Perhaps being old is having lighted rooms inside your head, and people in them, acting. People you know, yet can't quite name.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Unfortunately, there are mental invalids of every age who exist on other people's terms. It's lazy for older persons to let others make up their minds for them. People have to overcome that.
The thing is, when you see your old friends, you come face to face with yourself. I run into someone I've known for 40 or 50 years, and they're old. And I suddenly realize I'm old. It comes as an enormous shock to me.
I think old people are scary. They remind you of your own death. People don't like to tell you that.
A lot of people are frightened by old age - by being around people who are, basically, on their way out - but I'm fascinated by it. It's an amazing thing to be around someone who has had a life well lived.
I think I'm rather young and sprightly, but then you see pictures of yourself and think, 'Who is that old man?' and I realise I'm not as young as I thought I was.
Older people, who just happen to have been around longer, may not be cleverer than the young, but they have seen more.
It's so hard when you're young to look at older people and understand that they have been where you are. It's the weirdest thing. You just can't get your head around that, can you? You can't get your head around the fact that someone who is 60 was once 16, if you're 16. But the fact is they have been, and they remember it.
Old age comes on suddenly, and not gradually as is thought.
When you're old, you are more certain of who you are, and that may be a good thing or a bad thing.
I don't talk to old people; they try to find ways to stay static. Young folks are the ones with the ideas and constantly moving forward.