--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Live as long as you may, the first twenty…" description: "\"Live as long as you may, the first twenty years are the longest half of your life. They appear so while they are passing; they seem to have been so whe..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/413/robert-southey-4115_firsts_live-as-long-as-you-may-the-first-twenty_152181.jpg" --- # Live as long as you may, the first twenty years are the… ![“Live as long as you may, the first twenty years are the longest half of your life. They appear so while they are passing; they seem to have been so when we look back on them; and they take up more room in our memory than all the years that succeed them.” quote by Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/413/robert-southey-4115_firsts_live-as-long-as-you-may-the-first-twenty_152181.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/413/robert-southey-4115_firsts_live-as-long-as-you-may-the-first-twenty_152181.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/413/robert-southey-4115_firsts_live-as-long-as-you-may-the-first-twenty_152181.jpg) > “Live as long as you may, the first twenty years are the longest half of your life. They appear so while they are passing; they seem to have been so when we look back on them; and they take up more room in our memory than all the years that succeed them.” [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Early adulthood feels disproportionately long because memories are vivid and time perception stretches during formative years. **In simple terms:** Youth feels longer due to vivid memories. Key Takeaway Cherish and learn from early experiences. Themes memory time perception youth Mood reflective nostalgic Type philosophical observational When to use this quote - college years - first job - first relationships - travel adventures Key Concepts psychology nostalgia developmental stages Questions to Reflect On - How do you reflect on your youth now? - What lessons from early years guide you today? A Different Perspective Later years may feel slower, making early memories seem even more dominant. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Memories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memories/) [Twenties](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/twenties/) ## Related quotes > [Live as long as you may, the first twenty years are the longest half of your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/live-as-long-as-you-may-the-first-twenty-years-are-the-longest-half-2/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [I'm desperate to work again. 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Forty years of memories, shared by the two of you. From…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/one-by-one-each-year-flew-by-since-you-both-said-i-do-forty-years-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I still remember, all the nights that the world just passed us by. Its been 6 long years 18 days 24/7 trying to ease…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-moccia/i-still-remember-all-the-nights-that-the-world-just-passed-us-by-its/) Nick Moccia > [Nobody grows old by merely living a number of years. People grow old only by deserting their ideals. 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Waller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-c-waller/) > [People often thought Leopold Auer was Russian because he lived in St. Petersburg so long, almost fifty years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gyorgy-ligeti/people-often-thought-leopold-auer-was-russian-because-he-lived-in-st/) [Gyorgy Ligeti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gyorgy-ligeti/) > [“I see Barsad, and Cly, Defarge, The Vengeance, the Juryman, the Judge, long ranks of the new oppressors who have risen on the destruction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/i-see-barsad-and-cly-defarge-the-vengeance-the-juryman-the-judge-long/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [I can eat Chipotle all day long for years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lennon-parham/i-can-eat-chipotle-all-day-long-for-years/) [Lennon Parham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lennon-parham/) ## More by Robert Southey > [Some voluntary castaways there will always be, whom no fostering kindness and no parental care can preserve from self-destruction; but if any are lost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/some-voluntary-castaways-there-will-always-be-whom-no-fostering/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [It has been more wittily than charitably said that hell is paved with good intentions; they have their place in heaven also.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/it-has-been-more-wittily-than-charitably-said-that-hell-is-paved-with/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [Order is the sanity of the mind, the health of the body, the peace of the city, the security of the state. As the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/order-is-the-sanity-of-the-mind-the-health-of-the-body-the-peace-of/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [Whatever strengthens our local attachments is favorable both to individual and national character, our home, our birthplace, our native land. 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It's holy flame forever burneth; from Heaven it came, to Heaven returneth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/love-is-indestructible-it-s-holy-flame-forever-burneth-from-heaven-it/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [Take away love, and not physical nature only, but the heart of the moral world, would be palsied.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/take-away-love-and-not-physical-nature-only-but-the-heart-of-the/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [Where Washington hath left His awful memory A light for after times!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/where-washington-hath-left-his-awful-memory-a-light-for-after-times/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [The loss of a friend is like that of a limb; time may heal the anguish of the wound, but the loss cannot be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/the-loss-of-a-friend-is-like-that-of-a-limb-time-may-heal-the-anguish/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [Three things a wise man will not trust, The wind, the sunshine of an April day, And woman's plighted faith.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/three-things-a-wise-man-will-not-trust-the-wind-the-sunshine-of-an/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [She comes majestic with her swelling sails, The gallant Ship: along her watery way, Homeward she drives before the favouring gales; Now flirting at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/she-comes-majestic-with-her-swelling-sails-the-gallant-ship-along-her/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [A wise judge, by the craft of the law, was never seduced from its purpose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/a-wise-judge-by-the-craft-of-the-law-was-never-seduced-from-its/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [Let us depart! the universal sun Confines not to one land his blessed beams; Nor is man rooted, like a tree, whose seed, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/let-us-depart-the-universal-sun-confines-not-to-one-land-his-blessed/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [If you would be pungent, be brief.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/if-you-would-be-pungent-be-brief/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) [Explore all 116 Robert Southey quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) ## More Firsts quotes > [I always say there are two things to be successful. 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