quotations about age
Youth looks forward, for nothing is behind! Age backward, for nothing is before.
AMBROSE BIERCE
"Epigrams of a Cynic"
Age does not make us childish, as some say; it finds us true children.
JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE
Faust
Aging is fraught with difficulties, most particularly for women who have been socialized to think of youth as beauty and the female role as reproduction.
MARGARET LOCK
Encounters with Aging
Old age ain't no place for sissies.
BETTE DAVIS
attributed, The Girl Who Walked Home Alone: Bette Davis
As we get older, our risk grows for all kinds of different diseases. To prevent multiple diseases simultaneously, ageing itself has to be the target. Otherwise, it's a game of whack-a-mole.
DAN BELSKY
"Age is just a number -- you could be getting older three times faster than your birthday suggests", BT, July 7, 2015
One should never trust a woman who tells one her real age. A woman who would tell one that would tell one anything.
OSCAR WILDE
A Woman of No Importance
One sad thing about being my age is that there are no older women.
HOWARD JACOBSON
interview, "Howard Jacobson: The later you get married the better. Sixty is the ideal age", The Guardian, February 13, 2016
What is the worst of woes that wait on age? What stamps the wrinkle deeper on the brow? To view each loved one blotted from life's page, And be alone on earth, as I am now.
LORD BYRON
Childe Harold
Old age is more than a hobby. It is not something to take lightly, to fritter away, or during which we are expected to mindlessly fill time. It is, rather, a large part of living and presents us with opportunities unlike those found in the other stages of life.
JURIETTA MCCALL & CLIFF DEMPSTER
Living Well as You Age: Turning Challenges into Opportunities
Crabbed Age and Youth cannot live together:
Youth is full of pleasure, Age is full of care;
Youth is like a summer morn, Age like winter weather;
Youth like summer brave, Age like winter bare.
Youth is full of sport, Age's breath is short;
Youth is nimble, Age is lame;
Youth is hot and bold, Age is weak and cold;
Youth is wild, and Age is tame.
Age, I do abhor thee; Youth, I do adore thee.
O, my love, my love is young!
Age, I do defy thee! O, sweet shepherd, hie thee,
For methinks thou stay'st too long.
ANONYMOUS
"Crabbed Age and Youth", The Passionate Pilgrim
If the Fleeting World is but a long dream, it does not matter whether one is young or old.
BAI JUYI
"At the End of Spring"
Age is a tyrant who forbids at the penalty of life all the pleasures of youth.
FRANÇOIS DE LA ROCHEFOUCAULD
Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims
It is a mistake to regard age as a downhill grade toward dissolution. The reverse is true. As one grows older, one climbs with surprising strides.
GEORGE SAND
attributed, Reading Our Lives: The Poetics of Growing Old
Age, although just a number, plays such a pivotal role in our lives. Age acts a gatekeeper to whatever activity either your parents or the government has deemed inappropriate for you. Whether it is an increase in curfew, being able to drive, vote, drink alcohol or run for president, age is often the sole determinant in whether or not you are allowed these privileges. However since I have no plans to be commander in chief, and my mother no longer has the power to impose a curfew on me, I must ask myself: what else do I have to look forward to? Is 21 already the pinnacle of my young life?
JAKE KEELEY
"Age is more than just a number", Grand Valley Lanthorn, February 28, 2016
Old age is frequently resisted and rejected, especially in North American culture: age is something that is fought intensely, and weapons of questionable effectiveness are eagerly supplied by the beauty and biomedical industries. In some cultures, however, a ripe old age is bestowed with certain benefits, such as elder status and an inherent association with wisdom that demands respect. Thus, to some extent, age and its interpretation are mental and cultural concepts.
KAREL SCHRIJVER & IRIS SCHRIJVER
Living with the Stars: How the Human Body is Connected to the Life Cycles of the Earth, the Planets, and the Stars
The flip side of the other joke about aging -- "Beats the alternative" -- is that it will. Happen. To. You. Unless you opt for the alternative, which, from what I hear, lacks flavor.
MARK HUGHES COBB
"Acting your age is all the rage"
Age is just one of the markers we use to discriminate.
RICHARD L. SPROTT
"Reality Check", Aging, Biotechnology, and the Future
There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of people you love. When you learn to tap this source, you will truly have defeated age.
SOPHIA LOREN
attributed, Chicken Soup for the Soul
Advances in anti-ageing therapies and in estimating biological age raise big questions for society, both at an individual level and in the public and private sectors. We should not be frightened of them, but we should start talking about these changes now, before they arrive.
DAVID CLANCY
"We all age at different speeds -- and scientists have worked out how to calculate it", The Conversation, July 7, 2015
Age is but a comparison.
EDWARD COUNSEL
Maxims