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Who really said it

Years wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul

Not Douglas MacArthur — actually Frank Crane Frank Crane 1861–1928 · American clergyman & syndicated columnist
Disputed Free to reuse

The line comes from the essay “Youth,” printed under Dr. Frank Crane’s name in 1914. Quote Investigator ↗ found it in an April 1914 New Mexico newspaper, and the May 1914 Cosmopolitan printing reads “Years wrinkle the skin; but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.” MacArthur’s connection is a framed version that hung over his desk, which he later quoted.

Last verified 2 Nov 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

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Disputed credit — copy with the correction

“Years wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul” Frank Crane, "Youth," Cosmopolitan, May 1914 (often misattributed to Douglas MacArthur)

The slide-ready mistake: crediting this to Douglas MacArthur. Use the credit shown above instead.

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In context

Evoking the world of Frank Crane — American Methodist minister & syndicated columnist. Theme: "Years wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

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Minimalist editorial slide for the quote "Years wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul". Clean background, a single muted accent color, generous negative space, subtle paper or linen texture, no literal illustration — let the words carry it. Reserve clear space for a serif quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Provenance

Where the line actually comes from

Work
Youth
Author
Dr. Frank Crane
Published
Cosmopolitan, vol. 56, no. 6 (May 1914), p. 721
Earliest match QI located
The Carlsbad Argus (Carlsbad, New Mexico), 17 April 1914, p. 8

Nobody grows old by merely living a number of years. People grow old only by deserting their ideals.

Years wrinkle the skin; but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.

Worry, doubt, self-distrust, fear, and despair—these are the long, long years that bow the heart and turn the greening spirit back to dust. Cosmopolitan, May 1914

In the popular version the semicolon became a comma. Samuel Ullman’s version of the essay reads “Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.”

Magazine scan
Cosmopolitan, May 1914 (Internet Archive)
Cosmopolitan, May 1914, at the Internet Archive

How the trail was followed

  • Quote Investigator (2020) ↗: the earliest match it located is The Carlsbad Argus of April 1914, where the essay ran as “Youth by Dr. Frank Crane.” QI concludes that “based on current evidence QI believes that Frank Crane originated this essay by 1914.”
  • Cosmopolitan, May 1914 ↗: the essay “Youth” runs under the byline “By Dr. Frank Crane,” and the volume index lists it at page 721. It contains the line “Years wrinkle the skin; but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.”
  • Home and Progress, March 1920 ↗: the same essay reprinted, word for word, by a bank periodical in Champaign, Illinois. It shows the text was already circulating in periodicals.
  • Wikiquote, “Youth” ↗: notes that MacArthur quoted the entire piece without attribution on his seventy-fifth birthday (Los Angeles, 26 January 1955), and that it had hung framed over his desk, according to the December 1945 Reader’s Digest.
Public domain

The line is tied to Frank Crane’s essay “Youth,” first published in 1914 (Cosmopolitan, May 1914, confirmed by scan). Works first published in the U.S. before 1931 are now in the public domain.

Rights status is our research, not legal advice — and copyright varies by country and edition. For commercial or published use, confirm with the rightsholder. See terms.

Fact-check

Who gets the credit, and why

This essay has passed from hand to hand for more than a century, and the credit has moved with it. MacArthur gets it because he kept the text on his wall and recited it. Ullman gets it because his family included it in a book of his verse.

Douglas MacArthur Displayed & quoted it

A version hung framed over his desk. A December 1945 Reader’s Digest piece described it and said it was “based on a poem written by the late Samuel Ullman of Birmingham, Ala.” In 1977 a reader told Ann Landers that “That essay was written by Gen. Douglas MacArthur” (Quote Investigator ↗). He also quoted it without attribution on his seventy-fifth birthday in 1955 (Wikiquote ↗).

Samuel Ullman Later version

Ullman’s version, which reads “Years may wrinkle the skin,” is honored by the Samuel Ullman Museum ↗. QI reports that George Sokolsky traced it to a privately printed compilation that Ullman’s family assembled in 1920. QI judges that “the citations for Crane have precedence” (Quote Investigator ↗).

Dr. L. F. Phelan

B. C. Forbes’s Thoughts on the Business of Life credited a condensed version to Phelan, long after Crane’s printings (Quote Investigator ↗).

Watterson Lowe

A California newspaper filler credited an excerpt to Lowe, with the variant “Years wrinkle the face” (Quote Investigator ↗).

On current evidence the essay is Frank Crane’s, in print by 1914. MacArthur’s name became attached because he “posted the essay on the wall of his office” (Quote Investigator ↗).

Context

Why it stuck to MacArthur

MacArthur did more than admire the essay. According to Wikipedia ↗, he hung a framed version on his office wall in Tokyo and often quoted it in speeches, which made the piece better known in Japan than in the United States. When a famous general recites a passage without naming its author, listeners naturally assume the words are his.

A TIME report ↗ on his 1955 seventy-fifth birthday banquet quotes his main address: “You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubt; as young as your self-confidence, as old as your fear.” That line comes from the same essay, and TIME presents it as MacArthur’s own words.

Years wrinkle the skin; but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.

What about the date of Ullman’s version?

Wikiquote’s Samuel Ullman page ↗ heads the poem “Youth (1918)” and gives 1922 as the publication year of From the Summit of Years, Four Score. Quote Investigator, citing George Sokolsky, puts the family’s compilation in 1920. Any of these dates is later than Crane’s 1914 printings, and none of the sources consulted here cites an Ullman-credited printing from before 1914.

Explore

Filed under

More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.

Time Happiness Purpose

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Trusted places to keep pulling the thread — primary archives, fact-checks, and scholarship. We show how we used each one before you leave.

Quote Origin: Years Wrinkle the Skin, But To Give Up Enthusiasm Wrinkles the Soulquoteinvestigator.com

The main investigation: Crane’s 1914 printings, the 1945 MacArthur wall-frame story, and the Ullman, Phelan and Lowe attributions
Cosmopolitan, May 1914 (vol. 56, no. 6)archive.org

Scan of the issue that prints “Youth” by Dr. Frank Crane, line included
Home and Progress, March 1920archive.org

A 1920 periodical reprint of the same essay
Youth (theme page)en.wikiquote.org

Notes on the Ullman versions and MacArthur’s unattributed 1955 recitation
Samuel Ullman Museumuab.edu

Ullman’s version of “Youth” (“Years may wrinkle the skin…”)
Frank Crane (clergyman and writer)en.wikipedia.org

Biography of the columnist QI identifies as the essay’s originator

The real author

About Frank Crane

Frank Crane

1861–1928 · American Methodist minister & syndicated columnist

Frank Crane was ordained in the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1882 and was a pastor for more than 25 years. From 1909 he wrote syndicated newspaper columns and books of reflections and advice. His short inspirational pieces were reprinted widely, often without his name, which is how “Youth” came to be credited to others.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

Cite this page

Frank Crane, “Youth,” Cosmopolitan 56, no. 6 (May 1914): 721. Earliest match located by Quote Investigator: The Carlsbad Argus (Carlsbad, NM), April 17, 1914, 8.

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Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘Years wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul’?” Last verified 2 Nov 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/years-wrinkle-the-skin-but-to-give-up-enthusiasm-wrinkles/

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