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Home , Carrie Fisher, Estelle Getty, Judy Sheindlin, Rita Wilson, Stephen Fry

Uplifting101 Quotes About Living Well ...

... and Disrupting Aging

Created byFrom Niloy the Som from the NounEditors Project of AARP

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Created by Niloy Som Niloy by Created Created by Niloy Som Project Noun the from from the Noun Project What makes someone quotable? Is it the quickness of their wit or the thoughtfulness of their view? In many cases, it’s both. Curated by the editors of AARP, we bring you this delightful mix of 101 quotes—some profound, many comical. They address the precise human emotions that are inevitably sparked by aging, parenting, working, exploring, struggling and even loving. Whether it’s a quip said under pressure or a thoughtful, nuanced view, there’s probably something that will resonate with everyone in this collection.

101 QUOTES ON LIVING WELL

“Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. and 1.hundreds and thousands of others inspired me to get in trouble. What I call good trouble, Created by Niloy Som Niloy by Created necessary trouble. Project You Noun must the gofrom out there and get in trouble.” —civil rights leader & Rep. John Lewis (D-Georgia)

2.“You never go wrong when you take the high road— it’s less crowded there.” —journalist Gayle King of CBS News “There is no greater vocation than to serve. But there 3. is no greater purpose than to love. Live a life that does both, and you’ll be truly happy.” —Senator John McCain

“When in doubt, make a fool of yourself. There is a 4. microscopically thin line between being brilliantly creative and acting like the most gigantic idiot on . So, what the hell, leap.” — Cynthia Heimell

“I think worry will make you sick. I’ve never seen it 5. accomplish anything. ... So I decided not to do it. You can’t do anything about it, why the hell worry about it?” —musician Willie Nelson

“What I learned at a very early age was that I was 6.responsible for my life. And as I became more spiri- tually conscious, I learned that we all are responsible for ourselves, that you create your own reality by the way you think and therefore act. You cannot blame apartheid, your parents, your circumstances, because you are not your cir- cumstances. You are your possibilities. If you know that, you can do anything.” —

“Every day is another opportunity to learn 7. something new. Enjoy nature, which never disappoints. There is always something you can find that lifts your spirits.”—singer Tony Bennett

8.“No one ever said life was fair. Just eventful.” — 9.“I was taught failure is a part of the whole journey of life. When you fail, you learn, you get back up. It doesn’t mean you’re not worthy. It doesn’t mean that’s not what you’re meant to do.” —actress Viola Davis

“Live your life and don’t be 10. influenced by society trying to make you feel some type of way about your age.” —

“Don’t sabotage yourself. There are plenty of other 11. people willing to do that for free.” —“The Bloggess” Jenny Lawson

“The older I get, the more of an effort 12. I make to enjoy life.” —Today news anchor Craig Melvin

“There is nothing stronger than a broken woman 13. who has rebuilt herself.” —comedian Hannah Gadsby 14. “I haven’t got the slightest idea how to change people, but still I keep a long list of prospec- tive candidates just in case I should ever figure it out.” —writer David Sedaris

“I asked her if I was black 15. or white. She replied ‘You are a human being. Educate yourself or you’ll be a nobody!’” —author James McBride in The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother

16.“I love the feeling of not knowing everything.” —chef Sean Brock

“You know, failure hurts. 17. Any kind of failure stings. If you live in the sting, you will— undoubtedly—fail. My way of getting past the sting is to say no, I’m just not going to let this get me down.” —Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor

18.“Being normal is seriously overrated.” —writer Andrea Dworkin 101 QUOTES ON LIVING LONG

“Often bumpy roads lead to beautiful places. 19.And this is a beautiful place.” —Washington Nationals manager Dave Martinez after the team complet- Created by Niloy Som Niloy by Created ed a sweep inProject the NLNoun Championshipthe from Series “I have outlived most of my most viru- 20.lent critics. It gives me great pleasure to say that. Does that make me a bad per- son?” —novelist Stephen King

21.“I see hope—if you have the option to look for plau- sible hope—as a moral obli- gation. That’s not saying you should delude yourself. But it is not over until it is over.” —playwright Tony Kushner

“All experience is great, providing you live through 22.it. If it kills you, you’ve gone too far.” —American portraitist Alice Neel

“Everyone’s reputation is made on a daily basis. 23.There are little incremental things—worthwhile efforts, moments you were helpful to others—and after a lifetime, they can add up to something. You can feel as if you lived and it mattered.” —aviator Chesley B. Sullenberger 24. “I’m too old to be scared by much. You’re scared when you’re young. You don’t know the plot.” —author Margaret Atwood

“I knew that I shouldn’t have, but I did it all the 25. same; and there you have my epitaph, or one of them, because my grave is going to require a monument in- scribed on all four sides with rueful mottoes, in small char- acters, set close together.” —author Michael Chabon

26. “I still sometimes whisper to myself, at least in my own , ‘Pull no punches. Play no favorites. Keep knocking on doors and saying what’s going on in there?’ ” —journalist Dan Rather

“When I talk of forgiveness I mean the belief that 27. you can come out the other side a better person. A better person than the one being consumed by anger and hatred. Remaining in that state locks you in a state of vic- timhood, making you almost dependent on the perpetrator. If you can find it in yourself to forgive, then you are no lon- ger chained to the perpetrator.” —Archbishop Desmond Tutu 28.“My life started over at 50; I feel happy, I feel beautiful. I thought, ‘I must have done something right for this to be happening.’ ” —singer Celine Dion

“I am at the point where the yesteryears mean 29. more than the yesterdays.” —Scottish comic “I appreciate the journey, even as it’s led me full 30. circle. I’ve learned that in your search for answers, you’ll always find your way back home.” —photographer Joshua Rashaad McFadden

“It’s a myth that you can’t have it all. 31. When I was younger, I got some great advice: You can have it all—just maybe not all at the same time. That doesn’t mean you should stop trying to balance everything and strive to be the best you can be every day.” —actress Eva Longoria

32.“The main lesson I’ve learned is that ‘not being sure’ is the essen- tial condition of life.” —author Tim Lott “You know, a lot of people come to me 33. and they say, ‘Steve, how can you be so f---ing funny?’ There’s a secret to it, it’s no big deal. Before I go out, I put a slice of bologna in each of my shoes. So when I’m on stage, I feel funny.” —comedian

34.“I’ve been tested by fire and the fire lost.” —former Texas Governor Ann Richards

“I don’t understand why people say, ‘I don’t want to 35. live forever.’ Why not?” —actor Alan Alda “I continue to go with my instinct of what I think is 36. funny, and I continue to make a living. That’s all that really matters. I’m not a big believer in shelf life.” —comedian Martin Short

37. “I never think about my age. Maybe that’s the ticket. I never think about it—it’s a pass- ing thought. It’s just a number. … I’ve found that work is very healthy for me. I love what I do and I put my heart and soul into it.” —fashion icon Iris Apfel 101 QUOTES 101 QUOTES ON WORK ON WORK

“The things you get fired for when you’re young are 38. the same things you get Lifetime Achievements for when you’re old.” —director Francis Ford Coppola Created by Niloy Som Niloy by Created from the Noun Project Noun the from 39.“I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.” —basketball legend Michael Jordan

“Most people overestimate 40. what they accomplish in one year, but underestimate what they can accomplish in 10 years.” —Sue Desmond-Hellmann, former CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

“After a certain age, we’re sup- 41. posed to just put on a pair of house slippers and fade into the drap- eries. That’s total garbage. There are women who start writing novels. Julia Child was 50 when she started walking down the culinary path. Grandma Mo- ses started painting at almost 80, for God’s sake.”—Canadian actress/singer Jann Arden “Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might 42. never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged. I was set free, because my greatest fear had been realized, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea.” — creator J.K. Rowling

“The less you know about a field, the better your 43. odds. Dumb boldness is the best way to approach a new challenge.” —comedian Jerry Seinfeld

“I still run into people who remember my dad, Jim- 44. my Glover, as the man who trained them to sort mail by hand and treated them with dignity on the job. To them, he was the real celebrity in our family.” —actor Danny Glover

45.“Years back, they considered the accordion like a party joke or even something that grand- pa played. The way I learned to play the accordion was on the wild and happy side, much like Cajun and zydeco music. ... I like to make my accordion yell and and make it happy.” —Grammy-award winning conjunto accordionist and singer Flaco Jimenez “But I don’t see myself as a woman in science. 46. I see myself as a scientist.” —Donna Strickland, Canadian Nobel Prize-winning physicist

“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, 47. and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. … Like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on.” —Apple cofounder

“I’m considered a senior citizen. But I’ve just decid- 48. ed that at this point in my life, I’m not gonna use my senior citizen discount to go to other people’s movies. I’m gonna make movies for them.” —TV personality, singer and actress Kathie Lee Gifford

“I remember a very important lesson that my father 49. gave me when I was 12 or 13. He said, ‘You know, today I welded a perfect seam and I signed my name to it.’ And I said, ‘But, Daddy, no one’s going to see it!’ And he said, ‘Yeah, but I know it’s there.’ ” —novelist Toni Morrison

“I am a writer. Imagining what someone would say 50. or do comes to me as naturally as breathing.” —Joan Didion in her book The Year of Magical Thinking

51.“I’m old now, but I am still going to create more work and better work. More than I have in the past. My mind is full of paintings.” —artist Yayoi Kusama 101 QUOTES ON THE AGING BODY

“Beauty fades. Dumb is forever.” 52. —“” Sheindlin “I think there’sSom Niloy by more insideCreated me 53.than thereProject usedNoun tothe be.from That is the benefit of age and deepening of character.” —actress

“Age does not bring you wisdom; 54. age brings you wrinkles.” —Golden Girls star Estelle Getty

55.“There isn’t a shelf life like there used to be. That’s why it’s so important to keep changing. We live longer now.” —actress Nicole Kidman

“You feel a little older in the morning. 56. By noon I feel about 55.” —former Republican Senator and World War II veteran Bob Dole

“The only thing I regret is that I can’t wear 57. heels anymore.” —musician Debbie Harry 58.“As you get older, the pickings get slimmer, but the people don’t.” —actress

“God has an incredible sense of humor, an unimag- 59. inable sense of humor. Just look around.” —comedian Bob

60.“Joy is the best makeup.” —author Anne Lamott “I think 60 is the new 60—at least a new 60. We 61. should own our age. It’s not the new 40 because you wouldn’t want to have to go through your 40s all over again.” —writer Candace Bushnell

“Never be in a convertible if you’re over 50. 62. That’s the most embarrassing thing possible.” —filmmaker John Waters

“At my age, they say to keep moving. Put me on 63. solid ground and I’ll start tapping.” —actor Dick Van Dyke “I’m so ridiculously happy, it’s disgusting. ... I’m 64. so spoiled; I expect wonderful things to happen. That’s my outlook, and it’s a good one. It seems odd—it’s as though I’ve needed to get older to have more success.” —actress Rita Moreno

“Avoid fried meats which angry up the blood. If 65. your stomach disputes you, lie down and pacify it with cool thoughts.” —baseball legend Satchel Paige “You’ve got nothing more valuable than time. 66. Time is the final currency. Not , not power.” —musician David Crosby

“The amount of maintenance involving hair is 67. genuinely overwhelming. Sometimes I think that not having to worry about your hair anymore is the secret upside of death.” —journalist, writer and filmmaker

“I don’t need you to remind me of my age, 68. I have a bladder to do that for me.” —British author, polymath

“There are some people who imagine that older 69. adults don’t know how to use the internet. My im- mediate reaction is, ‘I’ve got news for you, we invented it.’” —“Father of the Internet” Vint Cerf

“I’ve never minded getting older. 70. ... Yes, things may start to sag and shift, but the older you are, the wiser, the funnier, the smarter you are. You become more you.” —actress Melissa McCarthy

71.“I don’t know how I’ll feel in a while, but right now I have more of an appetite than ever to do more and more.” —actor Jeff Goldblum 72.“You can’t get hung up on age or beauty, because then you’re always chasing after something you’ll never get back.” —singer and performer Tina Turner

“It’s not a surprise, we knew it was coming. Make 73. the most of it. So you may not be as fast on your feet, and the image in your mirror may be a little disap- pointing, but if you are still functioning and not in pain, gratitude should be the name of the game.” —actress

74. “It’s very important to have two tiaras when you’re on the road, you never know when you’ll be invited to something really formal.” —musician

“Whenever someone calls me ugly, I get 75. super sad and hug them, because I know how tough life is for the visually impaired.” —comedian Will Ferrell

“You stay relevant by trusting you have something 76. people need. You know, people need air; people need some serious rrrrrromance. Humans without romance become curmudgeons and predictable with misery.” —Mexican American guitarist Carlos Santana 101 QUOTES ON PARENTING

“Nobody can do for little children what grandpar- 77. ents do. Grandparents sort of sprinkle stardust over the lives of little children.”Som Niloy —Alexby Haley,Created author of Roots from the Noun Project Noun the from “I’m learning every day. And if anyone in my life has 78. taught me, it is my children.” —actress “You can’t beat children in a logic 79. battle. Their simple minds are better at it. Go with what adults are good at: ty- rannical authority.” —comedian

80.“Nobody loves me but my mother. And she could be jivin’ too.” —Blues musician B.B. King

“I’m a godmother, that’s a great thing to be, a god- 81. mother. She calls me god for short, that’s cute, I taught her that.” —comedian and host Ellen DeGeneres

“Having children is like living in a frat house— 82. nobody sleeps, everything’s broken, and there’s a lot of throwing up.” —comedian Ray Romano “A mother’s love for her child is like 83. nothing else in the world. It knows no law, no pity. It dares all things and crushes down remorselessly all that stands in its path.” —mystery novelist Agatha Christie

“The more boring a child is, the 84. more the parents, when show- ing off the child, receive adulation for being good parents because they have a tame child-creature in their house.” —musician Frank Zappa

“It takes you out of yourself. 85. Just to be able to love some- thing so much … and not worry about yourself. It’s just good to know that I have that capability. ... I thought I was so self-absorbed, but wow, look at me!” —comedian Wanda Sykes

86.“I thought I’d never be that annoying person, but as soon as Winnie was born, I was showing iPhone snaps to a cab driver.” —talk show host Jimmy Fallon

“One of the things I tell new parents is something 87. that was told to me when my daughter still had that new-baby smell: ‘Prepare for long days but short years.’ ” —journalist Jonah Goldberg 88.“When you’re a child, the most important thing is to be able to live a life of comfort. You want to be sure that the moon goes up at night and comes up in the morning and dad comes home from work.” —comedian Keegan- Michael Key

“Mom Pro Tip: If you’re old 89. enough to critique what I put in your lunch, you’re old enough to make it yourself.” —@SarcasticMommy4 Lisa Munn

90.“I’m an attentive father. I have to struggle somewhat not to be overly attentive.” —actor 101 QUOTES ON LOVE & MARRIAGE

91.“If you have a caring life partner, you help the Created by Niloy Som Niloy by Created from the Noun Project Noun otherthe from person when that person needs it. I had a life partner who thought my work was as important as his, and I think that made all the difference for me.” —Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

“And I am standing here because the woman I share 92. my life with has taught me and demonstrates for me every day just what love is.” — on his wife, Rita Wilson, after receiving an Academy Award for best actor

“Marriage has no guarantees. If that’s what you’re 93. looking for, go live with a car battery.” — Erma Bombeck

“A soul mate is just that person with whom you 94. feel entirely complete. When you’re with them, the world falls away. Your problems, they don’t disappear, but you feel like you can handle them.” —writer Roxane Gay “Married is a magic word. ... And it is magic 95. throughout the world. It has to do with our dignity as human beings, to be who we are openly.” —Edith Windsor after winning in a landmark Supreme Court case, United States v. Windsor, recognizing her relationship with then-spouse Thea Spyer

“They say all marriages are made in heaven, but so 96. are thunder and lightning.”—actor and director Clint Eastwood “Instead of a man, I’m sleeping with an iPad right 97. now. It’s not the best thing! But it’s actually an alright substitution sometimes; I can do the crossword puzzle.” —businesswoman, writer and television personality Martha Stewart

98.“I still love the people I’ve loved, even if I cross the street to avoid them.” —actress Uma Thurman

“But you know, it isn’t designed. Love just shows up 99. and you go, ‘Oh, wow, this is going to be a hayride and a half.’ ” —actress

“Takes a long time to happen so fast. To realize 100. that your future is somebody else’s past.” —rap artist Lupe Fiasco

“True love is singing karaoke Under Pressure and 101. letting the other person sing the Freddie Mercury part.”—actress Mindy Kaling

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