As quoted in New Yorker (25 August 1838); often paraphrased as "Go west, young man, and grow up with the country", sometimes misattributed to John L. Soule https://books.google.com/books?id=UaTQAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA361&lpg=PA361&dq=+Go+to+the+West.&source=bl&ots=3ys4effVfR&sig=Jq3JDde6ZjCDefVWimZOReHOTlE&hl=en&sa=X&ei=_xPaVNOLJIS7ggS47YPQCw&ved=0CCAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22%20publicly%20and%20privately%2C%20Go%20to%20the%20West.&f=false
“
If any young man is about to commence the world, we say to him, publicly and privately, Go to the West.
— Horace Greeley
What It Means
This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "If any young man is about to commence the world, we say to him, publicly and privately, Go to the West." in the context of "As quoted in New Yorker (25 August 1838); often paraphrased as "Go west, young man, and grow up with the country", sometimes misattributed to John L. Soule https://books.google.com/books?id=UaTQAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA361&lpg=PA361&dq=+Go+to+the+West.&source=bl&ots=3ys4effVfR&sig=Jq3JDde6ZjCDefVWimZOReHOTlE&hl=en&sa=X&ei=_xPaVNOLJIS7ggS47YPQCw&ved=0CCAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22%20publicly%20and%20privately%2C%20Go%20to%20the%20West.&f=false" to mean that wisdom is timeless.
Source: Wikiquote: "Horace Greeley" (Quotes)
The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
About Horace Greeley
Horace Greeley (3 February 1811 – 29 November 1872) was an American editor of a leading newspaper, New York Tribune, a founder of the Liberal Republican Party, a reformer and a politician.
About Horace Greeley
Horace Greeley (3 February 1811 – 29 November 1872) was an American editor of a leading newspaper, New York Tribune, a founder of the Liberal Republican Party, a reformer and a politician.
View all quotes →