30 Inspirational Quotes about Growing Old

We don’t stop playing because we grow old.

We grow old because we stop playing.”

∼ George Bernard Shaw

Perhaps one of the best things about growing old is that we are not the first to face this journey. 

Right?!

We get to benefit from the insight and wisdom of those who have gone before us, and what I find truly wonderful, is that numerous people throughout history have shared their thoughts and advice about growing old and there is so much we can learn from them. 

I love inspirational quotes, and as I was feeling my age a bit more than usual today following a trip to the optometrist, (yep, new glasses needed *sigh!* ) I decided to encourage myself by reading some positive quotes about growing old.

Instead of one or two however, I found literally dozens of powerful quotes, so decided to choose 30 inspirational quotes about aging that really spoke to me. I’ll be posting them throughout my yearly planner – particularly around my birthday which is always a time of reflection about age. I didn’t want to keep the inspiration to myself though, so read on and be encouraged by the words of wisdom from people who chose to grow old positively, making the most of every season of their life. 

30 Inspirational Quotes about Growing Old

1. “We don’t stop playing because we grow old. We grow old because we stop playing.” ∼ George Bernard Shaw
   
   

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

3. “I love living. I love that I’m alive to love my age. There are many people who went to bed just as I did yesterday evening and didn’t wake this morning. I love and feel very blessed that I did.”   ~Maya Angelou

4. “Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.” ~Mark Twain

5. “Do not grow old, no matter how long you live. Never cease to stand like curious children before the great mystery into which we were born.”  ~Albert Einstein

6. “Know that you are the perfect age. Each year is special and precious, for you shall only live it once. Be comfortable with growing older.”  ~Louise Hay
   
   

7. “You can’t help getting older, but you don’t have to get old.” ~ George Burns

8. “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

9. “For the unlearned, old age is winter; for the learned, it is the season of the harvest.”  ~Hasidic saying

10. “He who is of a calm and happy nature will hardly feel the pressure of age, but to him who is of an opposite disposition, youth and age are equally a burden.” ∼ Plato

11. “Age is no barrier. It’s a limitation you put on your mind.” ~Jackie Joyner-Kersee

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

13. “Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.” ~Henry Ford

14. “In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count.  It’s the life in your years.”  ~Abraham Lincoln

15. “I’m baffled that anyone might not think women get more beautiful as they get older. Confidence comes with age, and looking beautiful comes from the confidence someone has in themselves.” ~Kate Winslet

16. “Oh, the worst of all tragedies is not to die young, but to live until I am seventy-five and yet not ever truly to have lived.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

17. “Growing old is mandatory, but growing up is optional.” – Walt Disney

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

19. “Relish love in our old age! Aged love is like aged wine; it becomes more satisfying, more refreshing, more valuable, more appreciated and more intoxicating.” ~Leo Buscaglia

20. “Those who love deeply never grow old; they may die of old age, but they die young.”  ~Ben Franklin

21. “Growing old with someone else is beautiful, but growing old while being true to yourself is divine.” ~Dodinsky

22. “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” ~C.S. Lewis

23. “Your 40s are good.  Your 50s are great.  Your 60s are fab. And 70 is f*@king awesome!” ~Helen Mirren

24. “Youth is the gift of nature, but age is a work of art.”~Stanislaw Jerzy Lec
    
    

25. “We don’t grow older, we grow riper.” ~Pablo Picasso

26. “Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be.” ~Robert Browning

27. “I believe the second half of one’s life is meant to be better than the first half. The first half is finding out how you do it. And the second half is enjoying it.”  ~Frances Lear

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

29. “I’ve always said that I will never let an old person into my body. That is, I don’t believe in ‘thinking’ old. Don’t program yourself to break down as you age with thoughts that decline is inevitable.”  ~Wayne Dyer

And the final word belongs to the vivacious, recently departed Betty White:

   30. “Don’t try to be young. Just open your mind. Stay interested in stuff. There are so many things I won’t live long enough to find out about, but I’m still curious about them. You know people who are already saying, ‘I’m going to be 30—oh, what am I going to do?’ Well, use that decade! Use them all!”∼ Betty White

Do you feel inspired about growing older? I encourage you to bookmark this page for reference, or even print it out or copy the quotes so that you can read them on those days that you don’t feel great about aging. 

I’d love to know which of these inspirational quotes especially spoke to you, so let me know in the comments below!

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