--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To grow old is to lose everything. Aging…" description: "\"To grow old is to lose everything. Aging, everybody knows it. Even when we are young, we glimpse it sometimes, and nod our heads when a grandfather die..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5dc/donald-hall-10508_aging_to-grow-old-is-to-lose-everything-aging_1194844.jpg" --- # To grow old is to lose everything. Aging, everybody knows… ![“To grow old is to lose everything. Aging, everybody knows it. Even when we are young, we glimpse it sometimes, and nod our heads when a grandfather dies. Then we row for years on the midsummer pond, ignorant and content.” quote by Donald Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5dc/donald-hall-10508_aging_to-grow-old-is-to-lose-everything-aging_1194844.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5dc/donald-hall-10508_aging_to-grow-old-is-to-lose-everything-aging_1194844.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5dc/donald-hall-10508_aging_to-grow-old-is-to-lose-everything-aging_1194844.jpg) > “To grow old is to lose everything. Aging, everybody knows it. Even when we are young, we glimpse it sometimes, and nod our heads when a grandfather dies. Then we row for years on the midsummer pond, ignorant and content.” [Donald Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-hall/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Aging inevitably strips away possessions and vitality, yet we often ignore its approach until loss confronts us. **In simple terms:** Aging takes everything, we stay ignorant. Key Takeaway Recognize and cherish life before loss. Themes mortality aging denial reflection Mood melancholic contemplative Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - care for aging parents - writing memoirs - health checkups - legacy planning Key Concepts impermanence existential awareness Questions to Reflect On - How do you confront aging in daily life? - What can you preserve now? A Different Perspective Denial can prevent meaningful preparation for inevitable decline. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Aging](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aging/) [Aging Everybody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aging-everybody-3560302/) [Dies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dies/) [Glimpse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/glimpse/) [Grandfather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grandfather/) [Grow Old](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grow-old/) [Grows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grows/) [Ignorant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorant/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Lose Aging](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lose-aging-3560301/) [Loses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loses/) [Midsummer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/midsummer/) [Pond Ignorant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pond-ignorant-3560303/) [Ponds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ponds/) [Sometimes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sometimes/) [Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years/) [Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/young/) [Youth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/youth/) ## Related quotes > [Well, I'd like to think I am, and I'd also like to think that we're all having a lot more fun getting older than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/well-i-d-like-to-think-i-am-and-i-d-also-like-to-think-that-we-re-all/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [But earthlier happy is the rose distill'd Than that which withering on the virgin thorn Grows, lives, and dies in single blessedness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/but-earthlier-happy-is-the-rose-distill-d-than-that-which-withering/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [We often love to think now of the life of men on beaches,--at least in midsummer, when the weather is serene; their sunny lives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/we-often-love-to-think-now-of-the-life-of-men-on-beaches-at-least-in/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [“He folded into my arms. I buried my face in his hair, and I listened to the sounds of midsummer on my island. Gorse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harper-fox/he-folded-into-my-arms-i-buried-my-face-in-his-hair-and-i-listened-to/) [Harper Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harper-fox/) > [“I awoke in the Midsummer not to call night, in the white and the walk of the morning: The moon, dwindled and thinned to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-manley-hopkins/i-awoke-in-the-midsummer-not-to-call-night-in-the-white-and-the-walk/) [Gerard Manley Hopkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerard-manley-hopkins/) > [Is not disease the rule of existence? There is not a lily pad floating on the river but has been riddled by insects. Almost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/is-not-disease-the-rule-of-existence-there-is-not-a-lily-pad-floating/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [“On a midsummer night, on a night that was eerie with stars, In a wood too deep for a single star to look through,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-teasdale/on-a-midsummer-night-on-a-night-that-was-eerie-with-stars-in-a-wood/) [Sara Teasdale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-teasdale/) > [Such tricks hath strong imagination, That, if it would but apprehend some joy, It comprehends some bringer of that joy; Or in the night,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/such-tricks-hath-strong-imagination-that-if-it-would-but-apprehend/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“there was yet, it then seemed to me, many a pleasant haven in store; and meads and glades so eternally vernal, that the grass…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/there-was-yet-it-then-seemed-to-me-many-a-pleasant-haven-in-store-and/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [“All's well that ends well.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/all-s-well-that-ends-well/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [To show our simple skill, That is the true beginning of our end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/to-show-our-simple-skill-that-is-the-true-beginning-of-our-end/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“And perhaps one day, in after years, someone would wander there and listen to the silence, as she had done, and catch the whisper…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/and-perhaps-one-day-in-after-years-someone-would-wander-there-and/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) > [Things base and vile, holding no quantity, love can transpose to form and dignity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/things-base-and-vile-holding-no-quantity-love-can-transpose-to-form/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Old age likes to dwell in the recollections of the past, and, mistaking, the speedy march of years, often is inclined to take the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lajos-kossuth/old-age-likes-to-dwell-in-the-recollections-of-the-past-and-mistaking/) [Lajos Kossuth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lajos-kossuth/) > [Never anything can be amiss, when simpleness and duty tender it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/never-anything-can-be-amiss-when-simpleness-and-duty-tender-it/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) ## More by Donald Hall > [“When a long-desired baby is born, what joy! More happiness than we find in sex, more than we take in success, revenge, or wealth.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-hall/when-a-long-desired-baby-is-born-what-joy-more-happiness-than-we-find/) [Donald Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-hall/) > [“The tree is burning on the autumn noon That builds each year the leaf and bark again. 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Delivery about three months.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-hall/can-build-plane-delivery-about-three-months/) [Donald Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-hall/) > [In football they measure forty-yard sprints. Nobody runs forty yards in basketball. Maybe you run the ninety-four feet of the court; then you stop,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-hall/in-football-they-measure-forty-yard-sprints-nobody-runs-forty-yards/) [Donald Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-hall/) > [I don't know where a poem comes from until after I've lived with it a long time. I've a notion that a poem comes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-hall/i-don-t-know-where-a-poem-comes-from-until-after-i-ve-lived-with-it-a/) [Donald Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-hall/) > [“I read poems for the pleasure of the mouth. My heart is in my mouth, and the sound of poetry is the way in."…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-hall/i-read-poems-for-the-pleasure-of-the-mouth-my-heart-is-in-my-mouth/) [Donald Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-hall/) [Explore all 65 Donald Hall quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-hall/) ## More Aging quotes > [While we've youth in our hearts, we can never grow old.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/while-we-ve-youth-in-our-hearts-we-can-never-grow-old/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/) > [In the past 40 years, the United States lost more than a million farmers and ranchers. Many of our farmers are aging. Today, only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-vilsack/in-the-past-40-years-the-united-states-lost-more-than-a-million/) [Tom Vilsack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-vilsack/) > [We'll never be as young as we are tonight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/we-ll-never-be-as-young-as-we-are-tonight/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [“Prayer of an Anonymous Abbess: Lord, thou knowest better than myself that I am growing older and will soon be old. Keep me from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/prayer-of-an-anonymous-abbess-lord-thou-knowest-better-than-myself/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The more I produce, the less I am certain. On the road along which the artist walks, night falls ever more densely. Finally, he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/the-more-i-produce-the-less-i-am-certain-on-the-road-along-which-the/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [So often do you see collegians enter life with high resolve and lofty purpose and then watch them shrink and shrink to sordid, selfish,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-e-b-du-bois/so-often-do-you-see-collegians-enter-life-with-high-resolve-and-lofty/) [W. E. B. Du Bois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-e-b-du-bois/) > [Aging is like enlightenment at gunpoint. Before I had cancer, I lived my life for my art. After I had cancer, I lived my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-halprin/aging-is-like-enlightenment-at-gunpoint-before-i-had-cancer-i-lived/) [Anna Halprin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-halprin/) > [All the dangers in our world are like a blessed wake up call. They tell us to live life NOW... not tomorrow, not when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-jeffers/all-the-dangers-in-our-world-are-like-a-blessed-wake-up-call-they/) [Susan Jeffers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-jeffers/) > [“You could see the signs of female aging as diseased, especially if you had a vested interest in making women too see them your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-wolf/you-could-see-the-signs-of-female-aging-as-diseased-especially-if-you/) [Naomi Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-wolf/) > [“It takes maturity to be able to laugh like a child again.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moffat-machingura/it-takes-maturity-to-be-able-to-laugh-like-a-child-again/) [Moffat Machingura](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moffat-machingura/) > [Seek ye counsel of the aged for their eyes have looked on the faces of the years and their ears have hardened to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khalil-gibran/seek-ye-counsel-of-the-aged-for-their-eyes-have-looked-on-the-faces/) [Khalil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khalil-gibran/) > [Growing old-it's not nice, but it's interesting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/august-strindberg/growing-old-it-s-not-nice-but-it-s-interesting/) [August Strindberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/august-strindberg/) > [Anything is possible in the life of a man if he lives long enough. Even maturity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howell-raines/anything-is-possible-in-the-life-of-a-man-if-he-lives-long-enough/) [Howell Raines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howell-raines/) > [I just want to be Patty McCormack. I want to spend every year aging the way she has.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-varney/i-just-want-to-be-patty-mccormack-i-want-to-spend-every-year-aging/) [Janet Varney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-varney/) > [Maturity is reached the day we don't need to be lied to about anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-yerby/maturity-is-reached-the-day-we-don-t-need-to-be-lied-to-about-anything/) [Frank Yerby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-yerby/) [Browse all 2,792 Aging quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aging/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "To grow old is to lose everything. Aging, everybody knows it. 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