What is the origin of the saying...

This saying, one of John Heywood’s many proverbs, was first published in 1546 as a rhyming verse: “It is better to be an old man’s darling than a young man’s warling.” A warling was a slave taken in battle, but the archaic term was tossed in favor of one that made more sense to readers after the 1874 version of the proverb was published.