Photo by Raymond Zoller.
I have a treasury of quotes about aging that I have been sharing via Twitter since 2012.Why not share these quotes here?
This is the second part in a series.
Note: I do not agree with all of these.
I do think that if a quote gets passed around, it contains elements that people should examine and discuss.
Which quotes should be promoted? Which contain assumptions about aging that should be challenged? Share your views in the comments.
G
I like to describe myself as a proudly visible member of the most invisible segments of our society -- older women Cindy Gallop
There is still no cure for the common birthday. John Glenn
Old enough to know better and young enough to want to do it anyway. Stormy Glenn
I feel the tomb is just around the corner. And there are all these books I haven't read yet. Edward Gorey
H
The best mirror is an old friend. George Herbert.
No, that is the great fallacy: the wisdom of old men. They do not grow wise. They grow careful. Earnest Hemingway
Jewelry takes people's minds off your wrinkles. Sonja Henie
Elegance is the only beauty that never fades. Audrey Hepburn.
Happiness is health and a short memory! I wish I'd invented it, because it's very true. Audrey Hepburn
I am not afraid of aging, but more afraid of people's reactions to my aging. Barbara Hershey
That's the time of your life when even your birthday suit needs pressing. Bob Hope, on turning 80.
Memory is a poet, not a historian -- Maria Howe b. 1950 / Paul Geraldy b. 1885
Our wrinkles are our medals of the passage of life. Lauren Hutton.
The young man knows the rules, but the old man knows the exceptions. Oliver Wendell Holmes
Fun is like life insurance: the older you get, the more it costs. Kin Hubbard
J
Aging is...a chance to see ourselves from a new & heightened perspective: fuller, kinder, & deeper. RP Johnson
K
Toby Keith's view on aging: "I ain't as good as I once was, but I'm as good once as I ever was." True for you, or not?
I think you have to relax about aging. What else can you do? Felicity Kendal http://bit.ly/MACTll
The quality, not the longevity, of one's life is what is important. Martin Luther King, Jr.
I'm willing to die for the woman I love. I just want to take 75 years to do it. Jarod Kintz
I'm learning all the time. The tombstone will be my diploma. Eartha Kitt http://bit.ly/MACTll
Old age is an excellent time for outrage. My goal is to say or do at least one outrageous thing every week. Louis Kronenberger
Wisdom says we are nothing. Love says we are everything. Between these two our life flows. Jack Kornfeld
L
If you wonder what u were doing in the past, look at your body; to know what will happen to u in the future, look at your mind. Dalai Lama
Aging bodies are fiscal black holes into which you can pour endless amounts of money. Richard Lamm
Inside every 70 year old is a 35 year old asking, "What happened?" Ann Landers. Agree or no?
At age 20, we worry about what others think of us....At age 60, we discover they haven't been thinking of us at all. Ann Landers.
The surprising thing about young fools is how many survive to become old fools. Doug Larson
If any of you cry at my funeral, I'll never speak to you again! Stan Laurel
I went from adolescence to senility, trying to bypass maturity. Tom Lehrer
Whatever poet, orator or sage may say of it, old age is still old age. Sinclair Lewis
Die when I may, I want it said that I plucked a weed and planted a flower wherever a flower would grow. A. Lincoln
Maturity is achieved when a person accepts life as full of tension. Joshua Loth Liebman
One of the stereotypes I see breaking is the idea of aging and older women not being beautiful. Annie Leibovitz
Age is never so old as youth would measure it. Jack London
With old friends, you've got your whole life in common. Lyle Lovett
M
Every moment of one's existence one is growing into more or retreating into less. Norman Mailer
Getting older is no problem. You just have to live long enough. Groucho Marx
The tragedy in life doesn't lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goal to reach. Benjamin Mays
Old age and treachery will always beat youth and exuberance. David Mamet
The older I grow the more I distrust the familiar doctrine that age brings wisdom. H.L. Mencken
The goal of life is to die young -- as late as possible. ~ Ashley Montagu
Any fear of aging, I think, is simply vanity. Leighton Meester
Middle school is for being like everyone else; middle age is for being like yourself. Victoria Moran
Juan Montalvo claims that "Old age is an island surrounded by death," but is he grossly limiting this life stage? (OK, I embedded Montalvo's quote in my own commentary. It's a dramatically reductive view of late life.)
The more sand has escaped from the hourglass of our life, the clearer we should see through it. Niccolo Machiavelli
Please don't retouch my wrinkles. It took me so long time to earn them. Anna Magnani
If I knew I was going to live this long, I'd have taken better care of myself. Mickey Mantle
Old age has its pleasures, which, though different are not less than the pleasures of youth. W. Somerset Maugham
I think older women are marginalized, but I think that has changed so much in the last twenty years. Melinda McGraw (in a 2010 interview)
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Age does not protect you from love. But love, to some extent, protects you from age. Anais Nin
I'm most proud of the longevity of my marriage, my kids, and my grandchildren. Bob Newhart
Related:
Quotes about Aging: A through F