Growing older is a blessing, albeit one that can fill our heads with worries about what the future holds. As we age, our lives change in a number of ways, and while not all of them are fun or easy, stepping into those golden years can serve as the perfect opportunity for celebrating our life’s journey, enjoying what we’ve earned and built through the years, and relishing in all the wisdom gained along the way.
Our golden years often invoke fond remembrances of the past, but they should also encourage a deep appreciation for the present. This selection of quotes reminds us that each day is a chance to find joy in simple pleasures and embrace the extraordinary moments that make these years truly golden.
Count not the years, but take of each its boon.
The great thing about getting older is that you don’t lose all the other ages you’ve been.
There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of the people you love.
You can’t help getting older, but you don’t have to get old.
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.
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!
The older you get, the more fragile you understand life to be. I think that’s good motivation for getting out of bed joyfully each day.
The first 40 years of life give us the text; the next 30 supply the commentary.
You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.
Young people admire talents or particular excellences; as we grow older, we value total powers and effects … the impression, the quality, the spirit of men and things.
In youth we learn; in age we understand.
Aging gracefully means being flexible, being open, allowing change, enjoying change, and loving yourself.
Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been.
Aging is just another word for living.
We are always the same age inside.
The soul is born old but grows young.
One day, you will look back and see that all along, you were blooming.
We turn not older with years, but newer every day.
I see retirement as just another of these reinventions, another chance to do new things and be a new version of myself.
Why wouldn’t I want to celebrate every crease in my brow, all that hard-earned wisdom that lives between the folds?
The ordinary experiences of aging alter and clarify your view of past, present, and future.
The longer I live, the more beautiful life becomes.
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.
I believe the second half of one’s life is meant to be better than the first half.
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.
Featured Image Credit: Daniel Zuchnik/ Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images
Nicole Villeneuve
Nicole is a writer, thrift store lover, and group-chat meme spammer based in Ontario, Canada.
