I just read something that I simultaneously liked and found annoying:

"You don't know what you don't know when you're young. How could you? People who are older nod sagely and say you'll learn - about love, about marriage, about failing and falling down and getting up and trying to stagger on toward success...You're like a cake when you're young. You can't rush it or it will fall, or just turn out wrong. Rising takes patience, and heat." (Anna Quindlen)

I love the last two lines. I think there are a lot of areas where you just ripen, and you can't force it. BUT I think we are all cakes forever, still learning. At least I hope so.