We have to have a diversity of age represented in Congress, too.

The young leader Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, whose voice rose from the streets of the Bronx to the halls of Congress, once declared: “We have to have a diversity of age represented in Congress, too.” Though simple in form, this statement carries the depth of a revolution in thought. It is not merely a cry for inclusion, but a call for balance — between the vigor of youth and the wisdom of age, between the dreamer who looks ahead and the elder who remembers what has been. In her words shines an eternal truth: that a just and living society must draw from all seasons of life, lest it wither in the dominance of one.

The origin of this saying lies in a time of awakening — an age when a new generation sought not only to inherit the world but to transform it. When Ocasio-Cortez entered the American Congress at the age of twenty-nine, she became one of its youngest voices. Many questioned her readiness; many doubted her place among the grey-haired and long-seated. Yet she stood firm, not in defiance of age, but in partnership with it. Her words arose from a vision that the halls of power must reflect not only the diversity of race, gender, and creed, but also of generation — for each age carries its own light, its own insight into the human journey.

In ancient times, this harmony of generations was known as the balance of the council. Among the Greeks, the city of Sparta had both elders, called gerontes, and the young, chosen for their courage and discipline, who together shaped decisions of state. The old offered memory and restraint; the young brought energy and daring. When one voice dominated, imbalance followed — too much youth, and the city ran headlong into folly; too much age, and it stagnated into fear. Thus, even the ancients knew what Ocasio-Cortez reminds us today: that the wisdom of a civilization lies not in the silence of the young nor the deafness of the old, but in their dialogue.

History is rich with moments when this sacred balance either failed or prevailed. Consider the story of Athens in its decline. When the elders clung too tightly to tradition and dismissed the warnings of the younger visionaries, the city lost its creative soul. Yet in other times, when youth and age united — as in the American Revolution, where young minds like Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton stood beside elder statesmen like Benjamin Franklin — the result was a nation born of both vision and wisdom. Youth dreamed the dream; age gave it form. In this union, progress gained direction, and freedom gained endurance.

The meaning of Ocasio-Cortez’s words, then, reaches beyond politics. It speaks to the eternal rhythm of renewal — that every generation must both learn from the past and challenge it. The elders carry the torch of memory; the young bring the spark of change. Without one, the fire dies; without the other, it burns out of control. To call for a diversity of age is to call for the joining of these flames — to let them illuminate the path together, rather than consume one another.

Her statement also carries a deeper spiritual teaching. In each of us lives both the old and the young — the part that remembers, and the part that dreams. The wise soul learns to keep them in harmony. When we listen only to our inner elder, we grow cautious, afraid to move. When we listen only to our inner youth, we rush forward blindly. The fullness of life is found when we let experience and imagination walk side by side, just as they must in any true Congress of the heart.

The lesson, then, is this: honor every age. Do not dismiss the old as relics of the past, nor the young as untested novices. In every child sleeps a future leader; in every elder, a history that can guide the next generation. In your families, your communities, your nations — let the voices of all ages be heard. For no age holds the monopoly on truth; wisdom is not bound by time, but revealed through connection.

Thus remember, O listener, the strength of a people lies not in the power of one generation, but in the covenant between them. Let the youth bring fire to the cold hearth of age, and let the elders steady the flame when it burns too wildly. When both hands — the trembling and the eager — join together in purpose, humanity walks forward with balance, and the house of civilization stands firm upon the earth.