Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.
—Ambrose Hollingworth Redmoon (James Neil Hollingworth) (1933–96) American Writer
I will never be an old man. To me, old age is always 15 years older than I am.
—Bernard M. Baruch (1870–1965) American Financier, Economic Consultant
Childhood itself is scarcely more lovely than a cheerful, kindly, sunshiny old age.
—Lydia Maria Child (1802–80) American Abolitionist, Writer
That which is called dotage, is not the weak point of all old men, but only of such as are distinguished by their levity and weakness.
—Cicero (106BCE–43BCE) Roman Philosopher, Orator, Politician, Lawyer
Every age has its book.
—Arabic Proverb
A woman would rather visit her own grave than the place where she has been young and beautiful after she is aged and ugly.
—Corra Mae Harris (1869–1935) American War Correspondent, Novelist
A woman has the age she deserves.
—Coco Chanel (1883–1971) French Fashion Designer
I believe the true function of age is memory. I’m recording as fast as I can.
—Rita Mae Brown (b.1944) American Writer, Feminist
When your friends begin to flatter you on how young you look, it’s a sure sign you’re getting old.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
Forty is the old age of youth; fifty the youth of old age.
—Victor Hugo (1802–85) French Novelist
Let us repect gray hairs, especially our own.
—Jean Antoine Petit-Senn (1792–1870) French-Swiss Lyric Poet
Just as the constant increase of entropy is the basic law of the universe, so it is the basic law of life to be ever more highly structured and to struggle against entropy.
—Vaclav Havel (1936–2011) Czech Dramatist, Statesman
The woman who tells her age is either too young to have anything to lose or too old to have anything to gain.
—Chinese Proverb
Just remember, once you’re over the hill you begin to pick up speed.
—Charles M. Schulz (1922–2000) American Cartoonist, Writer, Artist
Middle age is when work is a lot less fun and fun is a lot more work.
—Indian Proverb
Being seventy is not a sin.
—Golda Meir (1898–1978) Israeli Head of State
Every man over forty is a scoundrel.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
Maturity is the ability to think, speak and act your feelings within the bounds of dignity. The measure of your maturity is how spiritual you become during the midst of your frustrations.
—Samuel Ullman (1840–1924) American Businessman, Poet
The older we get the more we must limit ourselves if we wish to be active.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
Many foxes grow gray but few grow good.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
Twenty years a child; twenty years running wild; twenty years a mature man—and after that, praying.
—Common Proverb
The outer passes away; the innermost is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Historian, Essayist
When we are young, we are slavishly employed in procuring something whereby we may live comfortably when we grow old; and when we are old, we I perceive it is too late to live as we proposed.
—Alexander Pope (1688–1744) English Poet
Age seldom arrives smoothly or quickly. It’s more often a succession of jerks.
—Jean Rhys (1890–1979) British Novelist, Short-story Writer
The evening of a well spent life brings its lamps with it.
—Joseph Joubert (1754–1824) French Writer, Moralist
Age does not protect you from love, but love to some extent protects you from age.
—Jeanne Moreau (1928–2017) French Stage, Screen Actor, Singer
Grant me an old man’s frenzy,
Myself must I remake
Till I am Timon and Lear
Or that William Blake
Who beat upon the wall
Till Truth obeyed his call;
A mind Michael Angelo knew
That can pierce the clouds,
Or inspired by frenzy
Shake the dead in their shrouds;
Forgotten else by mankind,
An old man’s eagle mind.
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939) Irish Poet, Dramatist
The end comes when we no longer talk with ourselves. It is the end of genuine thinking and the beginning of the final loneliness.
—Eric Hoffer (1902–83) American Philosopher, Author
I guess I don’t so much mind being old, as I mind being fat and old.
—Peter Gabriel (b.1950) English Singer-Songwriter
Children act in the village as they have learned at home.
—Swedish Proverb
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