midnight
What it must be to live it ! What it must be ! Why , when youth comes bursting out of tutelage there 's not a stable thing beneath its feet nor above its head a sky that stays the same for two hours together ! Every stride 's a stepping-stone that tilts and throws you ; every dawn a sudden midnight even while it breaks , and every night a blinding brilliance when it 's darkest . New faces , new places , new dresses , new dishes ; new foes , new friends ; new tasks , new triumphs ; never a pause , never a platform ; every day a year and every year a day -- not life on a firm round world but life in the heart of a whirling avalanche . How youth can live it ! And all the time , all the time while poor , dear youth is hurtling through it , there 's age , instead of streaming sympathy like oil upon those boiling waters , standing in slippered safety , in buttoned dignity , in obese repose , bawling at tumbling youth , `` Why ca n't you settle down !