WOW: Women's Older Wisdom

Recent Posts


Archives


Categories


20 Empowering & Inspiring Quotes About Getting Older

Pat TaubPat Taub

Guest Post by Becca Armstrong-Benson

A sister writer in the UK has assembled this wonderful list of wise sayings from people from all walks of  life, ranging from fashion designers and actors, to activists, astronauts and comedians.  These quotes were originally posted at: https://www.uksmobility.co.uk/blog/2018/06/old-age-quotes/

“I think we are all well advised to keep on nodding terms with the people we used to be, whether we find them attractive company or not.” ― Joan Didion

“We are always the same age inside.” ― Gertrude Stein

Pat Taub, Wow blog, Portland, Maine

Gertrude Stein (1874-1946) writer, at her home in Paris

“I am convinced that most people do not grow up. We marry and dare to have children and call that growing up. I think what we do is mostly grow old. We carry accumulation of years in our bodies, and on our faces, but generally our real selves, the children inside, are innocent and shy as magnolias.” ― Maya Angelou

“The afternoon knows what the morning never suspected.” ― Robert Frost

“Age has no reality except in the physical world. The essence of a human being is resistant to the passage of time. Our inner lives are eternal, which is to say that our spirits remain as youthful and vigorous as when we were in full bloom.” ― Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Pat Taub, WOW blog, Portland, Maine

Marquez (1927-2014), Columbian writer in a playful moment; he won the Nobel prize for Literature in 1982

“I wear my wrinkles like battle scars, having earned every last one slaying life’s dragons. They boast of my victories and some defeats while their beauty is a wealth of wisdom gained.” ― Richelle E. Goodrich

“Old age is an excellent time for outrage. My goal is to say or do at least one outrageous thing every week.” ― Maggie Kuhn

Pat Taub, WOW Blog, Portland, Maine

Maggie Kuhn (1905-1995) who founded the Gray Panthers in 1970 was the first national figure on the anti-aging scene

“Getting old is like climbing a mountain; you get a little out of breath, but the view is much better!” ― Ingrid Bergman

“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

“Aging is not lost youth but a new stage of opportunity and strength.” -― Betty Friedan

Pat Taub, WOW blog, Portland, Maine

Betty Friedan (1921-2006) remained an activist for her whole life, famously founding NOW (National Organization for Women)

“The secret of genius is to carry the spirit of the child into old age, which means never losing your enthusiasm.” ― Aldous Huxley

“When grace is joined with wrinkles, it is adorable. There is an unspeakable dawn in happy old age.” ― Victor Hugo

“Too many people, when they get old, think that they have to live by the calendar.” ― John Glenn

“Beautiful young people are accidents of nature, but beautiful old people are works of art.” — Eleanor Roosevelt

Pat Taub, WOW blog, Portland, Maine

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962) during a radio interview

“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.” ― Doris Lessing

“Why are people afraid of getting older? You feel wiser. You feel more mature. You feel like you know yourself better. You would trade that for softer skin? Not me!” ― Anna Kournikova

“Sometimes people describe my hair as grey, but I prefer the term silver, for I will never grow grey. Grey is a mind-set, a metaphor for growing old, but silver is vibrant and alive, a celebration of life.” ― Marty Norman

“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” ― Les Brown

Pat Taub, WOW blog, Portland, Maine

Agnes Varda, the French filmmaker, at 80; today’s she’s 90 and still making movies and never running out of dreams!

“Let us never know what old age is. Let us know the happiness time brings, not count the years.” ― Ausonius

“The longer I live the more beautiful life becomes.” ― Frank Lloyd Wright

Pat Taub, WOW blog, Portland, Maine

The formidable British editor and memoirist, Diana Athill, who lives life fully at almost 100!

 

Becca is the Content Writer for UKS Mobility, a UK-based healthcare supplier. She is based in Manchester in the North West of England and spends a lot of free time exploring the city. When she gets the chance she also loves to travel, having most recently visited Berlin, Amsterdam, Sorrento, and Naples. She studied English Literature at university and enjoys reading (particularly fantasy novels), writing, gaming and getting creative.

 

 

 

Pat Taub is a family therapist, writer and activist and life-long feminist. She hopes that WOW will start a conversation among other older women who are fed up with the ageism and sexism in our culture and are looking for cohorts to affirm their value as an older woman.

Comments