The Squire's life was quite as idle as his sons', but it was a fiction kept up by himself and his contemporaries in Raveloe that youth was exclusively the period of folly, and that their aged wisdom was constantly in a state of endurance mitigated by sarcasm.
The Squire in "Silas Marner" leads a life of idleness similar to that of his sons, yet he and others in Raveloe maintain the idea that folly belongs only to youth. This belief perpetuates the illusion that wisdom comes with age, contrasting the frivolity of youth with the supposed seriousness of adulthood.
This perception highlights a societal tendency to glorify age while dismissing the value of youthful experiences. Their sarcastic endurance suggests that the wisdom of the elderly might not be as profound as they claim, raising questions about the true nature of knowledge and maturity in Raveloe.
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All the things you can talk about in anyone's work are the things that are least important.
Race of Cain, ascend to heaven, And cast God down upon the earth!
