--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Life's Tragedy is that we get old to soon…" description: "\"Life's Tragedy is that we get old to soon and wise too late.\" — Benjamin Franklin" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee1/benjamin-franklin-65_life_life-s-tragedy-is-that-we-get-old-to-soo_382318.png" --- # Life's Tragedy is that we get old to soon and wise too late. ![“Life's Tragedy is that we get old to soon and wise too late.” quote by Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee1/benjamin-franklin-65_life_life-s-tragedy-is-that-we-get-old-to-soo_382318.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee1/benjamin-franklin-65_life_life-s-tragedy-is-that-we-get-old-to-soo_382318.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee1/benjamin-franklin-65_life_life-s-tragedy-is-that-we-get-old-to-soo_382318.png) > “Life's Tragedy is that we get old to soon and wise too late.” [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Aging brings physical decline early, but wisdom arrives too late to use fully. **In simple terms:** Aging: early decline, late wisdom. Key Takeaway Value wisdom early. Themes mortality wisdom timing Mood reflective hopeful Type philosophical advisory When to use this quote - career planning - health decisions - mentorship Key Concepts Philosophy of aging life cycles Questions to Reflect On - How can you seek wisdom now? - What habits delay decline? A Different Perspective Wisdom can be cultivated earlier. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life Tragedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-tragedy/) [Old Soon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-soon-448572/) [Soon Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soon-wise-3465520/) [Too late](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/too-late/) [Tragedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tragedy/) [Tragedy Old](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tragedy-old-1786264/) [Wisdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wisdom/) [Wise Late](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wise-late-1279877/) ## Related quotes > [“Life biggest tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/life-biggest-tragedy-is-that-we-get-old-too-soon-and-wise-too-late/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Life's greatest tragedy is that we grow old too soon and wise too late.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/life-s-greatest-tragedy-is-that-we-grow-old-too-soon-and-wise-too-late/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [Yes, time flies. And where did it leave you? Old too soon...smart too late.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-tyson/yes-time-flies-and-where-did-it-leave-you-old-too-soon-smart-too-late/) [Mike Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-tyson/) > [“Finally, we do become wise, but then it's too late”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-martin/finally-we-do-become-wise-but-then-it-s-too-late/) [Steve Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-martin/) > [The tragedy of old age is not that one is old, but that one is young.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/the-tragedy-of-old-age-is-not-that-one-is-old-but-that-one-is-young/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“The tragedy of being old is you can no longer apply whats taken you so long to learn (Kissing The Beehive)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/the-tragedy-of-being-old-is-you-can-no-longer-apply-whats-taken-you/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [Thus Carol hit upon the tragedy of old age, which is not that it is less vigorous than youth, but that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/thus-carol-hit-upon-the-tragedy-of-old-age-which-is-not-that-it-is/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [“The tragedy of being old is you can no longer apply what has taken you so long to learn.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-carroll/the-tragedy-of-being-old-is-you-can-no-longer-apply-what-has-taken/) [Jonathan Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-carroll/) > [The greatest tragedy of old age is the tendency for the old to feel unneeded, unwanted, and of no use to anyone; the secret…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-roosevelt/the-greatest-tragedy-of-old-age-is-the-tendency-for-the-old-to-feel/) [Eleanor Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-roosevelt/) > [“If you know too much, you'll get old too soon.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-know-too-much-you-ll-get-old-too-soon/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Here we are, alone again. It's all so slow, so heavy, so sad. . . I'll be old soon. Then at last it will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-ferdinand-celine/here-we-are-alone-again-it-s-all-so-slow-so-heavy-so-sad-i-ll-be-old/) [Louis-Ferdinand Céline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-ferdinand-celine/) > [Some people are faster than others; I'm just figuring it out later, that's all. I'm getting smart too late and old too soon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-tyson/some-people-are-faster-than-others-i-m-just-figuring-it-out-later/) [Mike Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-tyson/) > [“We’re not old because we are seventy. We start to grow old as soon as we are born, we change every day, life is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-allende/we-re-not-old-because-we-are-seventy-we-start-to-grow-old-as-soon-as/) [Isabel Allende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-allende/) > [“I'm getting old... Soon I'll be thirty, and then forty, and then fifty; and do you think any one will love me then if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-webster/i-m-getting-old-soon-i-ll-be-thirty-and-then-forty-and-then-fifty-and/) [Jean Webster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-webster/) > [We can only begin to live when we conceive life as Tragedy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/we-can-only-begin-to-live-when-we-conceive-life-as-tragedy/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) ## More by Benjamin Franklin > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [Think of these things, whence you came, where you are going, and to whom you must account.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/think-of-these-things-whence-you-came-where-you-are-going-and-to-whom/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Give me 26 lead soldiers and I will conquer the world.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/give-me-26-lead-soldiers-and-i-will-conquer-the-world/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [Flowers are the alphabet of angels, whereby they write on the hills and fields mysterious truths.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/flowers-are-the-alphabet-of-angels-whereby-they-write-on-the-hills/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [In the affairs of this world, men are saved not by faith, but by the want of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/in-the-affairs-of-this-world-men-are-saved-not-by-faith-but-by-the/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [By heaven we understand a state of happiness infinite in degree, and endless in duration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/by-heaven-we-understand-a-state-of-happiness-infinite-in-degree-and/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [I have thought that wild flowers might be the alphabet of angels, — whereby they write on hills and fields mysterious truths, which it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/i-have-thought-that-wild-flowers-might-be-the-alphabet-of-angels/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [How do you become better tomorrow? By improving yourself, the world is made better. Be not afraid of growing too slowly. Be afraid of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/how-do-you-become-better-tomorrow-by-improving-yourself-the-world-is/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [Little leaks sink the ship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/little-leaks-sink-the-ship/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [Who is rich? He that is content. Who is that? Nobody.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/who-is-rich-he-that-is-content-who-is-that-nobody/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“But on the whole, though I never arrived at the perfection I had been so ambitious of obtaining, but fell far short of it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/but-on-the-whole-though-i-never-arrived-at-the-perfection-i-had-been/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [The good particular men may do separately, in relieving the sick, is small, compared with what they may do collectively.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/the-good-particular-men-may-do-separately-in-relieving-the-sick-is/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [Love your Neighbour; yet don't pull down your Hedge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/love-your-neighbour-yet-don-t-pull-down-your-hedge/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [Take counsel in wine, but resolve afterwards in water.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/take-counsel-in-wine-but-resolve-afterwards-in-water/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [He that's secure is not safe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/he-that-s-secure-is-not-safe/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) [Explore all 1,692 Benjamin Franklin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) ## More Life quotes > [Of all the people who have affected my life and influenced the choices I've made, none has been more important than my father. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teddy-atlas/of-all-the-people-who-have-affected-my-life-and-influenced-the/) [Teddy Atlas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teddy-atlas/) > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Life is full of change. That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Life works most perfectly when a reciprocal love relationship is in place between man and God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-moore/life-works-most-perfectly-when-a-reciprocal-love-relationship-is-in/) [Beth Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-moore/) > [I value the experiences that come with life too much to sit by and not put my full effort into them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-miller/i-value-the-experiences-that-come-with-life-too-much-to-sit-by-and/) [Jim Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-miller/) > [Entertainment is a sacred pursuit when done well. When done well, it raises the quality of human life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-chabon/entertainment-is-a-sacred-pursuit-when-done-well-when-done-well-it/) [Michael Chabon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-chabon/) > [“There's more to life than you can see. Your sight is limited.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tammy-kling/there-s-more-to-life-than-you-can-see-your-sight-is-limited/) [Tammy Kling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tammy-kling/) > [“I've spent much of my life calling my intuition "something wrong with me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deanna-l-lawlis/i-ve-spent-much-of-my-life-calling-my-intuition-something-wrong-with/) [Deanna L. Lawlis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deanna-l-lawlis/) > [When you do things they're absolutely right at that time for you and it can always teach you something about yourself. You can take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kym-marsh/when-you-do-things-they-re-absolutely-right-at-that-time-for-you-and/) [Kym Marsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kym-marsh/) > [The only people who think the Internet is a calamity are people whose lives have been hurt by it; the only people who insist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-klosterman/the-only-people-who-think-the-internet-is-a-calamity-are-people-whose/) [Chuck Klosterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-klosterman/) > [The one thing that I keep learning over and over again is that I don't know nothing. I mean, that's my life lesson.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwayne-johnson/the-one-thing-that-i-keep-learning-over-and-over-again-is-that-i-don/) [Dwayne Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwayne-johnson/) > [“THIS tale of my sore-troubled life I write,    To thank the God of nature, who conveyed    My soul to me, and with such care…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/this-tale-of-my-sore-troubled-life-i-write-to-thank-the-god-of-nature/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The future is only an indifferent void no one cares about, but the past is filled with life, and its countenance is irritating, repellent,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/the-future-is-only-an-indifferent-void-no-one-cares-about-but-the/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [Two things revolutionised life: moving to the countryside and falling in love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-love/two-things-revolutionised-life-moving-to-the-countryside-and-falling/) [Nick Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-love/) > [But just remember, life without me would be even more unbearable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-rice/but-just-remember-life-without-me-would-be-even-more-unbearable/) [Anne Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-rice/) [Browse all 265,290 Life quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Life's Tragedy is that we get old to soon and wise too late.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Benjamin Franklin" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/life-s-tragedy-is-that-we-get-old-to-soon-and-wise-too-late/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Life" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/life-s-tragedy-is-that-we-get-old-to-soon-and-wise-too-late/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee1/benjamin-franklin-65_life_life-s-tragedy-is-that-we-get-old-to-soo_382318.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee1/benjamin-franklin-65_life_life-s-tragedy-is-that-we-get-old-to-soo_382318.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee1/benjamin-franklin-65_life_life-s-tragedy-is-that-we-get-old-to-soo_382318.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Life's Tragedy is that we get old to soon and wise too late.” — Benjamin Franklin", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Benjamin Franklin", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Life's Tragedy is that we get...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/life-s-tragedy-is-that-we-get-old-to-soon-and-wise-too-late/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/life-s-tragedy-is-that-we-get-old-to-soon-and-wise-too-late/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```