Age Defines Nothing

Henry David Thoreau said in his argument that “age is no better, hardly so well qualified for an instructor”. Many argue the validity of taking advice from our elders, Thoreau believes that there is no sense in accepting the words of our seniors due to their lack of experience in todays day in age, as well as their familiarity with the social, technological, and moral norms of past years, but not of today. It can be countered that our elders could have experienced similar situations in the situations of love, loss, life, and death, and may even have relevant and helpful advice. It can be compromised that if people would willingly listen to the ideas of elders, it could be their decision on whether or not to accept or disregard the advice.
Morals are forever changing, our grandparents grew up in a very different time where something’s were more widely accepted and others weren’t. During their youth our elders, grandparents for example, were brought up with certain morals, morals that are almost ridiculous in today’s day in age. Morals are normally linked to social norms of a time period, and with society constantly changing, these norms never stay the same for long. For example, when our grandparents were growing up it was normally and socially acceptable to not attend college, get married at 19 and begin a family. In todays society that concept of early beginnings is deeply frowned upon and most people wait until their mid-late 20s to begin married life. Clothing has also proven to be not only an expression of the era, but also or the morals of the time. Clothing has progressively gotten tighter and shorter as years pass and in earlier societies showing skin was considered provocative and inappropriate, whereas today it is just t...

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...that neither side is right, but within reason both sides have valid points. In compromise, one could with open ears accept the voice and opinion of their elders, knowing that times have changed, but listen regardless because in some situations advice is timeless.
Mark Twain said, “wrinkles should merely indicate where the smiles have been”, exemplifying Thoreau’s points that just because you are aged and hold years on the younger generations, does not mean you are more the wiser. This quote allows the concept of wrinkles not showing experience but rather memories. With age comes knowledge and experience, but just because one experiences an event in one way, does not mean the next generation will experience it in the same manner. Advice comes from opinion rather than fact, due to the inability to perceive the same event in the same way as another person.