The belief that youth is the happiest time of life is founded on a fallacy. The happiest person is the person who thinks the most interesting thoughts, and we grow happier as we grow older.
Source: In Pearls of Wisdom, ed. J. Agel and W. Glanze, 1987.
-- William Lyon Phelps, (Jan 2 1865-1943), US educator, journalist; He was a Yale English professor, 1892-1933; popularized the arts through his lectures and essays.