Youth is terrible: it is a stage trod by children in buskins and a variety of costumes mouthing speeches they've memorized and fanatically believe but only half understand. And history is terrible because it so often ends up a playground for the immature; a playground for the young Nero, a playground for the young Bonaparte, a playground for the easily roused mobs of children whose simulated passions and simplistic poses suddenly metamorphose into a catastrophically real reality. Milan Kundera
About This Quote

Youth is terrible: it is a stage trod by children in buskins and a variety of costumes mouthing speeches they've memorized and fanatically believe but only half understand. This quote is from the 1942 novel "Nightfall" by Isaac Asimov. The quote most likely refers to the Romans at their most primitive, ignorant, and child-like. In the Roman Empire, youth was viewed as a time of ignorance, most likely because there were so few Roman citizens with any significant experience in politics or government.

Source: The Joke

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