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At thirty, man suspects himself a fool;
Knows it at forty, and reforms his plan;
At fifty chides his infamous delay,
Pushes his prudent purpose to resolve;
In all the magnanimity of thought
Resolves, and re-resolves; then dies the same.

— Edward Young Night-Thoughts (1742)

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Wisdom

More quotes by Edward Young

The blood will follow where the knife is driven,
The flesh will quiver where the pincers tear.

In youth, what disappointments of our own making: in age, what disappointments from the nature of things.

The man that makes a character makes foes.

Death loves a shining mark, a signal blow.

Night-Thoughts (1742)

By night an atheist half believes in God.

Night Thoughts (1743)

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'The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.'

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It takes extraordinary wisdom and self-control to accept that many things have a logic we do not understand that is smarter than our own.

Nassim Nicholas Taleb The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (2010)

Young men think old men are fools; but old men know young men are fools.

George Chapman All Fools (1605)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Edward Young (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.