Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford & Asquith, Viscount Asquith of Morley, H.H. Asquith, HH
12 September 1852 - 15 February 1928
Birthplace: Morley, Yorkshire, England
English politician, British Prime Minister
“Youth would be an ideal state if it came a little later in life.”
~Herbert Henry Asquith, British Prime Minister
Essay in Paisley Hospital’s Carnival Magazine, Seestu!, Paisley, Scotland; cited in “Asquith on Youth” (9 April 1923) Dundee Evening Telegraph and Post, Angus, Scotland, column 1, p. 6; online via The British Newspaper Archive, [subscription service], www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk
Extended excerpt [Newspaper article, citing an Asquith magazine contribution published the same day.]:
“Writing to-day on youth in Paisley Hospital Carnival Magazine, Seestu, Mr. Asquith says Youth would be an ideal state if it came a little later in life. We take its hopefulness, its zest, and its vigour for granted, and hardly notice them, because we have no other experience with which to compare them. Thus it is only in age that we fully enjoy our youth. This is one of the advantages of age, but not the only one. In age, just because we have material for comparison, we become less critical, less dictatorial, and more hopeful. We learn among other things that nothing is ever finally lost, and that it is always worth while to begin again.” (p. 6)
Source note: While The Dundee Evening Telegraph did not include quotation marks when citing Asquith’s remarks, another account a few days later did cite the words as a Asquith quote: “When we are old we know that the best thing of all would be to be young again,” writes Mr. Asquith in a contribution to the symposium on “Youth and Age” in the hospital carnival journal, “The Seeto Special,” issued in Paisley. “Youth would be an ideal state if it came a little later in life. We take its hopefulness, its zest, and its vigour for granted, and hardly notice them, because we have no other experience with which to compare them.”
To date, Repeat Right editors have not been able to locate a copy of the original Paisley Hospital’s Carnival Magazine article cited by both newspapers.
[Secondary source: “If Youth but Knew” (13 April 1923)Western Gazette, Yeovil, England, column 3, p. 5; online via British Newspaper Archive.]
Source link [Featured source]: “Asquith on Youth” (9 April 1923) Dundee Evening Telegraph, online via The British Newspaper Archive [subscription service]: http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000563/19230409/066/0006
Source link [Source note]: “If Youth but Knew” (13 April 1923) Western Gazette, online via The British Newspaper Archive [subscription service]: http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000407/19230413/013/0005
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