Recently, It seems everyone has a culture of thinking that the much a man ages, the more wisdom and maturity he acquires. However, the major issue is that maturity cannot be measured in terms of the how old is a person. Indeed, a man is not a mature man if he is counted by the calendar in terms of years that he has been alive, but instead it is counted in terms of the way he lives, act and think.
Despite this, there are many instances whereby young men have exhibited great maturity and act like mature minded individuals. Alexander the Great is one the popular known kings to have ascended to the throne at the young age of 20 as the king of Macedonia. In his military campaigns, Alexander was very young but exhibited good leadership, intelligence and bravery. This is clear demonstration of his political wisdom in that he was able to rule over people with different cultures and ethnic groups.
Another good example is Malala Yousafzai who became an advocate for girls education at the young age of only 11 years. Threats were made on her life and she and her family were subjected to violence but this did not stop or shut Malala from voicing her objection to the Taliban and campaigning for an education for girls in Pakistan. They include her courage, determination as well as commitment to her fight which are qualities of an immensely mature -aged person.
In the same breath, there are also many old aged men who are still plain immature, and lack intelligence. An example is the Roman Emperor Nero who was in his thirties when he was ruling the empire. Despite his age, Nero was a notorious madman, a tyrant and a spendthrift. His inability to care, his poor judgment, and his despotic behavior really proved that age is not synonymous with wisdom.
All in all, age does not make a man mature but character, values and the things he does. While some people can even at a youthful age demonstrate a high level of maturity than the older people, there are others who, at any given age, cannot demonstrate a high level of wisdom. The ability to learn, change and adapt is what I consider to be true maturity and does not depend on how many times one had to blow out birthday candles.