Aging Wisdom Quotes

When I was young I thought that money was the most important thing in life; now that I am old I know that it is.

When you are older, you realise that everything else is just nothing compared to painting and drawing.

I love the perspective afforded by having lived five decades, a degree of bemused and muted calm, a relief from the insistent demands of a turbulent ego and rampant ambition. I'd love to stay here forever. But something tells me that 50 is a sunny idyll, a temporary state of grace, a golden afternoon.

Let no one delay the study of philosophy while young nor weary of it when old.

Even hoar hairs [elderly scholars] have something to learn; and old age, it would seem, cannot in all respects be trusted for wisdom

When you reach my age, you realize you couldn't have done things very much better or much worse than you did them in the first place.

People always fancy that we must become old to become wise; but, in truth, as years advance, it is hard to keep ourselves as wise as we were.

Many people are unhappy because there was some point in their past where there was some glory day, and as they get older they're not creating more glory days. They reflect on a time that they will never reach again, and it brings some level of dissatisfaction into their lives. I have circumvented that by simply making incumbent upon myself to always be productive in ways that are consistent with my physical body, my mental state of knowledge, but more important, my presumed growth in wisdom that would come with age.

I wouldn't want to be 20 again for anything.

People think the older you get, the wacker you get. I think the older I get, the better I get.

...if a man comes to his fortieth year, and has any understanding at all, he has virtually seen - thanks to their similarity - all possible happenings, both past and to come.

I see a wiser person than when I was younger: having babies, and passing 30, were the turning points. What women in their 40s - I am 39 - lack in gorgeousness, they make up for in wisdom. I love ageing, despite the drawbacks - thinner, drier skin.

The - I don't want to say older, but the more experienced I get, I treasure and I honor what I've done much more.

When you reach my age, you understand that you are a player with skin in the game, no matter what game it is.

I don’t read Scripture and cling to no life precepts, except perhaps to Walter Cronkite’s rules for old men, which he did not deliver over the air: Never trust a fart. Never pass up a drink. Never ignore an erection.

One's mind suffers only when one is young and while one is ignorant of the world. When one has lived for some time, one learns that the young think too little and the old too much, and one grows careless about both.

I decided years ago that if I'm going to keep teaching contemplation, then the last years of my life should be contemplative.

It is only necessary to grow old to become more charitable and even indulgent. I see no fault committed by others that I have not committed myself.

The ultimate goal is to be more satisfied. I really don't believe you get wiser because you get older. It's a choice, perhaps not to take some things so seriously.

I've learned in my older age that sexy gets you further than brains.

One of the blessings of age is to learn not to part on a note of sharpness, to treasure the moments spent with those we love, and to make them whenever possible good to remember, for time is short.

Old age is not an illness, it is a timeless ascent. As power diminishes, we grow toward the light.

The nearer I come to the end of my days, the more I am enabled to see that strange thing, a life, and to see it whole.

These days, as I am older and wiser, I realize that there is a danger in becoming an icon, as people can see you as remote and untouchable, and they are less willing to tolerate you doing things that don't fit with their preconceived idea of you.

My mother gave lots of good advice and had a lot to say. As you get older, you realize everything she said was true.