Youth ended, I shall try My gain or loss thereby; Leave the fire ashes, what survives is gold: And I shall weigh the same, Give life its praise or blame: Young, all lay in dispute; I shall know, being old.
Browning’s imagined Rabbi Ben Ezra — in Robert Browning’s Rabbi Ben Ezra (1864)
Where these words come from
- 95% sureThese words were traced back to where they first appeared. That source is listed below.
- Rabbi Ben Ezra (1864); Exact wording and attribution checked. Spoken by Browning’s imagined Rabbi Ben Ezra, a fictional character, in Rabbi Ben Ezra (1864). Complete stanza on age as a time to evaluate a life.
- Rabbi Ben Ezra (1864)
More inspiration
See allYou gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face.
Eleanor RooseveltNo one can make you feel inferior without your consent.
Eleanor RooseveltLittle strokes fell great oaks.
Benjamin FranklinEnergy and persistence conquer all things.
Benjamin FranklinWell done is better than well said.
Benjamin FranklinIf there is no struggle, there is no progress.
Frederick Douglass
Eleanor RooseveltNo one can make you feel inferior without your consent.
Eleanor RooseveltLittle strokes fell great oaks.
Benjamin FranklinEnergy and persistence conquer all things.
Benjamin FranklinWell done is better than well said.
Benjamin FranklinIf there is no struggle, there is no progress.
Frederick Douglass