"When a man grows old his joyGrows..." - Quote by William Butler Yeats
When a man grows old his joyGrows more deep day after day,His empty heart is full at lengthBut he has need of all that strengthBecause of the increasing NightThat opens her mystery and fright.
More by William Butler Yeats
“That toil of growing up; The ignominy of boyhood; the distress Of boyhood changing into man; The unfinished man and his pain.”
“Down by the salley gardens my love and I did meet; She passed the salley gardens with little snow-white feet. She bid me take love easy, as the leaves grow on the tree; But I, being young and foolish, with her did not agree. In a field by the river my love and I did stand, And on my leaning shoulder she laid her snow-white hand. She bid me take life easy, as the grass grows on the weirs; But I was young and foolish, and now am full of tears.”
“Hurrah for revolution and cannon come again!The beggars have changed places, but the lash goes on.”
More on Age
“I am admonished in many ways that time is pushing me inexorably along. I am approaching the threshold of age; in 1977 I shall be 142. This is no time to be flitting about the earth. I must cease from the activities proper to youth and begin to take on the dignities and gravities and inertia proper to that season of honorable senility which is on its way.”
“I have made noise enough in the world already, perhaps too much, and am now getting old, and want retirement.”
“Just remember, once you're over the hill you begin to pick up speed.”
More on Joy
“The most important lesson that man can learn from life, is not that there is pain in this world, but that it is possible for him to transmute it into joy.”
“Surely joy is the condition of life.”
“I got to play Kim in Bye Bye Birdie, Sandy in Grease, and Maria in The Sound of Music. And it was so much fun for me, but the thing that I looked forward to the most was at the cast parties. After the shows they had karaoke machines set up and that's when I could sing country music.”