People
Confidence is a plant of slow growth in an aged bosom; youth is the season of credulity.
— William Pitt
Behind the line May contain spoilers.
Our reading
An editorial 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.
Context reviewed