--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If age, which is certainly Just as wicked…" description: "\"If age, which is certainly Just as wicked as youth, look any wiser, It is only that youth is still able to believe It will get away with anything, whil..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/151/w-h-auden-856_able_if-age-which-is-certainly-just-as-wicked_66913.jpg" --- # If age, which is certainly Just as wicked as youth, look… ![“If age, which is certainly Just as wicked as youth, look any wiser, It is only that youth is still able to believe It will get away with anything, while age Knows only too well that it has got away with nothing.” quote by W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/151/w-h-auden-856_able_if-age-which-is-certainly-just-as-wicked_66913.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/151/w-h-auden-856_able_if-age-which-is-certainly-just-as-wicked_66913.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/151/w-h-auden-856_able_if-age-which-is-certainly-just-as-wicked_66913.jpg) > “If age, which is certainly Just as wicked as youth, look any wiser, It is only that youth is still able to believe It will get away with anything, while age Knows only too well that it has got away with nothing.” [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Youth is naive optimism; age is sober realism, each seeing the world through different lenses of expectation and experience. **In simple terms:** Optimism vs. realism Key Takeaway Youth believes, age knows. Themes optimism realism generational perspective naiveté wisdom Mood reflective melancholic cautious Type philosophical observational When to use this quote - a young activist planning change - an elderly person reflecting on missed opportunities - a teenager overconfident in a project - a senior mentor advising caution Key Concepts belief disillusionment time perception self-awareness Practical Applications - motivational speaking - life‑coaching curricula Questions to Reflect On - How does confidence shape our actions? - Can experience ever fully replace youthful hope? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age/) [Wisdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wisdom/) [Youth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/youth/) ## Related quotes > [Age certainly helps one to tone down the lofty expectations , but they never fully disappear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/senoraroy/age-certainly-helps-one-to-tone-down-the-lofty-expectations-but-they/) Senoraroy > [I'm 77. The only reason I'm ever shy about it is that people tend to think of you in terms of what they think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-osborne/i-m-77-the-only-reason-i-m-ever-shy-about-it-is-that-people-tend-to/) [Robert Osborne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-osborne/) > [We need role models in our society that the youth can look up to because that space is shrinking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shabana-azmi/we-need-role-models-in-our-society-that-the-youth-can-look-up-to/) [Shabana Azmi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shabana-azmi/) > [“Emerged from the tentative ways, the obscurities and dazzle of youth, we look straight in front of us, ready for what may come (the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/emerged-from-the-tentative-ways-the-obscurities-and-dazzle-of-youth/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [Age and youth look upon life from the opposite ends of the telescope; it is exceedingly long,--it is exceedingly short.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/age-and-youth-look-upon-life-from-the-opposite-ends-of-the-telescope/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [Our age knows nothing but reaction, and leaps from one extreme to another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/our-age-knows-nothing-but-reaction-and-leaps-from-one-extreme-to/) [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) > [Regardless of age, no one knows our children better than we do. So with having a child comes the responsibility of making every effort…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-bailey/regardless-of-age-no-one-knows-our-children-better-than-we-do-so-with/) [Cynthia Bailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-bailey/) > [Not even old age knows how to love death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/not-even-old-age-knows-how-to-love-death/) [Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/) > [Happiness has not to all the same name: to Youth she is known as the Future; Age knows her as the Dream.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/happiness-has-not-to-all-the-same-name-to-youth-she-is-known-as-the/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [Anybody under the age of forty knows hip-hop, gospel and R&B pretty well, and it's all a part of what we consider to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-legend/anybody-under-the-age-of-forty-knows-hip-hop-gospel-and-r-b-pretty/) [John Legend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-legend/) > [It is a very high mind to which gratitude is not a painful sensation. If you wish to please, you will find it wiser…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bulwer-lytton-1st-baron-lytton/it-is-a-very-high-mind-to-which-gratitude-is-not-a-painful-sensation/) [Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bulwer-lytton-1st-baron-lytton/) > [A fool without fear is sometimes wiser than an angel with fear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-fool-without-fear-is-sometimes-wiser-than-an-angel-with-fear/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I am a little older and understand the nature of the business - the older you get the more your skills supposedly diminish, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randy-moss/i-am-a-little-older-and-understand-the-nature-of-the-business-the/) [Randy Moss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randy-moss/) > [Getting rid of a delusion makes us wiser than getting hold of a truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-borne/getting-rid-of-a-delusion-makes-us-wiser-than-getting-hold-of-a-truth/) [Ludwig Borne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-borne/) > [“Some people they grow wiser as they grow older. Unfortunately, most people just grow older.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-hoover/some-people-they-grow-wiser-as-they-grow-older-unfortunately-most/) [Colleen Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-hoover/) ## More by W. H. Auden > [Pleasure is by no means an infallible critical guide, but it is the least fallible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/pleasure-is-by-no-means-an-infallible-critical-guide-but-it-is-the/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [Why doesn't the United States take over the monarchy and unite with England? England does have important assets. Naturally the longer you wait, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/why-doesn-t-the-united-states-take-over-the-monarchy-and-unite-with/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [The commonest ivory tower is that of the average man, the state of passivity towards experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/the-commonest-ivory-tower-is-that-of-the-average-man-the-state-of/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [Harrow the house of the dead; look shining at New styles of architecture, a change of heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/harrow-the-house-of-the-dead-look-shining-at-new-styles-of/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [Most poetry is the utterance of a man in some state of passion, love, joy, grief, rage, etc., and no doubt this is as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/most-poetry-is-the-utterance-of-a-man-in-some-state-of-passion-love/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [Men will pay large sums to whores for telling them they are not bores.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/men-will-pay-large-sums-to-whores-for-telling-them-they-are-not-bores/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [“Those to whom evil is done, do evil in return”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/those-to-whom-evil-is-done-do-evil-in-return/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [I and the public know What all schoolchildren learn, Those to whom evil is done Do evil in return.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/i-and-the-public-know-what-all-schoolchildren-learn-those-to-whom/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [One cannot walk through an assembly factory and not feel that one is in Hell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/one-cannot-walk-through-an-assembly-factory-and-not-feel-that-one-is/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [How happy the lot of the mathematician. He is judged solely by his peers, and the standard is so high that no colleague or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/how-happy-the-lot-of-the-mathematician-he-is-judged-solely-by-his/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [Perhaps there is only one cardinal sin: impatience. Because of impatience we were driven out of Paradise, because of impatience we cannot return.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/perhaps-there-is-only-one-cardinal-sin-impatience-because-of/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [The windiest militant trash Important Persons shout Is not so crude as our wish: What mad Nijinsky wrote About Diaghilev Is true of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/the-windiest-militant-trash-important-persons-shout-is-not-so-crude/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [Time and fevers burn away Individual beauty from Thoughtful children, and the grave Proves the child ephemeral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/time-and-fevers-burn-away-individual-beauty-from-thoughtful-children/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [To hunt for symbols in a fairy tale is absolutely fatal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/to-hunt-for-symbols-in-a-fairy-tale-is-absolutely-fatal/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [Life is a picnic on a precipice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/life-is-a-picnic-on-a-precipice/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) [Explore all 344 W. H. Auden quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) ## More Able quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [There is something about the South that accepts the supernatural. If you don't accept it and you're having a conversation with someone who does,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-englert/there-is-something-about-the-south-that-accepts-the-supernatural-if/) [Alice Englert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-englert/) > [In the '80s, the way radio was programmed, if you didn't have a hit record you weren't going to be able to make any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huey-lewis/in-the-80s-the-way-radio-was-programmed-if-you-didn-t-have-a-hit/) [Huey Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huey-lewis/) > [I think I've had the longest career of strength, focus, and still being able to sell records. I think I'm that guy. I'm still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nas/i-think-i-ve-had-the-longest-career-of-strength-focus-and-still-being/) [Nas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nas/) > [I have that need in me, I want everyone to love me, but I'm embarrassed by that need, so I wanted to cover it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-jeselnik/i-have-that-need-in-me-i-want-everyone-to-love-me-but-i-m-embarrassed/) [Anthony Jeselnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-jeselnik/) > [Thinking about the things that happened, I don't know any other ball player would could have done what he (Jackie Robinson) did. To be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pee-wee-reese/thinking-about-the-things-that-happened-i-don-t-know-any-other-ball/) [Pee Wee Reese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pee-wee-reese/) > [I wanted to remember in order to be able to return.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/i-wanted-to-remember-in-order-to-be-able-to-return/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [Government schools, with your tax money, now discourage the teaching of multiplication tables by rote memorization but teach reading by the 'look-and-say' method which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-perry/government-schools-with-your-tax-money-now-discourage-the-teaching-of/) Greg Perry > [I don't know if I would qualify as mainstream. I think I have managed to function pretty successfully on the fringes of the music…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-metheny/i-don-t-know-if-i-would-qualify-as-mainstream-i-think-i-have-managed/) [Pat Metheny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-metheny/) > [What we're supposed to do as actors is be able to portray real human beings and emotions. And if you grow up in this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-browning/what-we-re-supposed-to-do-as-actors-is-be-able-to-portray-real-human/) [Emily Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-browning/) > [The reason that Apple is able to create products like iPad is because we always try to be at the intersection of technology and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/the-reason-that-apple-is-able-to-create-products-like-ipad-is-because/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) > [It was an important period for us, because even though we weren't a "punk band", and what became a model for a punk band,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-mallinder/it-was-an-important-period-for-us-because-even-though-we-weren-t-a/) [Stephen Mallinder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-mallinder/) > [- You look fine. - Right. I look fine. Except I don't, said Zora, tugging sadly at her man's nightshirt. This was why Kiki…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/you-look-fine-right-i-look-fine-except-i-don-t-said-zora-tugging/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [There is a way to be a woman, ask for what we deserve and be able to negotiate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracee-ellis-ross/there-is-a-way-to-be-a-woman-ask-for-what-we-deserve-and-be-able-to/) [Tracee Ellis Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracee-ellis-ross/) Browse all 17,257 Able quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If age, which is certainly Just as wicked as youth, look any wiser, It is only that youth is still able to believe It will get away with anything, while age Knows only too well that it has got away with nothing.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "W. H. Auden" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/if-age-which-is-certainly-just-as-wicked-as-youth-look-any-wiser-it/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Able" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/if-age-which-is-certainly-just-as-wicked-as-youth-look-any-wiser-it/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/151/w-h-auden-856_able_if-age-which-is-certainly-just-as-wicked_66913.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/151/w-h-auden-856_able_if-age-which-is-certainly-just-as-wicked_66913.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/151/w-h-auden-856_able_if-age-which-is-certainly-just-as-wicked_66913.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If age, which is certainly Just as wicked as youth, look any wiser, It is only that youth is still able to…” — W. H. Auden", "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": "W. H. Auden", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "If age, which is certainly Just...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/if-age-which-is-certainly-just-as-wicked-as-youth-look-any-wiser-it/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/if-age-which-is-certainly-just-as-wicked-as-youth-look-any-wiser-it/#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 } } ] } ```