"When the business man rebukes the idealism of his office-boy, it is commonly in some such speech as this: "Ah, yes, when one is young, one has these ideals in the abstract and these castles in the air; but in middle age they all break up like clouds, and one comes down to a belief in practical politics, to using the machinery one has and getting on with the world as it is." Thus, at least, venerable and philanthropic old men now in their honoured graves used to talk to me when I was a boy. But since then I have grown up and have discovered that these philanthropic old men were telling lies. What has really happened is exactly the opposite of what they said would happen. They said that I should lose my ideals and begin to believe in the methods of practical politicians. Now, I have not lost my ideals in the least; my faith in fundamentals is exactly what it always was. What I have lost is my old childlike faith in practical politics."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy (1908), p. 81
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Coming_of_age
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Coming of age
15 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Coming of age →
Related Quotes
"Maturity consists in having rediscovered the seriousness one had as a child at play."
"Everyone who achieves strives for totality, and the value of his achievement lies in that totality—that is, in the fa…"
"Three years ago you were a kid. You didn't have a single feeling worth having—cocky and shallow. Like most kids. Then…"
"Answers may be given by grunts and gestures, but questions must be spoken. Humanness came of age when man asked the f…"
"A child is protected by the limit of feebleness against emotions which are too complex. He sees the fact, and little …"
"We confound loss of naiveté (a developmental change) with loss of innocence (a spiritual failing). While each person …"
"It is so easy to be immature. If I have a book to serve as my understanding, a pastor to serve as my conscience, a ph…"
"As young people, we are surrounded by expectations that may have little to do with who we really are, expectations he…"
"The law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. Now that this faith has come, we are …"
"As long as an heir is underage, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. The heir is subje…"