Age

"Happy and blessed birthday to every lover, and may love bring us together, and may the world hear us."

"Today we celebrate and light candles, renewing the days of happiness and love within us, and we converse in sweet, pure, and delightful affection, drawing the present to the days of our past. Joy on your birthday, my dear, may you always be in my heart."

"Today is a special day, it’s my birthday with my life partner"

"Every year you are the most beautiful thing that has ever happened to me,” and “May you always be my support in this world, my darling.”"

"On this day, you became my life, my hope, my destiny in this world, my refuge, and the love of my life. Every year, you are the most beautiful thing that has ever happened to me."

"If I could go back in time a thousand times, I would choose you every time, because every beat of my heart cries out your name."

"There is still no cure for the common birthday."

"I grabbed a pile of dust, and holding it up, foolishly asked for as many birthdays as the grains of dust, I forgot to ask that they be years of youth."

"Dylan Thomas"

"these nights we hear the horses running in the rain"

"Romance novels are birthday cake and life is often peanut butter and jelly. I think everyone should have lots of delicious romance novels lying around for those times when the peanut butter of life gets stuck to the roof of your mouth."

"Let gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel to say your nightly prayer. And let faith be the bridge you build to overcome evil and welcome good."

"All the world's a birthday cake, / So take a piece but not too much."

"You who wish to celebrate a birthday, inquire first who was born. One’s true birthday is when one enters into the Eternal Being which shines forever without birth or death."

"Of all days, on one’s birthday one should mourn one’s fall (into samsara). To celebrate it as a festival is like adorning and glorifying a corpse. To seek one’s Self and merge in it is wisdom."

"Birthdays weigh heavily on one's self-esteem. Early in the morning especially."

"A birthday:—and now a day that rose With much of hope, with meaning rife— A thoughtful day from dawn to close: The middle day of human life."

"As this auspicious day began the race Of ev'ry virtue join'd with ev'ry grace; May you, who own them, welcome its return, Till excellence, like yours, again is born. The years we wish, will half your charms impair; The years we wish, the better half will spare; The victims of your eyes will bleed no more, But all the beauties of your mind adore."

"Believing hear, what you deserve to hear: Your birthday as my own to me is dear. Blest and distinguished days! which we should prize The first, the kindest bounty of the skies. But yours gives most; for mine did only lend Me to the world; yours gave to me a friend."

"My birthday!—what a different sound That word had in my youthful ears; And how each time the day comes round, Less and less white its mark appears."

"Whatever with the past has gone the best is always yet to come."

"Is that a birthday? 'tis, alas! too clear; 'Tis but the funeral of the former year."

"With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come."

"The land of the living was not far removed from the domain of the ancestors. There was coming and going between them, especially at festivals and also when an old man died, because an old man was very close to the ancestors. A man's life from birth to death was a series of transition rites which brought him nearer and nearer to his ancestors."

"I do not wish to grow old, to outlive my illusions. Only a short respite from cares and sorrow, a brief time of flowers, and music, and love, and laughter, and ecstatic tears."

"To keep the heart unwrinkled, to be hopeful, kindly, cheerful, reverent—that is to triumph over old age."

"There is only one solution if old age is not to be an absurd parody of our former life, and that is to go on pursuing ends that give our existence a meaning."

"Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be, The last of life, for which the first was made"

"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."

"It was one of the deadliest and heaviest feelings of my life to feel that I was no longer a boy. From that moment I began to grow old in my own esteem — and in my esteem age is not estimable."

"One great thing about getting old is that you can get out of all sorts of social obligations just by saying you're tired."

"On Being Old. It's not nice but take comfort that you won't stay that way for ever."

"It cuts one sadly to see the grief of old people; they've no way o' working it off; and the new spring brings no new shoots out on the withered tree."

"Old men's prayers for death are lying prayers, in which they abuse old age and long extent of life. But when death draws near, not one is willing to die, and age no longer is a burden to them."

"All my life I've been taught how to die, but no one ever taught me how to grow old."

"Gross well says that children are young because they play, and not vice versa; and he might have added, men grow old because they stop playing, and not conversely, for play is, at bottom, growth, and at the top of the intellectual scale it is the eternal type of research from sheer love of truth."

"And the 24 elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshipped God who sits on the throne and said: “Amen! Praise Jah!” Also, a voice came from the throne and said: “Be praising our God, all you his slaves, who fear him, the small ones and the great.”"

"Maybe theoretical physics is degenerating but I don't know into what. Let me just say something first. I have noticed when I was younger, that lots of old men in the field couldn't understand new ideas very well, and resisted them with one method or another, and that they were very foolish in saying these ideas were wrong — such as Einstein not being able to take quantum mechanics. I'm an old man now, and these are new ideas, and they look crazy to me, and they look like they're on the wrong track. Now I know that other old men have been very foolish in saying things like this, and, therefore, I would be very foolish to say this is nonsense. I am going to be very foolish, because I do feel strongly that this is nonsense! I can't help it, even though I know the danger in such a point of view. So perhaps I could entertain future historians by saying I think all this superstring stuff is crazy and is in the wrong direction."

"Work, play–at sixty our powers and tastes are what they were at seventeen. Old men in the bad old days used to renounce, retire, take to religion, spend their time reading, thinking–thinking!""

"Every child, at birth, is the Universal Man. But, as it grows, we turn it into "a petty man." It should be the function of education to turn it again into the original "Universal Man.""

"One of the duties of old-age, is the management of time. The less that remains to us, the more valuable we ought to consider it."

"The great secret that all old people share is that you really haven't changed in seventy or eighty years. Your body changes, but you don't change at all. And that, of course, causes great confusion."

"For age is opportunity no less Than youth itself, though in another dress, And as the evening twilight fades away The sky is filled with stars, invisible by day."

"You never lose who you were, you just grow around you, like a tree."

"The secret of a good old age is simply an honorable pact with solitude."

"The complete life, the perfect pattern, includes old age as well as youth and maturity. The beauty of the morning and the radiance of noon are good, but it would be a very silly person who drew the curtains and turned on the light in order to shut out the tranquillity of the evening. Old age has its pleasures, which, though different, are not less than the pleasures of youth."

"The older I grow, the more I distrust the familiar doctrine that age brings wisdom."

"The great renunciation of old age as it prepared for death, wraps itself up in its chrysalis, which may be observed at the end of lives that are at all prolonged, even in old lovers who have lived for one another, in old friends bound by the closest ties of mutual sympathy, who, after a certain year, cease to make the necessary journey or even to cross the street to see one another, cease to correspond, and know that they will communicate no more in this world."

"Women of the 24th century consider a man in his early fifties like Picard has having just entered his best years. Active duty Starfleet males, (and females for that matter) have the double attractiveness of being in prime physical condition usually through their seventies and being more aware most humans of the rich variety of personal relationships."

"Getting older was definitely preferable to an up close and personal meeting with the Grim Reaper."

"No man loves life like him that's growing old."

"It seems only the old are able to sit next to one another and not say anything and still feel content. The young, brash and impatient, must always break the silence. It is a waste, for silence is pure. Silence is holy. It draws people together because only those who are comfortable with each other can sit without speaking. This is the great paradox."

"Age overtakes us all; Our temples first; then on o'er cheek and chin, Slowly and surely, creep the frosts of Time. Up and do somewhat, ere thy limbs are sere."

"Old age is the most unexpected of all the things that can happen to a man."

"The tragedy of old age is not that one is old, but that one is young."

"There's one advantage to being 102. There's no peer pressure."

"An aged man is but a paltry thing, A tattered coat upon a stick, unless Soul clap its hands and sing."

"I shaved two years off. But I couldn't keep track. Different magazines said I was 30, 35. Then I was asked to play at Gloria Steinem's 60th birthday party and I realized it was time to cut the bullshit and tell the truth."

"I believe in loyalty. When a woman reaches a certain age she likes, she should stick with it."

"Dr. Foreman: Ten year olds do not have heart attacks. It's gotta be a mistake. Dr. House: Right. The simplest explanation is she's a forty-year-old lying about her age. Maybe an actress trying to hang on."

"Howard Hughes, according to his own account, was born in Houston, Texas, on December 24, 1905. The vaguely biblical feel of the date was probably intentional, because it wasn't true. Baptismal records show he was actually born in September of that year in a small Texan town called, ironically, Humble."

"It's a sad state of affairs in the music business when a 22-year-old feels compelled to pass herself off as 19."

"When an untaught, run-of-the-mill person, himself subject to aging, not beyond aging, sees another who is aged, he is horrified, humiliated, & disgusted, oblivious to himself that he too is subject to aging, not beyond aging. If I – who am subject to aging, not beyond aging – were to be horrified, humiliated, & disgusted on seeing another person who is aged, that would not be fitting for me."

"As I give thought to the matter, I find four causes for the apparent misery of old age; first, it withdraws us from active accomplishments; second, it renders the body less powerful; third, it deprives us of almost all forms of enjoyment; fourth, it stands not far from death."

"No one is so old that he does not think he could live another year."

"Let no one be slow to seek wisdom when he is young nor weary in search thereof when he is grown old. For no age is too early or too late for the health of the soul. And to say that the season for studying philosophy has not yet come, or that it is past and gone, is like saying that the season for happiness is not yet or that it is now no more."

""I said, Days should speak, and multitude of years should teach wisdom."

"Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man"

"εἰ καὶ ὁ ἔξω ἡμῶν ἄνθρωπος διαφθείρεται, ἀλλ’ ὁ ἔσω ἡμῶν ἀνακαινοῦται ἡμέρᾳ καὶ ἡμέρᾳ."

"‘Once when the Blessed One was living at Savathi in the Eastern Monastery, the Palace of Migara’s Mother, he had risen from retreat in the evening and was sitting warming his back in the rays of the setting sun,’ we learn. As Ananda was massaging his limbs, he noticed the changes that had overtaken the Buddha, and mentioned them. ‘So it is, Ananda, so it is,’ the Buddha replied. ‘Youth has to age, health has to sicken, life has to die. Now the colour of my skin is no more clear and bright; all my limbs are flaccid and wrinkled, my body is bent forward, and there seems a change in the sense faculties of my eyes, ears, nose, tongue and bodily sensation,’ so the Blessed One said. When the Sublime One had said this, the Master said further: ‘Shame on you, sordid Age! Maker of ugliness. Age has now trampled down The form that once had grace. To live a hundred years Is not to cheat Decay, That gives quarter to none And tramples down all things.’"

"Ananda, I am now old, worn out, venerable, one who has traversed life’s path, I have reached the term of life, which is eighty. Just as an old cart is made to go by being held together with straps, so the Tathagata’s body is kept going by being strapped up. It is only when the Tathagata withdraws his attention from outside signs, and by the cessation of certain feelings, enters into the signless concentration of mind, that his body knows comfort."

"One should pay attention to an old man's words. One should submit oneself to his protection."

"The instructions of an old man are precious."

"Age is deformed, youth unkind, We scorn their bodies, they our mind."

"If youth only knew; if only age could."

"I wasted time, and now doth time waste me."

"An old goat is never the more reverend for his beard."

"Old age is not so fiery as youth, but when once provoked cannot be appeased."

"Age imprints more wrinkles on the mind than it does on the face."

"En vieillissant, on devient plus fou et plus sage."

": As one grows older, one becomes wiser and more foolish."

"Peu de gens savent être vieux."

": Few persons know how to be old."

"La vieillesse est un tyran qui défend, sur peine de la vie, tous les plaisirs de la jeunesse."

": Old age is a tyrant who forbids, upon pain of death, all the pleasures of youth."

"My God! my time is in Thine hands. Should it please Thee to lengthen my life, and complete, as Thou hast begun, the work of blanching my locks, grant me grace to wear them as an unsullied crown of honour."

"That time of year thou mayst in me behold When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang Upon those boughs which shake against the cold, Bare ruin'd choirs, where late the sweet birds sang."

"There are so few who can grow old with a good grace."

"Like our shadows, Our wishes lengthen, as our sun declines."

"But now at thirty years my hair is gray–– (I wonder what it will be like at forty? I thought of a peruke the other day) My heart is not much greener; and, in short, I Have squander'd my whole summer while 'twas May, And feel no more the spirit to retort; I Have spent my life, both interest and principal, And deem not, what I deem'd, my soul invincible."

"There is an old age which has more youth of heart than youth itself."

"It was a satisfactory thing to hear that the old gentleman was going to lead a new life, for it was pretty evident that his old one would not last him much longer."

"As we grow old....the beauty turns inward."

"When grace is joined with wrinkles, it is adorable. There is an unspeakable dawn in happy old age."

"There is nothing so unreasonable as infancy, excepting the maturer stages of life."

"... bledě modré oči [Slečny Elis] jistě padesátkráte viděly zemi v tom krásném jarním rouše."

"Old age deprives the intelligent man only of qualities useless to wisdom."

"All the best sands of my life are somehow getting into the wrong end of the hourglass. If I could only reverse it! Were it in my power to do so, would I?"

"I still think of myself as I was 25 years ago. Then I look in a mirror and see an old bastard and I realize it's me."

"I recently turned 60. Practically a third of my life is over."

"When you're forty, half of you belongs to the past — and when you're seventy, nearly all of you."

"The land of easy mathematics where he who works adds up and he who retires subtracts."

"He was filled with terrible knowing: This day had been exactly as empty as the last and tomorrow would be the same. This is what it is to be old, Henry thought."

"One of the more traumatic aspects of reaching age 40 is that you no longer have the same body you had when you were 21. I know I don't. Sometimes when I take a shower I look down at my body and I want to scream: "Hey, THIS isn't my body! THIS body belongs to Willard Scott!" But this is perfectly natural. Screaming in the shower, I mean. Reaching age 40, however, is NOT natural. I base this statement on extensive scientific documentation in the form of a newspaper article I vaguely remember reading once, which stated that the life expectancy for human beings in the wild is about 35 years. Think about what that means. It means that if you were in the wild, even in the nonsmoking section, by now you'd be Worm Chow. So we can clearly see that going past age 40 is basically an affront to Nature, with Exhibit A being the Gabor sisters."

"Why do we get older? Why do our bodies wear out? Why can't we just go on and on and on, accumulating a potentially infinite number of Frequent Flier mileage points? These are the kinds of questions that philosophers have been asking ever since they realized that being a philosopher did not involve any heavy lifting. And yet the answer is really very simple: Our bodies are mechanical devices, and like all mechanical devices, they break down. Some devices, such as battery-operated toys costing $39.95, break down almost instantly upon exposure to the Earth's atmosphere. Other devices, such as stereo systems owned by your next-door neighbor's 13-year-old son who likes to listen to bands with names like "Nerve Damage" at a volume capable of disintegrating limestone, will continue to function perfectly for many years, even if you hit them with an ax. But the fundamental law of physics is that sooner or later every mechanism ceases to function for one reason or another, and it is never covered under the warranty."

"As we know from slicing up dead worms in Biology Lab, the "parts" that make up this miraculous "mechanism" that we call the human body are called "cells"- billions and billions (even more, in the case of Marlon Brando) of organisms so tiny that we cannot see or hear them unless you have been using illegal narcotics. When you are very young, each of your cells, based on its individual personality and aptitude, selects an area of specialization, such as the thigh, in which to pursue its career. As you grow, the cell multiplies, and it teaches its offspring to be thigh cells also, showing them the various "tricks of the trade." Thus the proud thigh-cell tradition is handed down from generation to generation, providing you with thighs so sleek and taut that they look great even when encased in Spandex garments that would be a snug fit on a Bic pen. But as your body approaches middle age, this cellular discipline starts to break down. The newer cells- you know how it is with the young- start to challenge the conventional values of their elders. "What's so great about sleek and taut?" is what these newer cells would say, if they had mouths, which thank God they do not. They become listless and bored, and many of them, looking for "kicks," turn to cellulite. Your bodily tissue begins to deteriorate, gradually becoming saggier and lumpier, until one day you glance in the mirror and realize, to your horror, that you look as though for some reason you are attempting to smuggle out of the country an entire driveway's worth of gravel concealed inside your upper legs. And this very same process is going on all over your body."

"Is there something you can do about it? You're darned right there is! You can fight back. Mister Old Age is not going to get you, by golly! All you need is a little determination- a willingness to get out of that reclining lounge chair, climb into that sweatsuit, lace on those running shoes, stride out that front door, and hurl yourself in front of that municipal bus.. No, wait. Sorry. For a moment there I got carried away by the bleakness of it all. Forget what I said. Really. There is absolutely no need to become suicidally depressed about the fact that every organ in your body is headed straight down the toilet. There really are things you can do to keep your body looking healthy and youthful for years to come. But before I discuss these things, I want you to answer the following questions honestly: Are you willing to make the hard sacrifices needed to be really healthy? Are you willing to commit yourself totally to a program of regular exercise, close medical supervision, and the elimination of all caffeine, alcohol, and rich foods, to be replaced by a strict diet of nutrition-rich, kelp-like plant growths so unappetizing that they will make you actually lust for tofu? Or are you the kind of shallow, irresponsible person who wants a purely cosmetic change, a "quick and dirty" surface gloss that may make you look young and healthy, but actually has no long-term value? Me too."

"Old age is like learning a new profession. And not one of your own choosing."

"Nothing is so hateful to the philistine as the "dreams of his youth." ... For what appeared to him in his dreams was the voice of the spirit, calling him once, as it does everyone. It is of this that youth always reminds him, eternally and ominously. That is why he is antagonistic toward youth."

"Age is strictly a case of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter."

"AGE, n. That period of life in which we compound for the vices that we still cherish by reviling those that we have no longer the enterprise to commit."

"Yet somehow our society must make it right and possible for old people not to fear the young or be deserted by them, for the test of a civilization is in the way that it cares for its helpless members."

"The years swarm around me like midges, and though each tiny bite only costs me a single drop of blood, they are so thick I am nearly bled dry."

"Old age isn’t so bad when you consider the alternative."

"A man is as old as he's feeling, a woman is as old as she looks."

"They say that getting old is a curse, But not getting older is worse."

"At times it seems to me that I am living my life backwards, and that at the approach of old age my real youth will begin. My soul was born covered with wrinkles—wrinkles my ancestors and parents most assiduously put there and that I had the greatest trouble removing."

"To an old man any place that's warm is homeland."

"Pilkington, at Mombasa, had produced individuals who were sexually mature at four and full-grown at six and a half. A scientific triumph. But socially useless. Six-year-old men and women were too stupid to do even Epsilon work. And the process was an all-or-nothing one; either you failed to modify at all, or else you modified the whole way. They were still trying to find the ideal compromise between adults of twenty and adults of six. So far without success. Mr. Foster sighed and shook his head."

"Old age is like an opium-dream. Nothing seems real except what is unreal."

"This increase in the life span and in the number of our senior citizens presents this Nation with increased opportunities: the opportunity to draw upon their skill and sagacity—and the opportunity to provide the respect and recognition they have earned. It is not enough for a great nation merely to have added new years to life—our objective must also be to add new life to those years."

"Perhaps being old is having lighted rooms inside your head, and having people in them, acting. People you know, yet can't quite name."

"I've changed my attitudes about what it means to age. Sometimes people decide it's their lot in life to be old, but people like Grandma bring color and excellence to their lives. That's what I've tried to do, too. I'm looking forward to the next stage."

"Sometimes people grieve when they find old age coming upon them, when they find their vehicles not so strong as they used to be. They desire the strength and the faculties that they once had. It is wise for them to repress that desire, to realize that their bodies have done good work, and if they can no longer do the same amount as of yore, they should do gently and peacefully what they can, but not worry themselves over the change. Presently they will have new bodies; and the way to ensure a good vehicle is to make such use as one can of the old one, but in any case to be serene and calm and unruffled. The only way to do that is to forget self, to let all selfish desires cease, and to turn the thought outward to the helping of others as far as one’s capabilities go."

"Never respect years, only deeds."

"Will nature make a man of me yet?"

"Old age has its pleasures, which though different, are not less than the pleasures of youth."

"Growing old is no more than a bad habit which a busy man has no time to form."

"The real affliction of old age is remorse."

"Inside every old person is a young person wondering what happened."

"The longer I live, the more urgent it seems to me to endure and transcribe the whole dictation of existence up to its end, for it might just be the case that only the very last sentence contains that small and possibly inconspicuous word through which everything we had struggled to learn and everything we had failed to understand will be transformed suddenly into magnificent sense."

"The first symptom is that hair grows on your ears. It's very disconcerting."

"There is something reassuring, too (at least, I find it so), in these renewals of former admirations. We all endeavour, as Spinoza says, to persist in our own being; and that endeavour is, he adds, the very essence of our existence. When, therefore, we find that what delighted us once can still delight us: that though the objects of our admiration may be intermittent, yet they move in fixed orbits, and their return is certain, these reappearances will suggest that we have after all maintained something of our own integrity; that a sort of system lies beneath the apparent variability of our interests; that there is, so to speak, a continuity within ourselves, a core of meaning which has not disintegrated with the years."

"People don't grow up — they just begin to overestimate their own importance."

"Old age is the most unexpected of things that can happen to a man."

"Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life.Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity of the appetite, for adventure over the love of ease. This often exists in a man of sixty more than a boy of twenty. Nobody grows old merely by a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals.Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, fear, self-distrust bows the heart and turns the spirit back to dust.Whether sixty or sixteen, there is in every human being's heart the lure of wonder, the unfailing child-like appetite of what's next, and the joy of the game of living."

"Nobody grows old by merely living a number of years; people grow old by deserting their ideals."

"No two moments in the life of an individual are exactly alike; there is between the later and the earlier periods only the similarity of the higher and lower parts of a spiral ascent."

"The old have nothing to pace themselves for, she’d say. This is the final sprint. Run. Run. See how far you can get before you fall."

"Age had not yet defeated her on all fronts, though it was a war of attrition she knew she was fated to lose."

"We claim the dignity of age, she thought, but the truth is, age leaves us without any dignity at all."

"There are some people who imagine that older adults don't know how to use the internet. My immediate reaction is, "I've got news for you, we invented it.""

"Now I was stuck and could feel the tide of years suddenly beginning to rise around me."

"I am old now, or at least, I am no longer young, and everything I see reminds me of something else I’ve seen, such that I see nothing for the first time. A bonny girl, her hair fiery red, reminds me only of another hundred such lasses, and their mothers, and what they were as they grew, and what they looked like when they died. It is the curse of age, that all things are reflections of other things."

"And in truth, of course, I'm not just 60 - I'm twelve, I'm 23, I'm 37, I'm 42, I'm 18. I'm every age I've ever been. Depending on what day of the week it is and what the situation calls for at the moment."

"With age came wisdom. Sometimes wisdom came with an ass kicking, too. And nothing could kick ass like the whole world."

"With age comes wisdom. Or at least experience."

"Nothing makes a man feel older than a young woman."

"Older people are most beautiful when they have what is lacking in the young: poise, , wisdom, , and this post-heroic absence of agitation."

"Much of aging comes from a misunderstanding of the effect of comfort."

"I understand that we all must age, and even [Chairman] Robert [Cyger] had his rebellious streak. It happens and it is part of growing up."

"It is always in season for old men to learn."

"Weak withering age no rigid law forbids, With frugal nectar, smooth and slow with balm, The sapless habit daily to bedew, And give the hesitating wheels of life Gliblier to play."

"What is it to grow old? Is it to lose the glory of the form, The lustre of the eye? Is it for Beauty to forego her wreath? Yes; but not this alone."

"On one occasion some one put a very little wine into a wine cooler, and said that it was sixteen years old. "It is very small for its age," said Gnathæna."

"Men of age object too much, consult too long, adventure too little, repent too soon, and seldom drive business home to the full period, but content themselves with a mediocrity of success."

"Old wood best to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust, and old authors to read."

"Old age comes on apace to ravage all the clime."

"An old man in a house is a good sign in a house."

"Old age doth in sharp pains abound; We are belabored by the gout, Our blindness is a dark profound, Our deafness each one laughs about. Then reason's light with falling ray Doth but a trembling flicker cast. Honor to age, ye children pay! Alas! my fifty years are past!"

"By candle-light nobody would have taken you for above five-and-twenty."

"Age shakes Athena's tower, but spares gray Marathon."

"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."

"He has grown aged in this world of woe, In deeds, not years, piercing the depths of life. So that no wonder waits him."

"Years steal Fire from the mind, as vigor from the limb; And life's enchanted cup but sparkles near the brim."

"Oh, for one hour of blind old Dandolo, Th' octogenarian chief, Byzantium's conquering foe!"

"Just as old age is creeping on apace, And clouds come o'er the sunset of our day, They kindly leave us, though not quite alone, But in good company—the gout or stone."

"My days are in the yellow leaf; The flowers and fruits of love are gone; The worm, the canker, and the grief Are mine alone!"

"For oute of olde feldys, as men sey, Comyth al this newe corn from yere to yere; And out of olde bokis, in good fey, Comyth al this newe science that men lere."

"I think every man is a fool or a physician at thirty years of age."

"Mature fieri senem, si diu velis esse senex."

": You must become an old man in good time if you wish to be an old man long."

"The spring, like youth, fresh blossoms doth produce, But autumn makes them ripe and fit for use: So Age a mature mellowness doth set On the green promises of youthful heat."

"His eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated."

"Youth is a blunder; Manhood a struggle; Old Age a regret."

"The Disappointment of Manhood succeeds to the delusion of Youth; let us hope that the heritage of Old Age is not Despair."

"No Spring nor Summer Beauty hath such grace As I have seen in one Autumnal face."

"Fate seem'd to wind him up for fourscore years; Yet freshly ran he on ten winters more; Till like a clock worn put with eating time, The wheels of weary life at last stood still."

"His hair just grizzled As in a green old age."

"Forsake not an old friend; for the new is not comparable to him: a new friend is as new wine; when it is old, thou shalt drink it with pleasure."

"Nature abhors the old."

"We do not count a man's years, until he has nothing else to count."

"Remote from cities liv'd a Swain, Unvex'd with all the cares of gain; His head was silver'd o'er with age, And long experience made him sage."

"In a good old age."

"Old and well stricken in age."

"She may very well pass for forty-three, In the dusk with a light behind her."

"One often says to oneself … that one ought to avoid having too many different businesses, to avoid becoming a jack-of-all-trades, and that the older one gets, the more one ought to avoid entering into new business. But … the very fact of growing older means taking up a new business; all our circumstances change, and we must either stop doing anything at all or else willing and consciously take on the new role we have to play on life’s stage."

"Das Alter macht nicht kindisch, wie man spricht, Es findet uns nur noch als wahre Kinder."

": Age childish makes, they say, but 'tis not true; We're only genuine children still in Age's season."

"Old age is courteous—no one more: For time after time he knocks at the door, But nobody says, "Walk in, sir, pray!" Yet turns he not from the door away, But lifts the latch, and enters with speed, And then they cry, "A cool one, indeed.""

"O blest retirement! friend to life's decline— Retreats from care, that never must be mine How blest is he who crowns, in shades like these, A youth of labour with an age of ease!"

"I love everything that's old: old friends, old times, old manners, old books, old wine."

"They say women and music should never be dated."

"Alike all ages: dames of ancient days Have led their children thro' the mirthful maze, And the gay grandsire, skill'd in gestic lore, Has frisk'd beneath the burthen of threescore."

"Slow-consuming age."

"Struggle and turmoil, revel and brawl— Youth is the sign of them, one and all. A smoldering hearth and a silent stage— These are a type of the world of Age."

"To be seventy years young is sometimes far more cheerful and hopeful than to be forty years old."

"You hear that boy laughing? You think he's all fun; But the angels laugh, too, at the good he has done. The children laugh loud as they troop to his call. And the poor man that knows him laughs loudest of all!"

"A green old age, unconscious of decays, That proves the hero born in better days."

"When he's forsaken, Wither'd and shaken, What can an old man do but die?"

"Tempus abire tibi est, ne… Rideat et pulset lasciva decentius ætas."

": It is time for thee to be gone, lest the age more decent in its wantonness should laugh at thee and drive thee off the stage."

"Boys must not have th' ambitious care of men, Nor men the weak anxieties of age."

"Seu me tranquilla senectus Exspectat, seu mors atris circumvolat alis."

": Either a peaceful old age awaits me, or death flies round me with black wings."

"Ladies, stock and tend your hive, Trifle not at thirty-five; For, howe'er we boast and strive, Life declines from thirty-five; He that ever hopes to thrive Must begin by thirty-five."

"Superfluous lags the veteran on the stage, Till pitying Nature signs the last release, And bids afflicted worth retire to peace."

"L'on craint la vieillesse, que l'on n'est pas sûr de pouvoir atteindre."

": We dread old age, which we are not sure of being able to attain."

"L'on espère de vieillir, et l'on craint la vieillesse; c'est-à-dire, l'on aime la vie et l'on fuit la mort."

": We hope to grow old and we dread old age; that is to say, we love life and we flee from death."

"The sunshine fails, the shadows grow more dreary, And I am near to fall, infirm and weary."

"How far the gulf-stream of our youth may flow Into the arctic regions of our lives, Where little else than life itself survives."

"Whatever poet, orator, or sage May say of it, old age is still old age."

"For age is opportunity no less Than youth itself, though in another dress, And as the evening twilight fades away The sky is filled with stars, invisible by day."

"And the bright faces of my young companions Are wrinkled like my own, or are no more."

"The course of my long life hath reached at last, In fragile bark o'er a tempestuous sea, The common harbor, where must rendered be, Account of all the actions of the past."

"Age is not all decay; it is the ripening, the swelling, of the fresh life within, that withers and bursts the husk."

"What find you better or more honorable than age? Take the preeminence of it in everything;—in an old friend, in old wine, in an old pedigree."

"When you try to conceal your wrinkles, Polla, with paste made from beans, you deceive yourself, not me. Let a defect, which is possibly but small, appear undisguised. A fault concealed is presumed to be great."

"Set is the sun of my years; And over a few poor ashes, I sit in my darkness and tears."

"Old wood to burn! Old wine to drink! Old friends to trust! Old authors to read!—Alonso of Aragon was wont to say in commendation of age, that age appeared to be best in these four things."

"The ages roll Forward; and forward with them, draw my soul Into time's infinite sea. And to be glad, or sad, I care no more; But to have done, and to have been, before I cease to do and be."

"So may'st thou live, till like ripe fruit thou drop Into thy mother's lap, or be with ease Gather'd, not harshly pluck'd, for death mature."

"So Life's year begins and closes; Days, though short'ning, still can shine; What though youth gave love and roses, Age still leaves us friends and wine."

"We age inevitably: The old joys fade and are gone: And at last comes equanimity and the flame burning clear."

"Thyself no more deceive, thy youth hath fled."

"Senex cum extemplo est, jam nec sentit, nec sapit; Ajunt solere eum rursum repuerascere."

": When a man reaches the last stage of life,—without senses or mentality—they say that he has grown a child again."

"Why will you break the Sabbath of my days? Now sick alike of Envy and of Praise."

"Learn to live well, or fairly make your will; You've played, and loved, and ate, and drank your fill. Walk sober off, before a sprightlier age Comes tittering on, and shoves you from the stage."

"Me let the tender office long engage To rock the cradle of reposing age; With lenient arts extend a mother's breath, Make languor smile, and smooth the bed of death; Explore the thought, explain the asking eye! And keep awhile one parent from the sky."

"Every moment age is creeping up stealthily, but life, life is melting down like a candle that is flickering around."

"His leaf also shall not wither."

"The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away."

"So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom."

"Das Alter ist nicht trübe weil darin unsere Freuden, sondern weil unsere Hoffnungen aufhören."

": What makes old age so sad is, not that our joys but that our hopes cease."

"Age has now Stamped with its signet that ingenuous brow."

"O, roses for the flush of youth, And laurel for the perfect prime; But pluck an ivy branch for me, Grown old before my time."

"I'm growing fonder of my staff; I'm growing dimmer in the eyes; I'm growing fainter in my laugh; I'm growing deeper in my sighs; I'm growing careless of my dress; I'm growing frugal of my gold; I'm growing wise; I'm growing,—yes,— I'm growing old."

"On his bold visage middle age Had slightly press'd its signet sage."

"Thus pleasures fade away; Youth, talents, beauty, thus decay, And leave us dark, forlorn, and gray."

"Thus aged men, full loth and slow, The vanities of life forego, And count their youthful follies o'er, Till Memory lends her light no more."

"Old friends are best. King James us'd to call for his Old Shoes, they were easiest for his Feet."

"Nihil turpius est, quam grandis natu senex, qui nullum aliud habet argumentum, quo se probet diu vixisse, præter ætatem."

": Nothing is more dishonourable than an old man, heavy with years, who has no other evidence of his having lived long except his age."

"Turpis et ridicula res est elementarius senex: juveni parandum, seni utendum est."

": An old man in his rudiments is a disgraceful object. It is for youth to acquire, and for age to apply."

"Senectus insanabilis morbus est."

": Old age is an incurable disease."

"Every pleasure defers to its last its greatest delights."

"For we are old, and on our quick'st decrees The inaudible and noiseless foot of Time Steals ere we can effect them."

"Though I look old, yet I am strong and lusty; For in my youth I never did apply Hot and rebellious liquors in my blood; Nor did not with unbashful forehead woo The means of weakness and debility; Therefore my age is as a lusty winter, Frosty, but kindly."

"All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players: They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts, His acts being seven ages. At first the infant, Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms. And then the whining school-boy, with his satchel And shining morning face, creeping like snail Unwillingly to school. And then the lover, Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier, Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard, Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel, Seeking the bubble reputation Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice, In fair round belly with good capon lined, With eyes severe and beard of formal cut, Full of wise saws and modern instances; And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon, With spectacles on nose and pouch on side, His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice, Turning again toward childish treble, pipes And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all, That ends this strange eventful history, Is second childishness and mere oblivion, Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans every thing."

"There is an old poor man Oppressed with two weak evils, age and hunger."

"Though now this grained face of mine be hid In sap-consuming winter's drizzled snow, And all the conduits of my blood froze up, Yet hath my night of life some memory."

"What should we speak of When we are old as you? When we shall hear The rain and wind beat dark December."

"An old man is twice a child."

"At your age, The hey-day in the blood is tame, it's humble, And waits upon the judgment."

"Begin to patch up thine old body for heaven."

"Some smack of age in you, some relish of the saltness of time."

"You are old; As you are old and reverend, you should be wise."

"Nature in you stands on the very verge Of her confine."

"Pray, do not mock me: I am a very foolish fond old man, Fourscore and upward; not an hour more nor less, And, to deal plainly, I fear I am not in my perfect mind."

"My way of life Is fallen into the sear, the yellow leaf, And that which should accompany old age, As honor, love, obedience, troops of friends, I must not look to have; but, in their stead, Curses not loud, but deep, mouth-honor breath, Which the poor heart would fain deny, and dare not."

"Superfluity comes sooner by white hairs, but competency lives longer."

"Nor age so eat up my invention."

"Give me a staff of honor for mine age, But not a sceptre to control the world."

"From now on, everything in life will appear blurry to me. What’s the point of wiping my glasses when my vision has already left me?"

"You are old, Father William," the young man cried, "The few locks which are left you are gray; You are hale, Father William,—a hearty old man: Now tell me the reason, I pray."

"When an old gentleman waggles his head and says: "Ah, so I thought when I was your age," it is not thought an answer at all, if the young man retorts: "My venerable sir, so I shall most probably think when I am yours." And yet the one is as good as the other."

"Every man desires to live long; but no man would be old."

"I swear she's no chicken; she's on the wrong side of thirty, if she be a day."

"Vetera extollimus recentium incuriosi."

": We extol ancient things, regardless of our own times."

"Vetera semper in laude, præsentia in fastidio."

": Old things are always in good repute, present things in disfavour."

"O good gray head which all men knew."

"Age too shines out: and, garrulous, recounts the feats of youth."

"Annus enim octogesimus admonet me, ut sarcinas colligam, antequam proficiscare vita."

":For my eightieth year warns me to pack up my baggage before I leave life."

"For Age with stealing steps Hath clawed me with his crutch."

"Omnia fert ætas, animum quoque."

": Age carries all things away, even the mind."

"Venerable men! you have come down to us from a former generation. Heaven has bounteously lengthened out your lives, that you might behold this joyous day."

"Is not old wine wholesomest, old pippins toothsomest, old wood burn brightest, old linen wash whitest? Old soldiers, sweetheart, are surest, and old lovers are soundest."

"Thus fares it still in our decay, And yet the wiser mind Mourns less for what age takes away Than what it leaves behind."

"But an old age serene and bright, And lovely as a Lapland night, Shall lead thee to thy grave."

"The monumental pomp of age Was with this goodly Personage; A stature undepressed in size, Unbent, which rather seemed to rise In open victory o'er the weight Of seventy years, to loftier height."

"An aged Christian with the snow of time on his head may remind us that those points of earth are whitest that are nearest heaven."

"Thanks to that regular and temperate course of life I have ever lived, I am still capable of taking an active part in these public scenes of business. In fine, he who fills up every hour of his life in such kind of labors as those I have mentioned, will insensibly slide into old age without perceiving its arrival; and his powers, instead of being suddenly and prematurely extinguished, will gradually decline by the gentle and natural effect of accumulated years."

"The day of life spent in honest and benevolent labor comes in hope to an evening calm and lovely; and though the sun declines, the shadows that he leaves behind are only to curtain the spirit unto rest."

"It is not so bad a thing to grow old; it is only getting a little nearer home; a little nearer to immortal youth."

"The second childhood of a saint is the early infancy of a happy immortality, as we believe."

"The years of old age are stalls in the cathedral of life in which for aged men to sit and listen and meditate and be patient till the service is over, and in which they may get themselves ready to say "Amen" at the last, with all their hearts and souls and strength."

"The soul secured in her existence, smiles At the drawn dagger, and defies its point. The stars shall fade away, the sun himself Grow dim with age, and nature sink in years, But thou shalt flourish in immortal youth, Unhurt amidst the war of elements, The wreck of matter, and the crash of worlds."

"It must be so—Plato, thou reasonest well!— Else whence this pleasing hope, this fond desire, This longing after immortality? Or whence this secret dread, and inward horror, Of falling into nought? Why shrinks the soul Back on herself, and startles at destruction? 'Tis the divinity that stirs within us; 'Tis heaven itself, that points out an hereafter, And intimates eternity to man."

"The stars shall fade away, the sun himself Grow dim with age, and nature sink in years, But thou shalt flourish in immortal youth, Unhurt amidst the wars of elements, The wrecks of matter, and the crush of worlds."

"I don't want to achieve immortality through my work; I want to achieve immortality through not dying. I don't want to live on in the hearts of my countrymen; I want to live on in my apartment."

"Oh Gilgamec! Enlil, the Great Mountain, the father of gods, has made kingship your destiny, but not eternal life."

"The next two hundred years will see the abolition of death, as we now understand that great transition, and the establishing of the soul's existence. The soul will be known as an entity, as the motivating impulse, and the spiritual centre back of all manifested forms. . . . Our essential immortality will be demonstrated and realised to be a fact in nature."

"With that inner conviction (of immortality), we face death, and we know that we shall live again, that we come and we go, and that we persist because we are divine and the controllers of our own destiny... The spirit in man is undying; it forever endures, progressing from point to point, and stage to stage upon the Path of Evolution, unfolding steadily and sequentially the divine attributes and aspects... The immortality of the human soul, and the innate ability of the spiritual, inner man to work out his own salvation under the Law of Rebirth, in response to the Law of Cause and Effect, are the underlying factors governing all human conduct and all human aspiration."

"There is no death. There is... entrance into fuller life. There is freedom from the handicaps of the fleshly vehicle. The rending process so much dreaded does not exist, except in the cases of violent and of sudden death, and then the only true disagreeables are an instant and overwhelming sense of imminent peril and destruction, and something closely approaching an electric shock... For the average good citizen, death is a continuance of the living process in his consciousness and a carrying forward of the interests and tendencies of the life."

"Clov: Do you believe in the life to come? Hamm: Mine was always that."

"A toy which people cry for, And on their knees apply for, Dispute, contend and lie for, And if allowed Would be right proud Eternally to die for."

"The doctrine of Metempsychosis has been abundantly ridiculed by men of science and rejected by theologians, yet if it had been properly understood in its application to the indestructibility of matter and the immortality of spirit, it would have been perceived that it is a sublime conception. Should we not first regard the subject from the stand-point of the ancients before venturing to disparage its teachers? The solution of the great problem of eternity belongs neither to religious superstition nor to gross materialism. The harmony and mathematical equiformity of the double evolution — spiritual and physical — are elucidated only in the universal numerals of Pythagoras, who built his system entirely upon the so-called "metrical speech" of the Hindu Vedas."

"Nothing is lasting but change; nothing perpetual but death."

"That which is the foundation of all our hopes and of all our fears; all our hopes and fears which are of any consideration: I mean a Future Life."

"I will have nothing to do with your immortality; we are miserable enough in this life, without the absurdity of speculating upon another."

"All worldly shapes shall melt in gloom, The sun himself must die, Before this mortal shall assume Its immortality."

"[E]nergy is conserved, or is indestructible. This form of speech might be applied to other cases of alternate immortality, where one of two things comes into existence on disappearance of the other."

"We want to live forever, and we're getting there."

"IMMORTAL is an ample word When what we need is by, but when it leaves us for a time, ’T is a necessity."

"With my assumption... life need never end. There is no decisive argument for deciding between [certain] assumptions. I prefer the one that allows the possibility of endless life. One may hope that some day the question will be decided by direct observation."

"Millions long for immortality who do not know what to do with themselves on a rainy Sunday afternoon."

"Immortality is the privilege of the few, and, according to the Aryan conception, specifically the privilege of heroes. Continuing to live – not as a shadow, but as a demigod – is reserved to those which a special spiritual action has elevated from the one nature to the other."

"No young man believes he shall ever die."

"He had decided to live forever or die in the attempt."

"Why was I born if it wasn't forever?"

"No, no, I'm sure, My restless spirit never could endure To brood so long upon one luxury, Unless it did, though fearfully, espy A hope beyond the shadow of a dream."

"He ne'er is crowned with immortality Who fears to follow where airy voices lead."

"I long to believe in immortality. I shall never be able to bid you an entire farewell. If I am destined to be happy with you here — how short is the longest life. I wish to believe in immortality — I wish to live with you forever."

"Most men live in order to make a living; when they have that, they live in order to make a good living; when they have that, they die. … This comment can be developed into a demonstration of human immortality. This demonstration could be stated as follows: It is the destiny of every human being to make a good living. If he dies before he does that, he has not fulfilled his destiny. … But if he makes a good living, then he has achieved his destiny, but the destiny of making a good living cannot be that he is supposed to die, but, on the contrary, that he is supposed to live well on his good living—ergo, man is immortal."

"What is it that has given rise to this whole error about immortality? Is it that the placement of the issue has been shifted, that immortality has been turned into a question, that what is a task has been turned into a question, what is a task for action has been turned into a question for thought. Would not the most corrupt of all ages be one that managed to have “duty” completely changed into problem of thought? What is duty? Duty is what one ought to do. There ought not to be a question about duty, but there ought to be only the question about whether I am doing my duty. There ought not to be a question about immortality, but the question ought to be whether I am living in such a way as my immortality requires of me. There ought not to be a discussion about immortality, whether there is an immortality, but about what my immortality requires of me, about my enormous responsibility in my being immortal."

"Soren Kierkegaard, Christian Discourses 1848 Hong 1997 p. 205"

"Immortality is the only thing which doesn't tolerate being postponed."

"'Tis this which makes The best assurance of our promised heaven: This triumph intellect has over death— Our words yet live on others' lips; our thoughts Actuate others. Can that man be dead Whose spiritual influence is upon his kind?"

"And in the wreck of noble lives Something immortal still survives."

"The fame of the brave outlives him; his portion is immortality. What more flattering homage could we pay to the manes of Paul Jones, than to swear on his tomb to live or to die free? It is the vow, it is the watch-word of every Frenchman."

"For who would lose, Though full of pain, this intellectual being, Those thoughts that wander through eternity, To perish rather, swallow'd up and lost In the wide womb of uncreated night, Devoid of sense and motion?"

"They eat, they drink, and in communion sweet Quaff immortality and joy."

"For spirits that live throughout Vital in every part, not as frail man, In entrails, heart or head, liver or reins, Cannot but by annihilating die."

"Without a belief in personal immortality, religion surely is like an arch resting on one pillar, like a bridge ending in an abyss."

"What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal."

"If what I assume is true, it is still excellent to be convinced of it, but if there is nothing after death, I will at least during the time before my death be less burdensome to my companions because of complaints, and furthermore this folly of mine will not last long—for that would indeed be an evil—but in a short time will vanish."

"Whatever is always in motion is immortal."

"“That’s the problem with immortality,” mused Jack. “You never live long enough to get there.”"

"Death must be an evil—and the gods agree; for why else would they live for ever?"

"Look, here's the warrant, Claudio, for thy death: 'Tis now dead midnight, and by eight tomorrow Thou must be made immortal."

"I hold it ever, Virtue and cunning were endowments greater Than nobleness and riches: careless heirs May the two latter darken and expend; But immortality attends the former, Making a man a god."

"It And her immortal part with angels lives."

"And now I think about it, I never really wanted to live forever. I just want to live well."

"All ends in one eclipse, Sunshine or snows, We gain a grave, and afterwards—God knows."

"There is no immortality that is not built on friendship and work done with care."

"The human mind cannot be absolutely destroyed with the body, but something of it remains which is eternal.... We feel and know by experience that we are eternal."

"The anxiety about death is met in two ways. The reality of death is excluded from daily life to the highest possible degree. The dead are not allowed to show that they are dead; they are transformed into a mask of the living. The other and more important way of dealing with death is the belief in a continuation of life after death, called the immortality of the soul. This is not a Christian and hardly a Platonic doctrine. Christianity speaks of resurrection and eternal life, Platonism of a participation of the soul in the transtemporal sphere of essences. But the modern idea of immortality means a continuous participation in the productive process."

"Only the feeble resign themselves to final death and substitute some other desire for the longing for personal immortality. In the strong the zeal for perpetuity overrides the doubt of realizing it, and their superabundance of life overflows upon the other side of death."

"They ask us who are we, vile earthworms, to pretend to immortality; in virtue of what? wherefore? by what right? "In virtue of what?" you ask; and I reply, In virtue of what do we now live? "Wherefore?"—and wherefore do we now exist? "By what right?"—and by what right are we? To exist is just as gratuitous as to go on existing for ever."

"If it is necessary that each sentient being must have the possibility of achieving an overwhelming good, then it is clear that there must be some form of life after earthly death. Despite the many pointers to the existence of God, theism would be falsified if physical death was the end, for then there could be no justification for the existence of this world. However, if one supposes that every sentient being has an endless existence, which offers the prospect of supreme happiness, it is surely true that the sorrows and troubles of this life will seem very small by comparison. Immortality, for animals as well as humans, is a necessary condition of any acceptable theodicy; that necessity, together with all the other arguments for God, is one of the main reasons for believing in immortality."

"A man really and practically looking onwards to an immortal life, on whatever grounds, exhibits to us the human soul in an enobled attitude."

"Immortal, my arse. That’s just an error of parallax."

"An angel's arm can't snatch me from the grave; Legions of angels can't confine me there."

"'Tis immortality, 'tis that alone, Amid life's pains, abasements, emptiness, The soul can comfort, elevate, and fill. That only, and that amply this performs."

"No, no! The energy of life may be Kept on after the grave, but not begun; And he who flagg'd not in the earthly strife, From strength to strength advancing—only he His soul well-knit, and all his battles won, Mounts, and that hardly, to eternal life."

"On the cold cheek of Death smiles and roses are blending, And beauty immortal awakes from the tomb."

"Fish say, they have their Stream and Pond; But is there anything Beyond?"

"There is nothing strictly immortal, but immortality. Whatever hath no beginning may be confident of no end."

"If I stoop Into a dark tremendous sea of cloud, It is but for a time; I press God's lamp Close to my breast; its splendor soon or late Will pierce the gloom; I shall emerge one day."

"I have been dying for twenty years, now I am going to live."

"A good man never dies."

"Immortality is the glorious discovery of Christianity."

"'Tis immortality to die aspiring, As if a man were taken quick to heaven."

"Nemo unquam sine magna spe immortalitatatis se pro patria offerret ad mortem."

"For I never have seen, and never shall see, that the cessation of the evidence of existence is necessarily evidence of the cessation of existence."

"Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was; and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it."

"Thus God's children are immortall whiles their Father hath anything for them to do on earth."

"Yet spirit immortal, the tomb cannot bind thee, But like thine own eagle that soars to the sun Thou springest from bondage and leavest behind thee A name which before thee no mortal hath won."

"'Tis true; 'tis certain; man though dead retains Part of himself; the immortal mind remains."

"Exegi monumentum ære perennius Regalique situ pyramidum altius, Quod non imber edax, non Aquilo impotens Possit diruere aut innumerabilis Annorum series et fuga temporum. Non omnis moriar, multaque pars mei Vitabit Libitinam."

"Dignum laude virum Musa vetat mori; Cœlo Musa beat."

"But all lost things are in the angels' keeping, Love; No past is dead for us, but only sleeping, Love; The years of Heaven with all earth's little pain Make good, Together there we can begin again In babyhood."

"Men are immortal till their work is done."

"Safe from temptation, safe from sin's pollution, She lives, whom we call dead."

"I came from God, and I'm going back to God, and I won't have any gaps of death in the middle of my life."

"Of such as he was, there be few on earth; Of such as he is, there are few in Heaven: And life is all the sweeter that he lived, And all he loved more sacred for his sake: And Death is all the brighter that he died, And Heaven is all the happier that he's there."

"When the good man yields his breath (For the good man never dies)."

"Immortality Alone could teach this mortal how to die."

"Tamque opus exegi quod nec Jovis ira necignes Nec poterit ferrum, nec edax abolere vetustas. Cum volet illa dies quæ nil nisi corporis hujus Jus habet, incerti spatium mihi siniut ævi; Parte tamen meliore mei super alta perennis Astra ferar, nomenque erit indelebile nostrum."

"Sunt aliquid Manes; letum non omnia finit. Luridaque evictos effugit umbra rogos."

"What a world were this, How unendurable its weight, if they Whom Death hath sundered did not meet again!"

"Thy lord shall never die, the whiles this verse Shall live, and surely it shall live for ever: For ever it shall live, and shall rehearse His worthy praise, and vertues dying never, Though death his soule do from his bodie sever: And thou thyselfe herein shalt also live; Such grace the heavens doe to my verses give."

"I am restless. I am athirst for faraway things. My soul goes out in a longing to touch the skirt of the dim distance. O Great Beyond, O the keen call of thy flute! I forget, I ever forget, that I have no wings to fly, that I am bound in this spot evermore."

"Ah, Christ, that it were possible, For one short hour to see The souls we loved, that they might tell us What and where they be."

"It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles, And see the great Achilles, whom we knew."

"But felt through all this fleshly dresse Bright shootes of everlastingnesse."

"Facte nova virtute, puer; sic itur ad astra."

"Happy he whose inward ear Angel comfortings can hear, O'er the rabble's laughter; And, while Hatred's fagots burn, Glimpses through the smoke discern Of the good hereafter."

"Man is immortal till his work is done."

"Though inland far we be, Our souls have sight of that immortal sea Which brought us hither."

"Immortality! We bow before the very term. Immortality! Before it reason staggers, calculation reclines her tired head, and imagination folds her weary pinions. Immortality! It throws open the portals of the vast forever; it puts the crown of deathless destiny upon every human brow; it cries to every uncrowned king of men, "Live forever, crowned for the empire of a deathless destiny!""

"Earthly providence is a travesty of justice on any other theory than that it is a preliminary stage, which is to be followed by rectifications. Either there must be a future, or consummate injustice sits upon the throne of the universe. This is the verdict of humanity in all the ages."

"Whence comes the powerful impression that is made upon us by the tomb? Are a few grains of dust deserving of our veneration? Certainly not; we respect the ashes of our ancestors for this reason only — because a secret voice whispers to us that all is not extinguished in them. It is this that confers a sacred character on the funeral ceremony among all the nations of the globe; all are alike persuaded that the sleep, even of the tomb, is not everlasting, and that death is but a glorious transfiguration."

"See truth, love, and mercy in triumph descending, And nature all glowing in Eden's first bloom! On the cold cheek of death smiles and roses are blending, And beauty immortal awakes from the tomb."

"Tell me why the caged bird nutters against its prison bars, and I will tell you why the soul sickens of earthliness. The bird has wings, and wings were made to cleave the air, and soar in freedom in the sun. The soul is immortal — it cannot feed upon husks."

"I feel that I was made to complete things. To accomplish only a mass of beginnings and attempts would be to make a total failure of life. Perfection is the heritage with which my Creator has endowed me, and since this short life does not give completeness, I must have immortal life in which to find it."

"It is our souls which are the everlastingness of God's purpose in this earth."

"May we be satisfied with nothing that shall not have in it something of immortality."

"Heaven begun is the living proof that makes the heaven to come credible. Christ in you is "the hope of glory." It is the eagle eye of faith which penetrates the grave, and sees far into the tranquil things of death. He alone can believe in immortality who feels the resurrection in him already."

"The nearer I approach the end, the plainer I hear around me the immortal symphonies of the worlds which invite me. It is marvelous, yet simple."

"No martyr ever went the way of duty, and felt the shadow of death upon it. The shadow of death is darkest in the valley, which men walk in easily, and is never felt at all on a steep place, like Calvary. Truth is everlasting, and so is every lover of it; and so he feels himself almost always."

"Let a disciple live as Christ lived, and he will easily believe in living again as Christ does."

"Mission By providing hope and positive vision, Optimists bring out the best in youth, our communities, and ourselves."

"Vision Optimist International will be recognized worldwide as the premier volunteer organization that values all children and helps them develop to their full potential."

"Purposes To develop optimism as a philosophy of life utilizing the tenets of the Optimist Creed; to promote an active interest in good government and civic affairs; to inspire respect for the law; to promote patriotism and work for international accord and friendship among all people; to aid and encourage the development of youth, in the belief that the giving of one’s self in service to others will advance the well-being of humankind, community life and the world."

"Promise Yourself"

"To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind."

"To talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet."

"To make all your friends feel that there is something in them."

"To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true."

"To think only of the best, to work only for the best, and to expect only the best."

"To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own."

"To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future."

"To wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every living creature you meet a smile."

"To give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others."

"To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble."

"In a world where we are exposed daily to global problems that need to be solved as well as serious challenges in our own lives and communities, it is easy to get caught-up and feel overwhelmed. However, what if you had a creed that could help you feel grounded and maintain an optimistic approach despite the obstacles life throws at you? This magical creed was created 100 years ago and yet it is still very relevant today. Long before the concept of thriving was brought to the forefront of people’s conversations, the Optimist Creed by Optimist International existed. It has shaped generations of young leaders since 1919 by teaching them to look at optimism as a way of life through action, instead of an abstract idea... In your life, there will be obstacles along the way. You have a choice to find a lesson and value in every challenge you experience. My wish for you is that the Optimist Creed is a reminder to persevere and maintain a healthy perspective. Find your own creed or adopt this one if it speaks to you, because if we focus on optimism with purpose, the world will be a much better place."

"“Promise yourself to be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind." So begins the Optimist Creed of Optimist International that members recite at club meetings worldwide. Begun in 1919, Optimist International celebrates its 100th anniversary during 2019. What a great creed to reflect on in today’s tumultuous world! ...the Optimist Clubs sponsor several recognition events including Youth Appreciation Recognition, Achievement in Education Awards, Respect for Law and Friend of Youth Awards. Optimist Club members volunteer for Salvation Army bell ringing, support a youth golf tournament for area golfers who can advance to district and national tournaments and support programs and events for kids with cancer and their families."

"Generation Z, they cleaned up their own mess."

"What of the pandemic's impacts on the generational imbalances that had grown so intolerable in many societies by 2020? Was COVID-19 sent by Freya, the goddess of youth, to emancipate millennials and Generation Z from bearing the fiscal burden of an excessive number of elderly people? It is tempting to marvel at this ageist virus. No previous pandemic was so discriminating against the elderly and in favor of the young. But in truth, the impact of COVID-19 in terms of excess mortality will probably not be great enough to balance the intergenerational accounts. In the short run, the majority of old people will remain retired; relatively few will die prematurely―hardly any in the most elderly of countries, Japan. The young, meanwhile, will be the ones struggling to find jobs (other than Amazon) and struggling almost as much to have fun. An economy without crowds is not a "new normal." It may be more like the new anomie, to borrow Émile Durkheim's term for the sense of disconnectedness he associated with modernity. For most young people, the word "fun" is almost synonymous with "crowd." The era of distancing will be a time of depression in the psychological as well as the economic sense. The gloom will be especially deep for Generation Z, whose university social lives―half the point of college, if not more―have been wrecked. They will spend yet more time on electronic devices―perhaps an hour a day more than before the pandemic. It will not make them happier."

"History is complicated and Gen Z reasoning is not. They think that they are pure, but they are really just simplistic."

"I see kids who are complete cynics. They're not dreaming. They're out there with high-powered weapons, smoking crack behind the 7-Eleven. They've seen it all. These kids are going to take us into 2000 and beyond. That's scary, man. I wouldn't say I'm pessimistic or optimistic. I'm more realistic, I guess. But not cynical. I look. I watch."

"When I was researching my book The ABC of XYZ: Understanding the Global Generations (published in 2009) it became apparent that a new generation was about to commence and there was no name for them. So I conducted a survey (we're researchers after all) to find out what people think the generation after Z should be called and while many names emerged, and Generation A was the most mentioned, Generation Alpha got some mentions too and so I settled on that for the title of the chapter Beyond Z: Meet Generation Alpha. It just made sense as it is in keeping with scientific nomenclature of using the Greek alphabet in lieu of the Latin and it didn't make sense to go back to A, after all they are the first generation wholly born in the 21st Century and so they are the start of something new not a return to the old."

"We were that generation called silent, but we were silent neither, as some thought, because we shared the period's official optimism, nor as others thought, because we feared its official repression. We were silent because the exhilaration of social action seemed to many of us just one more way of escaping the personal."

"It is, I believe, the greatest generation that any society has ever produced."

"They married in record numbers and gave birth to another distinct generation, the Baby Boomers. They stayed true to their values of personal responsibility, duty, honor and faith."

"We owe the Greatest Generation a debt which we can never fully repay."

"I don't believe in any greatest generation. I believe in great events. They sweep ordinary people up, expose to extremes of human behavior, and unimaginable tests of integrity and courage."

"As we move toward creating a society within which we can each flourish, ageism is another distortion of relationship which interferes without vision. By ignoring the past, we are encouraged to repeat its mistakes. The “generation gap” is an important social tool for any repressive society. If the younger members of a community view the older members as contemptible or suspect or excess, they will never be able to join hands and examine the living memories of the community, nor ask the all important question, “Why?” This gives rise to a historical amnesia that keeps us working to invent the wheel every time we have to go to the store for bread. We find ourselves having to repeat and relearn the same old lessons over and over that our mothers did because we do not pass on what we have learned, or because we are unable to listen."

"Any age can be viewed as "the wrong age" for a woman, allowing her capacity to be questioned and her fitness for leadership challenged. But we can stop stigmatizing a woman's age--benefitting not just women, but the whole organization."