We should not expect to find old heads on young shoulders. (Strauss, 1994 p. 77)
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Youthful people often lack the wisdom and experience of older individuals.
Literally: old heads on young shoulders
Examples
We should not expect to find old heads on young shoulders.
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed on English Wikiquote “English proverbs” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31). Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “We should not expect to find old heads on young shoulders. (Strauss, 1994 p. 77)” mean?
Youthful people often lack the wisdom and experience of older individuals. Literally: old heads on young shoulders
Is “We should not expect to find old heads on young shoulders. (Strauss, 1994 p. 77)” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.