Of Youth and Age by Francis Bacon

Text: A man that is young in years may be old in hours, if he have lost no time. But that happeneth
rarely. Generally, youth is like the first cogitations, not so wise as the second. For there is a youth in
thoughts, as well as in ages. And yet the invention of young men is more lively than that of old; and
imaginations stream into their minds better, and as it were more divinely. Natures that have much
heat and great and violent desires and perturbations, are not ripe for action till they have passed
the meridian of their years; as it was with Julius Caesar, and Septimius Severus. Of the latter of
whom it is said, Juventutem egit erroribus, imo furoribus, plenum1. And yet he was the ablest
emperor, almost, of all the list. But reposed natures may do well in youth. As it is seen in Augustus
Caesar, Cosmus Duke of Florence, Gaston de Foix, and others. On the other side, heat and vivacity in
age is an excellent composition for business. Young men are fitter to invent than to judge; fitter for
execution than for counsel; and fitter for new projects than for settled business. For the experience
of age, in things that fall within the compass of it, directeth them; but in new things, abuseth them.
The errors of young men are the ruin of business; but the errors of aged men amount but to this,
that more might have been done, or sooner.
Young men, in the conduct and manage of actions, embrace more than they can hold; stir more
than they can quiet; fly to the end, without consideration of the means and degrees; pursue some
few principles which they have chanced upon absurdly; care not to innovate, which draws
unknown inconveniences; use extreme remedies at first; and that which doubleth all errors, will
not acknowledge or retract them; like an unready horse, that will neither stop nor turn. Men of age
object too much, consult too long, adventure too little, repent too soon, and seldom drive business
home to the full period, but content themselves with a mediocrity of success. Certainly it is good to
compound employments of both; for that will be good for the present, because the virtues of either
age may correct the defects of both; and good for succession, that young men may be learners,
while men in age are actors; and, lastly, good for extern accidents, because authority followeth old
men, and favour and popularity youth. But for the moral part, perhaps youth will have the pre-
eminence, as age hath for the politic. A certain rabbin, upon the text, Your young men shall see
visions, and your old men shall dream dreams, inferreth that young men are admitted nearer to
God than old, because vision is a clearer revelation than a dream. And certainly, the more a man
drinketh of the world, the more it intoxicateth; and age doth profit rather in the powers of
understanding, than in the virtues of the will and affections. There be some have an over-early
ripeness in their years, which fadeth betimes. These are, first, such as have brittle wits, the edge
whereof is soon turned; such as was Hermogenes the rhetorician, whose books are exceeding
subtle; who afterwards waxed stupid. A second sort is of those that have some natural dispositions
which have better grace in youth than in age; such as is a fluent and luxuriant speech; which
becomes youth well, but not age: so Tully saith of Hortensius, Idem manebat, neque idem decebat2.
The third is of such as take too high a strain at the first, and are magnanimous more than tract of
years can uphold. As was Scipio Africanus, of whom Livy saith in effect, Ultima primis cedebant.

Sum up: Of Youth & Age Bacon tries to compare the negative and positive attributes of both
young and old age: I will put it in simple way,

-Young men are better to invent, old men better to judge

-Young men are better in doing, old men in calculating risks
-Young men are better for new projects, old men for settled business.

He also described young men as men with vision while the old men are dreamers and according
to him vision is better than dream.
Francis Bacon, the first major English essayist, published three versions of his Essays or Counsels,
Civil and Moral (1597, 1612, and 1625). Bacon's essay 'Of Youth and Age' has actually been
written to familiarize the people with the worth of the people belonging to two extremely
crucial stages of life i.e young and old. Involvement of the people belonging to these two age
groups in any worldly activity may result in a wonderful success. Moreover, Bacon has also
given a great comparison in between young and aged people which seems to be quite
interesting for the reader.
Francis Bacon (1561-1626) was an English philosopher, statesman, scientist and essayist. He is
best known for leading the scientific revolution with his new 'observation and experimentation'
theory which is the way science has been conducted ever since. He is a famous essayist and is
known as the father of the English essay. His essays are full of common sense and epigrammatic
wit.
Frances Bacon's aim as an essayist was to share the wisdom of his life. His style of essay writing
is not dogmatic nor didactic but rather personable and friendly. For example, when speaking of
envy he doesn't begin with a declaration of envy being harmful and destructive of happiness.
His style allows him to explore such subjects with an observational eye that relates incidents to
meaning and only eventually reveals his judgment and wisdom on the subject. His essays were
well received because of his warm wisdom.
Sir Francis Bacon was a true Renaissance man in that he was accomplished in many areas, one
of which was essayist. Some scholars believe it was he who invented the essay as a literary form.
Even more amazing is that he wrote essays for fun.
His essays cover a huge range of subjects and the writing style is quite varied. Some are
philosophical, some are witty, some are deep, some are humorous. Bacon often takes both sides
of an argument in his essays, seeming to enjoy the role of “devil’s advocate” arguing against
himself. Writers and speakers (including even Shakespeare!) have quoted from his essays.
The variety of his essays by examining their topics, some of which include: Truth, Death, Anger,
Envy, Revenge, Travel, Marriage and Single Life, Suspicion, Riches, Ambition, Goodness and
Goodness of Nature, Plantations, The Colors of Good and Evil, etc
 Of The Renaissance Spirit
 As An Opportunist
 As A Pragmatic Essayist
 As A Utilitarian Philosopher
FRANCIS BACON , the man is the product of Renaissance. Man’s
glory, generous or tense, his opportunities of mind and body, his
eyes rolling across the subtle and magnificence of the world his joy
in learning, discovering, weighing – creating all these as it existed
in Bacon’s mind, Essays (counsels: Civil and Moral) exhibits a
practical value in life. Bacon’s essays are counsels and are designed
for the practical benefits of man and not for his emotional or
imaginative development. This utilitarian attitude is most evident
in his 59 essays.
Critical Analysis:
In this essay Bacon tries to compare the traits young and old age. In the starting of the essay
Bacon mentions that it is possible for a young man to have the maturity of that of an old man,
but says that it is a very rare case. He compares youth to the first ideas or thoughts and says that
they are never as wise as the seconds. But then again, the new inventions or discoveries of the
youth seem to be more refreshing than those of the aged ones as their imagination are better.
Even though the youth are full of desires and ambitions they are not matured enough to act on
those desires until they are of a certain age. As an example he mentions Septimius Severus who
has lived his youth making errors and in madness, yet was one of the most intelligent and gifted
emperor. But it is best to be calm and composed in youth rather than full of heat as mentioned
above. He says that both young as well as aged have qualities that are unique such as Young men
are better to invent, old men better to judge, Young men are better in doing, old men in
calculating risks, Young men are better for new projects, old men for settled business.
Young men, he says, are full of excitement and new ideas, never stay quiet, are up to create a
change and are innovative in nature. Even if their attempts fail they do not stumble, they keep
going until they get the result they are looking for. They are like an unsteady horse he says,
which doesn’t stop or turn. Whereas aged men are quite opposite, they think and consult too
much, and are too steady to be adventurous and at the end are happy with the minimum rate of
success that they achieve.
It is profitable to employ the men of both kinds, as the rightness of one will rectify the defects of
the other. Where the aged one teaches and the younger learns and while the fame is enjoyed by
the youth, the aged can have the privilege to authorize. He says that the young have visions
whereas the aged have dreams which are not as sound compared to the former. He says that
there are some who think beyond their age but it diminishes along with their age, who have
better grace in youth than in age.
Central Argument: Youths are the ones that should be hired for jobs as they are young and
have fresh ideas.
In the essay called “Of Youth and Age” by Francis Bacon, the youth group is strongly supported
for being imaginative at a young age. I like many other people will have to agree with this
statement because youths have more energy, and are ready to take up challenges. In this age
you do not think about the consequences you just do what you can without thinking twice about
it. This is the age of love, career, and experimentation and see the world in new ways. This age
group are young and therefore not yet corrupted with the world around them. They think on
their own and have a life that is filled with new things every day. Being a teenager, I know why
youths have so much energy and why they would make perfect for any kind of job. As you grow
up you see and learn more about the world, so by the time you are older you know much about
the world. However, if you are a youth, you have just come to know the world. You do not know
get involved with other politics of life, and therefore you want to know more and experience
different things.
The Romantics favourite age groups was youth, because this is the age group where all the
excitement of life takes place. This group comes up with new ideas, and are ready to take risks.
This is what employers want to hire, people that are ready get things done with speed and
efficiency. Youths have this in themselves. They do not think too much about the work. They
hurry up and get things done. Whereas, an older man or a women will take their time making
decisions, and worrying about their future. An older person may not be able to work at a very
high speed. With the world getting so much more competitive, employers need young people to
do their work at a high speed. Youths do not make rational decisions, and therefore the
employers can easily exploit them at any point of the youth career; this also makes then the
perfect age group to hire.
Just getting out of some kind of education, youths are also filled with knowledge. They want to
try different things and work on different experiments. Youths are the ones that are going to
provide the rest of the world new products, and various kinds of technology. This is the kind of
workers employers want to hire, someone that can give them new products that will sell in the
market. The older generation in today's world are not that efficient with computers as a youth
might be. Employers are constantly wanting to upgrade to the level of societies standards, and
the younger generation are the perfect people to do such a job.
Compiled by: Kainat Tufail