Meanings
- Young people often fail to fully appreciate or utilize the vitality and opportunities that come with youth.
George Bernard Shaw was right on the mark when he suggested that it's a pity youth is wasted on the young.
1979, Joseph F. Coates, “Social Security in the Year 2000: How to Get There and Where will We be when We Do?”, in David Pearce Snyder, editor, The Family in Post-industrial America: Some Fundamental Perceptions for Public Policy Development (AAAS Selected Symposium; 32), Boulder, Colo.: Frederick A[mos] Praeger, Westview Press, →ISBN, page 1305 more examples
Mark Twain once remarked that it is a pity youth is wasted on the young. Why do we think youth is wasted on the young? […] It [youth] is only valued after our eyes are dull and step no longer spry.
1937 December 1, “Priceless Possession is Seen in Having Youth and Guarding Its Gifts”, in Mary Harrison Vaughan, editor, The Rotunda, Farmville, Va.: State Teachers College, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 2, column 1What is it [George Bernard] Shaw says—a pity youth is wasted on the young. Miss Lanahan, what are you doing with your life?
1943 April, Ann Pinchot, “Rival to My Heart: Part 2”, in Otis Wiese, editor, McCall’s, New York, N.Y.: McCall Corporation, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 37, column 1The adage that youth is wasted on the young aches your body, for you know that even youth itself, does not have the time to burst forth with all the energy that nature prescribed for it.
1966 October 20, Peter Harris, “Student’s thoughts drift in the fall”, in Fred Thomas, editor, The Daily Tar Heel, volume 74, number 33, Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 2, column 6Maybe someday the old and the young will live together and work together. But like they say, youth is wasted on the young, and I would also say that wisdom is wasted on the old.
1983, Lawrence Bush, “1906”, in Bessie, New York, N.Y.: Seaview/Putnam, →ISBN, part 1, page 56It is often said that youth is wasted on the young, but Joseph Szabo's remarkable photographs of that brief span between puberty and baby adulthood seek another determination. As an art teacher (and yearbook photo adviser) to the students of Long Island's Malverne High in the 70s and 80s, Szabo had the opportunity to document the confidential moments of adolescence from which most adults are barred.
2003 November, Edward Helmore, “Teenage Graceland: Joseph Szabo Captures Adolescents’ Secret World”, in Graydon Carter, editor, Vanity Fair, number 519, New York, N.Y.: Condé Nast Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 166, column 1
Origin
Origin uncertain. The phrase is often attributed to the Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) (see, for example, the 1943 and 1979 quotations), but does not appear to be from any of his published works. It is sometimes also said to be by other people such as the American writer Mark Twain (1835–1910) and the Irish playwright and poet Oscar Wilde (1854–1900): see the 1937 and 2006 quotations.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Finnish nuoruus menee hukkaan nuorissa
- nuoruus menee hukkaan nuorissathe young fail to appreciate or make good use of what they experience
French si jeunesse savait, si vieillesse pouvait
- si jeunesse savait, si vieillesse pouvaitthe young fail to appreciate or make good use of what they experience
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with youth is wasted on the young
Cite this entry
youth is wasted on the young. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/youth%20is%20wasted%20on%20the%20young
“youth is wasted on the young.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/youth%20is%20wasted%20on%20the%20young. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “youth is wasted on the young,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/youth%20is%20wasted%20on%20the%20young.
Source: youth is wasted on the young on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.