A green sapling grows from a weathered brass watering can, with exposed roots and blue paper drops hanging below.

Original artwork, not a still

William Pitt

Confidence is a plant of slow growth in an aged bosom; youth is the season of credulity.

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

The contrast presents age as slowing the growth of trust, while youth is associated with readiness to believe. A plant needs time to develop, so the image gives confidence a gradual rather than immediate form. The sentence measures belief through the different conditions of a life.

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