The aging process is not gradual or gentle. It rushes up, pushes you over, and runs off laughing. No one should grow old who isn't ready to appear ridiculous.
John MortimerRead
Dying is a matter of slapstick and pratfalls. The ageing process is not gradual or gentle. It rushes up, pushes you over and runs off laughing. No one should grow old who isn't ready to appear ridiculous.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Aging can be abrupt and surprising, often leading to humorous situations.
John Mortimer's quote highlights the often unexpected and comical nature of aging. Rather than a peaceful transition, aging can feel sudden and jarring, like a slapstick comedy where one is left to navigate the absurdities of life, ultimately suggesting that embracing the ridiculousness of growing old can be essential to dealing with its challenges.
Themes
AgingHumorLifeChangeAbsurdity
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be shared at a birthday party to lighten the mood about getting older.
More from John Mortimer
All quotes →Writing about the indignities of old age: the daunting stairway to the restaurant restroom, the benefits of a wheelchair in airports and its disadvantages at cocktail parties, giving the user what he described as a child's-eye view of the party and a crotch-level view of the guests. Dying is a matter of slapstick and pratfalls. The aging process is not gradual or gentle. It rushes up, pushes you over and runs off laughing. No one should grow old who isn't ready to appear ridiculous.
John MortimerRead
I'd been told of all the things you're meant to feel when your father dies. Sudden freedom, growing up, the end of dependence, the step into the sunlight when no one is taller than you and you're in no one's shadow. I know what I felt. Lonely.
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There are lots of similarities between being a writer and a lawyer: to tell a story to a jury, hold their attention, make them laugh, make them like you. But what makes being a barrister less satisfying than being a writer is, finally, that it's about what someone else wants you to say.
John MortimerRead
I refuse to spend my life worrying about what I eat. There is no pleasure worth foregoing just for an extra three years in the geriatric ward.
John MortimerRead
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