Nobody grows old merely by living a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals. Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.
Interpretation
Aging is not just about age; it's the loss of our ideals and enthusiasm that truly makes us feel old.
This quote emphasizes that growing old is not simply a matter of the passage of time but rather a reflection of how we maintain our passion and ideals throughout life. While physical aging may occur naturally, it is the abandonment of our dreams and enthusiasm that truly ages our spirit and outlook on life.
In practice
This quote can be used in a motivational speech about pursuing dreams at any age.
When the aerials are down, and your spirit is covered with snows of cynicism and the ice of pessimism, then you are grown old, even at 20, but as long as your aerials are up, to catch waves of optimism, there is hope you may die young at 80.
Youth is not a time of life - it is a state of mind.
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, quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions, it is the freshness of the deep springs of life.
When the wires are all down and your heart is covered with the snows of pessimism and the ice of cynicism, then, and only then, have you grown old.
Meditation is the means through which the Soul dictates and guides the mind for all good.
His ignorance seemed to widen with everything he read.
At 46 one must be a miser; only have time for essentials.
Beware of the person of one book.
You have to decide what your highest priorities are and have the courage—pleasantly, smilingly, nonapologetically, to say “no” to other things. And the way you do that is by having a bigger “yes” burning inside. The enemy of the “best” is often the “good.
My colleagues and I took a stand in our work several years ago that we would not look for the magic bullet, because there is none. These are just basic problems requiring basic work. Nothing magic about it.
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