It is unthinkable for a Frenchman to arrive at middle age without having syphilis and the Cross of the Legion of Honor.
It is folly for an eminent man to think of escaping censure, and a weakness to be affected with it. All the illustrious persons of antiquity, and indeed of every age in the world, have passed through this fiery persecution.
I had used eclectic therapy and behavior therapy on myself at the age of 19 to get over my fear of public speaking and of approaching young women in public.
In passing, we should note this curious mark of our own age: the only absolute allowed is the absolute insistence that there is no absolute.
It's not catastrophes, murders, deaths, diseases, that age and kill us it's the way people look and laugh, and run up the steps of omnibuses.
Old age is a special problem for me because I've never been able to shed the mental image I have of myself - a lad of about 19.
The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion or ethnic background, is that we all believe we are above-average drivers.
Why do people talk of the horrors of old age? It's great. I feel like a fine old car with the parts gradually wearing out, but I'm not complaining,... Those who find growing old terrible are people who haven't done what they wanted with their lives.
No man was ever so completely skilled in the conduct of life, as not to receive new information from age and experience.
Elizabeth Peyton, the artist known for tiny, dazzling portraits of radiant youth, is now painting tiny, dazzling portraits of radiant middle age.
The training of a journalist, of working with words for thousands of hours, is extraordinarily useful for a fiction writer.
Sometimes I think the choir gets a little ticked with me because I haven't sung in a long time and I can sing.
On 'Into The Wild' I spent months risking my life and on 'Speed Racer' I spent 60 days acting in front of a green screen. No danger to my physical self, but I sure had to use my imagination.
For me, naming bands was the forerunner to really writing lyrics, because I work off titles.
Years at sea probably explains why I'm single. But every person in the military makes sacrifices.
When I go on holiday, I wear wedges. They accentuate your leg, honey, and you have to look good on the beach.
If you travel to Germany, it's still absolutely Germany. If you travel to Sweden, it still has a Swedish identity.