cloudy sea by measuring the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/morality-without-religion-is-only-a-kind-of-dead-reckoning-an/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [Buried was the bloody hatchet; Buried was the dreadful war-club; Buried were all warlike weapons, And the war-cry was forgotten. Then was peace among…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/buried-was-the-bloody-hatchet-buried-was-the-dreadful-war-club-buried/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) [Explore all 755 Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) ## More Aspiration quotes > [To refer even in passing to unpublished or struggling authors and their problems is to put oneself at some risk, so I will say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kingsley-amis/to-refer-even-in-passing-to-unpublished-or-struggling-authors-and/) [Kingsley Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kingsley-amis/) > [The emerging church movement has come to believe that the ultimate context of the spiritual aspirations of a follower of Jesus Christ is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samir-selmanovic/the-emerging-church-movement-has-come-to-believe-that-the-ultimate/) [Samir Selmanovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samir-selmanovic/) > [“No one has any right to tell you that the way you perceive yourself is wrong. Because by doing so, they also discourage the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamand-kojouri/no-one-has-any-right-to-tell-you-that-the-way-you-perceive-yourself/) [Kamand Kojouri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamand-kojouri/) > [We were all children once. And we all share the desire for the well-being of our children, which has always been and will continue…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kofi-annan/we-were-all-children-once-and-we-all-share-the-desire-for-the-well/) [Kofi Annan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kofi-annan/) > [Noise has taken the place of punk rock. People who play noise have no real aspirations to being part of the mainstream culture. Punk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thurston-moore/noise-has-taken-the-place-of-punk-rock-people-who-play-noise-have-no/) [Thurston Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thurston-moore/) > [“A responsible woman doesn’t see opportunities and needs and look the other way pretending not to see them rather she gets to work to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agu-jaachynma-n-e/a-responsible-woman-doesn-t-see-opportunities-and-needs-and-look-the/) [Agu Jaachynma N.E](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agu-jaachynma-n-e/) > [Our task today is to bring India to the threshold of the twenty-first century, free of burden of poverty, legacy of our colonial past,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajiv-gandhi/our-task-today-is-to-bring-india-to-the-threshold-of-the-twenty-first/) [Rajiv Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajiv-gandhi/) > [I know well, Monsieur, how much you have to endure in your present duty, and I ask Our Lord to strengthen you in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vincent-de-paul/i-know-well-monsieur-how-much-you-have-to-endure-in-your-present-duty/) [Vincent de Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vincent-de-paul/) > [“Don't die without fulfilling your purpose.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaachynma-n-e-agu/don-t-die-without-fulfilling-your-purpose/) [Jaachynma N.E. Agu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaachynma-n-e-agu/) > [“Eschew evil and it's machinations.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaachynma-n-e-agu/eschew-evil-and-it-s-machinations/) [Jaachynma N.E. Agu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaachynma-n-e-agu/) > [ One of the great crimes of the Bloomberg/Klein administration \[in New York City\] is that they've removed themselves from communities, as if communities have… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/one-of-the-great-crimes-of-the-bloomberg-klein-administration-in-new/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [You boys know what tropism is, it's what makes a plant grow toward the light. Everything aspires to the light. You don't have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/you-boys-know-what-tropism-is-it-s-what-makes-a-plant-grow-toward-the/) [Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) > [The world of rumor and gossip is like a privileged world with which a social scientist or an anthropologist can take the temperature of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-c-scott/the-world-of-rumor-and-gossip-is-like-a-privileged-world-with-which-a/) [James C. Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-c-scott/) > [“Don't let any situation intimidate you anymore, don't accept defeat anymore.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaachynma-n-e-agu/don-t-let-any-situation-intimidate-you-anymore-don-t-accept-defeat/) [Jaachynma N.E. Agu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaachynma-n-e-agu/) > [The most important part of our lives-our sensations, emotions, desires, and aspirations-takes place in a universe of illusions which science can attenuate or destroy,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-wood-krutch/the-most-important-part-of-our-lives-our-sensations-emotions-desires/) [Joseph Wood Krutch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-wood-krutch/) [Browse all 1,137 Aspiration quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aspiration/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "How beautiful is youth! how bright it gleams with its illusions, aspirations, dreams! Book of Beginnings, Story without End, Each maid a heroine, and each man a friend!", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Henry Wadsworth Longfellow" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/how-beautiful-is-youth-how-bright-it-gleams-with-its-illusions/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Aspiration" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/how-beautiful-is-youth-how-bright-it-gleams-with-its-illusions/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e3/henry-wadsworth-longfellow-284_aspiration_how-beautiful-is-youth-how-bright-it-gle_2946763.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e3/henry-wadsworth-longfellow-284_aspiration_how-beautiful-is-youth-how-bright-it-gle_2946763.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e3/henry-wadsworth-longfellow-284_aspiration_how-beautiful-is-youth-how-bright-it-gle_2946763.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“How beautiful is youth! how bright it gleams with its illusions, aspirations, dreams! Book of Beginnings…” — Henry Wadsworth Longfellow", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Henry Wadsworth Longfellow", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "How beautiful is youth! how bright...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/how-beautiful-is-youth-how-bright-it-gleams-with-its-illusions/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/how-beautiful-is-youth-how-bright-it-gleams-with-its-illusions/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```