Phelps is also quoted by Alex Ayres in _Wit & Wisdom of MT_

Whether Sam said those exact words or not, the sentiment is definitely  his.
Here's the thought in a letter to Edw. L. Dimmitt, July 19, 1901 from
Saranack Lake, NY. Citation either MTP or Paine, _Letters_ 2:709:

"By an error in the plans, things go wrong end first in this world...

"The whole scheme of things is turned wrong end to. Life should begin with
age & its privleges and accumulations, and end with youth and its  capacity
to
splendidly enjoy such advantages. As things are now, when in youth a  dollar
would bring a hundred pleasures, you can't have it. When you are old, you
get
it and there is  nothing worth buying with it then.

"It's an epitome of life. The first half of it consists of the capacity to
enjoy without the chance; the last half consists of the chance without the
capacity."

Note: Sam usually used the & sign instead of "and" in his letters, but
Paine
often "corrected" this--both Paine and the MTP PDF file for 1901-5 does  use
"and" here...personally, I find such "corrections" a sin for which editors
may have an extra coal on their heads in the great hereafter.

David H Fears