Old Age Quotes

“However well you do in the competition for the greatest toys, longest life, and healthiest brain, the best medical research indicates that eventually you’re going to be dead. And you’re going to stay dead for many years longer than you were alive, and all that will be left of you is people’s memories of you, which is to say, your reputation.”
― Michael Kinsley, Old Age: A Beginner's Guide

“We’re talking about you, just another baby boomer—a nice guy or gal, neither angel nor devil. Once you’re dead, will the competition finally be over? Not quite. There’s still reputation. How will you be remembered after you die? That’s all you’ve got. And you’re going to be dead a long time—longer than you’ve been alive. So it’s important. And most challenging of all, the arrangements have to be made—and paid for—while you’re still alive. Once you’re dead, it’s too late.”
― Michael Kinsley, Old Age: A Beginner's Guide

“Ronald Reagan goes in for his annual physical and the doctor says, “Mr. President, I have bad news and worse news.” Reagan says, “Lay it on me, Doc.” The doctor says, “The bad news is that you have cancer.” Reagan: “And the worse news?” Doctor: “You have Alzheimer’s.” Reagan: “Well, at least I don’t have cancer.” Go”
― Michael Kinsley, Old Age: A Beginner's Guide

“A person who is sixty and healthy almost surely will live many more years. But sixty is about the age when people stop being surprised if you look old or feel sick or drop dead.”
― Michael Kinsley, Old Age: A Beginner's Guide

“If you want to be remembered as a good person, then try to be a good person. Who knows? It might just work. But start now, because if you’re a boomer, time is running out.”
― Michael Kinsley, Old Age: A Beginner's Guide

“People understand this about physical disabilities. Someone with a broken leg will not, for that reason alone, be denied a job that requires typing. We are comfortable with the idea that physical health is not just a single number but a multiplicity of factors. That’s where we need to arrive about mental problems, too.”
― Michael E. Kinsley, Old Age: A Beginner's Guide

“As we get older, we’re all going to lose a few of our marbles.”
― Michael E. Kinsley, Old Age: A Beginner's Guide

“Very few people are remembered for long after they’re in the ground.”
― Michael E. Kinsley, Old Age: A Beginner's Guide

“What counts is how many years you get before losing your marbles,”
― Michael E. Kinsley, Old Age: A Beginner's Guide