Philip Roth in The Dying Animal: “(Old age) is not all uninterrupted dying . . . it’s invisible dying. . . It’s just an everyday fact that one’s life is at stake.”
“Invisible dying” tells it like it is: Old age sucks.
The hundreds of books published about diets for old people, exercises for old people, socialization for old people, positive thinking for old people, blah, blah, blah, hint that old age sucks. These books make money because people want to believe they can live the fountain of youth. They trade on our fears. Does their advice work? No. Old age is what it is: a time of falling apart, cell by cell, organ by organ – like every living thing. Even mountains finally erode and disappear.
As usual, the real truth-tellers are comedians:
“I don’t feel old. I don’t feel anything until noon. Then it’s time for my nap.” Bob Hope
“Birthdays are good for you. Statistics show that the people who have the most live the longest.” Larry Lorenzoni
“Aging seems to be the only available way to live a long life.” Kitty O’Neill Collins
“You can live to be a hundred if you give up all things that make you want to live to be a hundred.” Woody Allen
“It’s paradoxical that the idea of living a long life appeals to everyone, but the idea of getting old doesn’t appeal to anyone.” Andy Rooney
“People ask me what I’d most appreciate getting for my eighty-seventh birthday. I tell them, a paternity suit.” George Burns
“I’m very pleased to be here. Let’s face it, at my age I’m very pleased to be anywhere.” George Burns
LOL. LOL. LOL. Finally, there’s a way to laugh at the human condition (which, incidentally, is good for longevity).
(Joke quotes are from the Boldin blog.)
