During the last couple of years, my focus for creating a happy and meaningful life has shifted. Now, in addition to exploring ways to create the most positive life possible for myself and others, I’ve begun including ideas of how we can all age well and happy. And because I happen to believe very strongly in the power of our focus, along with the benefit of affirmations, I went in search of the best quotes I could find on the subject. Any of us who believe that, “what we think about, we bring about,” as well as “what we dwell upon we become,” might benefit by reading the following quotes on a regular basis.
- “The longer I live the more beautiful life becomes.” ~ Frank Lloyd Wright
- “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
- “In the central place of every heart there is a recording chamber. So long as it receives a message of beauty, hope, cheer, and courage – so long are you young. When the wires are all down and our heart is covered with the snow of pessimism and the ice of cynicism, then, and only then, are you grown old.” ~Douglas MacArthur
- “For the unlearned, old age is winter; for the learned, it is the season of the harvest.” ~Hasidic saying
- “Every year should teach you something valuable; whether you get the lesson is up to you. Every year brings you closer to expressing your whole and healed self.” ~Oprah Winfrey
- “One of the reasons people get old—lose their aliveness—is that they get weighed down by all of their stuff.” ~Richard Leider
- “Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.” ~Mark Twain
- “I suppose real old age begins when one looks backward rather than forward.” ~ Mary Sarton
- “Of all the self-fulfilling prophecies in our culture the assumption that aging means decline and poor health is probably the deadliest.” ~ Marilyn Ferguson
- “Age is no barrier. It’s a limitation you put on your mind.” ~Jackie Joyner-Kersee
- “Your 40s are good. Your 50s are great. Your 60s are fab. And 70 is f*@king awesome!” ~Helen Mirren
- “Know that you are the perfect age. Each year is special and precious, for you shall only live it once. Be comfortable with growing older.” ~Louise Hay
- “Oh, the worst of all tragedies is not to die young, but to live until I am seventy-five and yet not ever truly to have lived.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
- “You don’t stop laughing when you grow old, you grow old when you stop laughing.” ~George Bernard Shaw
- “I believe the second half of one’s life is meant to be better than the first half. The first half is finding out how you do it. And the second half is enjoying it.” ~Frances Lear
- “We are not victims of aging, sickness, and death. These are part of scenery, not the seer, who is immune to any form of change. This seer is the spirit, the expression of eternal being.” ~Deepak Chopra
- “Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old.” ~Franz Kafka
- “To find joy in work is to discover the fountain of youth.” ~Pearl S. Buck
- “The trouble is, when a number—your age—becomes your identity, you’ve given away your power to choose your future.” ~Richard J. Leider
- “It annoys me when people say, ‘Even if you’re old, you can be young at heart!’ Hiding inside this well-meaning phrase is a deep cultural assumption that old is bad and young is good. What’s wrong with being old at heart, I’d like to know? Wouldn’t you like to be loved by people whose hearts have practiced loving for a long time?” ~Susan Moon
- “I’ve always said that I will never let an old person into my body. That is, I don’t believe in ‘thinking’ old. Don’t program yourself to break down as you age with thoughts that decline is inevitable.” ~Wayne Dyer
- “Those who love deeply never grow old; they may die of old age, but they die young.” ~Ben Franklin
- “Old age is an excellent time for outrage. My goal is to say or do at least one outrageous thing every week.” ~Maggie Kuhn
- “A human being would certainly not grow to be 70 or 80 years old if this longevity had no meaning for the species to which he belongs. The afternoon of human life must also have a significance of its own and cannot be merely a pitiful appendage to life’s morning.” ~Carl Jung
- “The belief that youth is the happiest time of life is founded on a fallacy. The happiest person is the person who thinks the most interesting thoughts and we grow happier as we grow older.” ~William Lyon Phelps
- “Getting old is like climbing a mountain; you get a little out of breath, but the view is much better!” ~Ingrid Bergman
- “If you associate enough with older people who do enjoy their lives, who are not stored away in any golden ghettos, you will gain a sense of continuity and of the possibility for a full life.” ~ Margaret Mead
- “When it comes to staying young, a mind-lift beats a face-lift any day.” ~Marty Buccella
- “My physical body may be less efficient and less beautiful in old age. But God has given me an enormous compensation: my mind is richer my Soul is broader and my wisdom is at a peak. I am so happy with the riches of my advanced peak age that, contrary to Faust, I would not wish to return to youth.” ~Robert Muller
- “None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.” ~Henry David Thoreau
- “Elderly people are like plants. Whereas some go to seed, or to pot, others blossom in the most wonderful ways. I believe beauty competitions should be held only for people over seventy years of age. When we are young, we have the face and figure God gave us. We did nothing to earn our good looks. But as we get older, character becomes etched on our face. Beautiful old people are works of art. Like a white candle in a holy place, so it the beauty of an aged face.” ~James Simpson
- “I’m baffled that anyone might not think women get more beautiful as they get older. Confidence comes with age, and looking beautiful comes from the confidence someone has in themselves.” ~Kate Winslet
- “The wiser mind mourns less for what age takes away than what it leaves behind.” ~ William Wordsworth
- “Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be.” ~Robert Browning
- “Aging is not lost youth but a new stage of opportunity and strength.” ~Betty Friedan
- “Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.” ~Henry Ford
- “You can’t help getting older, but you don’t have to get old.” ~ George Burns
- “Here’s what I know: I’m a better person at fifty than I was at forty-eight … and better at fifty-two than I was at fifty. I’m calmer, easier to live with. All this stuff is in my soul forever. Just don’t get lazy. Work at your relationships all the time. Take care of friendships, hold people you love close to you, take advantage of birthdays to celebrate fiercely. It’s the worrying — not the years themselves — that will make you less of a woman.” ~Patti LaBelle,
- “Relish love in our old age! Aged love is like aged wine; it becomes more satisfying, more refreshing, more valuable, more appreciated and more intoxicating.” ~Leo Buscaglia
- “Getting old is a fascination thing. The older you get, the older you want to get.” ~Keith Richards
- “In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.” ~Abraham Lincoln
- “There is also this pressure in Hollywood to be ageless. I think what I have been witness to is seeing women trying to stay ageless with what they are doing to themselves. I am grateful to learn from their mistakes, because I am not injecting shit into my face. I see them and my heart breaks. I think, ‘Oh, God, if you only knew how much older you look.’ They’re trying to stop the clock, and all you can see is an insecure person who won’t let themselves just age.” ~Jennifer Aniston
- “Count your age by friends, not years. Count your life by smiles, not tears. ~John Lennon
- “I am appalled that the term we use to talk about aging is ‘anti.’ Aging is as natural as a baby’s softness and scent. Aging is human evolution in its pure form.”~ Jamie Lee Curtis
- “Do not grow old, no matter how long you live. Never cease to stand like curious children before the great mystery into which we were born.” ~Albert Einstein
- “Aging isn’t about getting old it’s about LIVING… Learning that you can age well, will actually help you to age better… let’s start celebrating and living an engaged life, and stop punishing ourselves for not looking a certain way, and instead holding ourselves accountable for actually taking care of ourselves inside first, knowing the results on the exterior will be a shining side effect.” ~ Cameron Diaz
- “In spite of illness, in spite even of the archenemy sorrow, one can remain alive long past the usual date of disintegration if one is unafraid of change, insatiable in intellectual curiosity, interested in big things, and happy in small ways.” ~Edith Wharton
- “I have absolutely no objection to growing older. I am a stroke survivor so I am extremely grateful to be aging – I have nothing but gratitude for the passing years. I am aging – lucky, lucky me!” ~ Sharon Stone
- “It’s like you trade the virility of the body for the agility of the spirit.” – Elizabeth Lesser
- “I love living. I love that I’m alive to love my age. There are many people who went to bed just as I did yesterday evening and didn’t wake this morning. I love and feel very blessed that I did.” ~Maya Angelou
- “Aging happy and well, instead of sad and sick, is at least under some personal control. We have considerable control over our weight, our exercise, our education, and our abuse of cigarettes and alcohol. With hard work and/or therapy, our relationships with our spouses and our coping styles can be changed for the better. A successful old age may lie not so much in our stars and genes as in ourselves.” ~George E. Vaillant
- “I don’t believe in aging. I believe in forever altering one’s aspect to the sun.” ~ Virginia Woolf
- “With age comes the inner, the higher life. Who would be forever young, to dwell always in externals?” ~Elizabeth Cady Stanton
- “The great thing about getting older is that you become more mellow. Things aren’t as black and white, and you become much more tolerant. You can see the good in things much more easily rather than getting enraged as you used to do when you were young.” ~Maeve Binchy
- “We don’t grow older, we grow riper.” ~Pablo Picasso
So which is your favorite? I don’t know about you but just reading through these quotes reminds me of the many benefits of aging well. And if you believe you are what you think, or that it is done unto you as you believe, then holding positive thoughts about aging is the SMART thing to do.
“You don’t stop laughing when you grow old, you grow old when you stop laughing.” That is my favorite quote. As we get older especially for me, I tend to not laugh even there’s a kid humping around. idk why
“Despise not growing old…it is a privilege which many are denied.”
very nice collection of words
thank you for sharing
Thank you for the lovely post and for all the positivity and humor in the quotes! Your posts are very inspiring. I am Anya and I am 56. I am a midlife fitness and health blogger. I blog on how to break a midlife mindset and change it into a fit mind habit, how to find and maintain your motivations. We all understand the urge to replace old habits that may be holding many of us back.
I think this one is my favorite – “I believe the second half of one’s life is meant to be better than the first half. The first half is finding out how you do it. And the second half is enjoying it.” ~Frances Lear. Great post, thanks for sharing!
Elderly people are like plants…. character is etched on our face etc. I love this quote, as I work caring for 80 to 100 year olds I see characters everyday, I love them all and they respond in love to me, a mere 60 years young. They inspire me with their wisdom and their stories. The optimism still beats in their hearts for a better world filled with peace and love. Even loss of independence doesn’t squash laughter and playfulness when you let it bubble up despite fear of looking foolish!!! I learn so much from these precious ones… they lead the way for me to embrace the future and not fear it. Sadly I see their candles extinguished but their memory lives on in my heart as I focus on the new one who needs my love and care. Thank you for these quotes …
HI Yvette! Thank you so much for stopping by SMART Living and sharing your thoughts. How wonderful that you are able to see the “light” in the people you work for/with in spite of their age. I think it is so important to remember that love is “age-less” and that things like kindness, happiness, peace and optimism can happen at any age. Thank you again for sharing your experience….~Kathy
“To find joy in work is to discover the fountain of youth.” ~Pearl S. Buck… This little quote reflects my experience with work—it has always given me joy.
Hi Diane! I so agree. This one reminds me of the quote attributed to Confucious that goes, “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” I don’t ever plan to retire because I LOVE what I do too. ~Kathy
This is a fantastic collection of quotes, Kathy! Well done! I will have to come back and look through them for more inspiration!
Hi Terri! Thanks! I actually think many of us could/should read all of these every day to be reminded of the good we have coming to us! ~Kathy
i loved reading these! they are reminders of what we know or should know by the time we are “old”.
i can’t decide on a special one because they are all wonderful reminders.
i should add though,as i recently found,that to keep cultivating love relationships when you are lucky enough to stumble on one in later years,is life altering!
i am 83 years young and for the last year have been enjoying the company of a man who seems satisfied with my ageing body and soul. We are both trying to enjoy the new life God has granted us in widowhood.
i know we are not unique in that,but certainly a bit rare. if that’s a thing!
Hi Victoria! Good for you for experiencing life in a vibrant, healthy and happy way. I so agree that LOVE knows no age and definitely intend to do exactly as you are–enjoy love as long as I’m alive on this planet. May you and your love continue far into the future. ~Kathy
These are fabulous. I wrote a similar post a few years ago and can recognise a couple of these quotes. 🙂
Hi Kathy! Yes, I was surprised that there weren’t more of these types of positive quotes out there when I was searching around. Not sure if I saw your post or not but many of the good ones are making the rounds. But it’s time for some new ones, don’t you think? Hopefully the days ahead will bring out more and more people willing to speak proudly and boldly about the many positives of aging. ~Kathy
I don’t think anyone else agrees with me, but my vote is: “A human being would certainly not grow to be 70 or 80 years old if this longevity had no meaning for the species to which he belongs. The afternoon of human life must also have a significance of its own and cannot be merely a pitiful appendage to life’s morning.” ~Carl Jung
Hi Tom! Ah, great minds think alike 😉 That is actually one of my favorites too. I used it when I wrote the blog post about Carl Jung and his thoughts on aging. It really spoke to me and reminded me of the quote by Richard Bach that says something like, “If you’ve ever wondered if you’re mission on Earth is finished: If you’re alive, it isn’t.” ~Kathy
Wow Kathy – How can I choose when everything is positive? I thought Helen Mirren was pretty awesome. I need to think like all of these wise people.
Hi Suzanne! YES! I was certainly hoping everyone would be as inspired by these words as I was. All our words are powerful so let’s keep it up! ~Kathy
Choosing one out of 50 quotes means to choose one of a precious pearl. Any how I have chosen this pearl of wisdom. “Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.” ~Henry Ford
Hi M.D! I have to admit that is one of my favorites too. As long as I can continue to learn and grow I will happily live my life no matter what. Thanks for chiming in here! ~Kathy
As I read through the quotes, I kept changing my mind as to which was my favorite. I love that they are all so positive and life-embracing. Thanks for putting them all together!
Hi Janis! Hahaha! Glad you liked them. I agree that it’s really hard to pick a favorite. Like usual, just putting this post together helped me as much as anyone! ~Kathy
I’m leaning toward this one: “I am appalled that the term we use to talk about aging is ‘anti.’ Aging is as natural as a baby’s softness and scent. Aging is human evolution in its pure form.”~ Jamie Lee Curtis
That said, it’s hard for me sometimes to embrace it as gracefully as she is. And I still get sucked into advertising and buy face cream.
Hi Laura! It’s sort of like self-love don’t you think? It makes sense for us to learn to love ourselves at any age, but that doesn’t mean we haven’t been conditioned to think it is selfish or that we aren’t “worthy”. Even though aging is, as Jamie Lee says, as natural as a baby’s softness and scent, we are all trained away from that thought in order for others to manipulate or control our behavior (like get us to buy stuff in the hope it will make us more acceptable to others?) And honestly, I do the same thing so I’m not pointing fingers. I’m just convinced that the best thing we can do is talk amongst ourselves and keep bringing our thoughts back to what is REALLY the truth of our being. Not easy…but as I said to Kathy D. in reply to her comment, it’s always more fun (and gratifying) when we do it with friends. ~Kathy
Absolutely!
I like the Helen Mirren quote, and I hope she’s correct. I also like the Maggie Kuhn quote, and plan to start doing that right now!
I understand so much more than I did in my younger years, and am happier and more at peace with myself in my sixties. This was a great read!
Hi Kathy D! Aren’t those quotes both FUN? Instead of just saying you’ll wear “purple” when you get older or do what you want, they are saying they will be noisy about life. That’s certainly the way I want to experience the next 20-30 years! Of course it is always more fun when you do it with friends. ~Kathy
I love all of these! I’m not afraid of aging. I’m afraid of not having the opportunity grow old.
Hi Liz! Well I know that you were quite the daredevil in your youth but it seems like you’re slowing down some now so you shouldn’t have to worry about growing old at this point. 🙂 Just keep looking forward and stay “fascinated” like Keith Richards! ~Kathy
So many good ones! I like Robert Browning, Mark Twain, the Hasidic, Virginia Wolf, and Sophia Loren!
They are all wonderful, but I think I have to go with Franz Kafka.
Hi Nora! Ah, you must be an artist as well as a writer? Or maybe a gardener? When I saw that quote I always think of flowers or being in nature. Nature is such a great teacher for showing us the benefits of growing, becoming and giving way to the next without care or worry. Thanks for checking in on this! ~Kathy
…or maybe a dreamer! But I do love to garden.
Nora…I just KNEW it! 🙂
Hi Haralee! You are absolutely right…it’s nearly impossible to pick just one! All good reminders don’t you think? Did I miss any? I’m really hoping others will pop in here and give me even more! ~Kathy
I like Ingrid Bergman’s, about climbing the mountain and getting a better view. The greatest gift of advancing years may be gaining perspective.
It is a little depressing how many of them do assume that “old” is bad and “young” is good. So I also like Susan Moon’s quote.
Hi Carol! Me too….I found myself drawn to the women’s quotes more often than the men’s while hunting them down. That’s probably because I know what a paradox the experience can be. And I’d never heard of Susan Moon before I found her quote and now that I have I’m going to be looking more into her work because I liked how she put it with, “Wouldn’t you like to be loved by people whose hearts have practiced loving for a long time?” But maybe it’s also because we haven’t really be emphasising positive aging enough to reverse the language on the whole young vs. old equation. Let’s start! What do you say? ~Kathy
I love these quotes. A positive attitude is really important for living well at all phases of our lives.
Hi Michele! Thank you. Surprisingly, I really had to dig to find all of these. There are lots of “funny” ones that put down aging, but I was certain there’d be plenty to point in the right direction. Of course, it also showed me that us writers need to be working on a bunch of new ones for the future. ~Kathy
I have to pick two from two very different people: “Your 40s are good. Your 50s are great. Your 60s are fab. And 70 is f*@king awesome!” ~Helen Mirren
“In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.”
Great post.
Hi Beth! Isn’t that one from Helen wonderful? And she should know right? But I agree the other one is also great because it reminds me that we all need to make the most of every day! Thanks for letting me know which ones you liked best! ~Kathy
“For the unlearned, old age is winter; for the learned, it is the season of the harvest.” ~Hasidic saying
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!
Thank you for these, Kathy!
Hi Susan! Don’t you just love that one? Maybe because Autumn is my favorite time of year I really get that one too. Glad you liked them. And yes to an awesome harvest! ~Kathy