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.
Other people's successes are good news - for them and for you. Good for you because they show you a way to go.
No accurate thinker will judge another person by that which the other person's enemies say about him.
Outright bans on plastic bags may not be the best solution, but education and incentives to get people to stop using them are necessary.
One simple way to keep organizations from becoming cancerous might be to rotate all jobs on a regular, frequent and mandatory basis, including the leadership positions.
I'm attracted to stories of people who don't belong together, who embark on something and find themselves in places they don't belong.
One is not idle because one is absorbed. There is both visible and invisible labor. To contemplate is to toil, to think is to do. The crossed arms work, the clasped hands act. The eyes upturned to Heaven are an act of creation.