--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I thought to spend my declining years…" description: "\"I thought to spend my declining years writing poetry and teaching - but that won't pay the Bergdorf's bill. I think I'll move to somewhere life is chea..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/83c/erica-jong-445_bills_i-thought-to-spend-my-declining-years-wr_60056.jpg" --- # I thought to spend my declining years writing poetry and… ![“I thought to spend my declining years writing poetry and teaching - but that won't pay the Bergdorf's bill. I think I'll move to somewhere life is cheaper.” quote by Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/83c/erica-jong-445_bills_i-thought-to-spend-my-declining-years-wr_60056.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/83c/erica-jong-445_bills_i-thought-to-spend-my-declining-years-wr_60056.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/83c/erica-jong-445_bills_i-thought-to-spend-my-declining-years-wr_60056.jpg) > “I thought to spend my declining years writing poetry and teaching - but that won't pay the Bergdorf's bill. I think I'll move to somewhere life is cheaper.” [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker laments the financial impracticality of artistic pursuits, realizing that sustaining a creative life may require relocating to a less costly environment. **In simple terms:** Artistic dreams clash with economic reality. Key Takeaway Creative work often demands financial compromise. Themes financial reality artistic ambition cost of living career compromise personal values Mood reflective wry pragmatic Type personal anecdote humorous observation When to use this quote - budgeting for artistic projects - deciding between passion and paycheck - considering relocation for affordability - balancing teaching and writing - managing personal finances Key Concepts sustainability geographic mobility economic pressure creative fulfillment Practical Applications - budget planning for creative professionals - relocation counseling for artists Questions to Reflect On - How can artists balance passion with financial stability? - What factors influence the decision to relocate for lower living costs? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Teaching](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teaching/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-poetry/) ## Related quotes > [Avarice is the vice of declining years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bancroft/avarice-is-the-vice-of-declining-years/) [George Bancroft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bancroft/) > [It is important to remember that these are your Declining Years, in which you can jolly well decline to do what you don't feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peg-bracken/it-is-important-to-remember-that-these-are-your-declining-years-in/) [Peg Bracken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peg-bracken/) > [Theres nothing wrong with making the best of ones declining years, but what does annoy me is the fatalism. Now that were seriously in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aubrey-de-grey/theres-nothing-wrong-with-making-the-best-of-ones-declining-years-but/) [Aubrey de Grey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aubrey-de-grey/) > [There's nothing wrong with making the best of one's declining years, but what does annoy me is the fatalism. Now that we're seriously in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aubrey-de-grey/there-s-nothing-wrong-with-making-the-best-of-one-s-declining-years/) [Aubrey de Grey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aubrey-de-grey/) > [“Gladstone .. spent his declining years trying to guess the answer to the Irish Question; unfortunately, whenever he was getting warm, the Irish secretly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-c-sellar-2/gladstone-spent-his-declining-years-trying-to-guess-the-answer-to-the/) [W.C. Sellar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-c-sellar-2/) > [He who would pass his declining years with honor and comfort, should, when young, consider that he may one day become old, and remember…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/he-who-would-pass-his-declining-years-with-honor-and-comfort-should/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [“Real wages have been declining for twenty years. People are working harder, they have to work longer hours, they have less security things are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/real-wages-have-been-declining-for-twenty-years-people-are-working/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Our youth and manhood are due to our country, but our declining years are due to ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pliny-the-elder/our-youth-and-manhood-are-due-to-our-country-but-our-declining-years/) [Pliny the Elder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pliny-the-elder/) > [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/) > [I guess the thing that I'm most proud of is that I kept on writing poetry. I understand that poetry is sort of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/i-guess-the-thing-that-i-m-most-proud-of-is-that-i-kept-on-writing/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [I don't remember ever deciding to become a performer. I just always was. I began performing by mimicking the performers on the new television…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-keyah-crystal-keymah/i-don-t-remember-ever-deciding-to-become-a-performer-i-just-always/) [T'Keyah Crystal Keymah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-keyah-crystal-keymah/) > [A declining institution often experiences survival of the unfittest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mccarthy/a-declining-institution-often-experiences-survival-of-the-unfittest/) [John McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mccarthy/) > [From the 1970s, there has been a significant change in the US economy, as planners, private and state, shifted it toward financialization and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/from-the-1970s-there-has-been-a-significant-change-in-the-us-economy/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [The American dream itself is declining.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/the-american-dream-itself-is-declining/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [Newspaper readership is declining like crazy. In fact, there's a good chance that nobody is reading my column.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-barry/newspaper-readership-is-declining-like-crazy-in-fact-there-s-a-good/) [Dave Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-barry/) ## More by Erica Jong > [“It took me years to learn to sit at my desk for more than two minutes at a time, to put up with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/it-took-me-years-to-learn-to-sit-at-my-desk-for-more-than-two-minutes/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [Will you ever? I dont think you will ever fully understand how you've touched my life and made me who I am.I don't think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/will-you-ever-i-dont-think-you-will-ever-fully-understand-how-you-ve/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [Give advice to your children while they're young enough to believe you know what you're talking about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/give-advice-to-your-children-while-they-re-young-enough-to-believe/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [Perhaps all artists were, in a sense, housewives: tenders of the earth household.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/perhaps-all-artists-were-in-a-sense-housewives-tenders-of-the-earth/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [I have lived my life according to this principle: If I'm afraid of it, then I must do it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/i-have-lived-my-life-according-to-this-principle-if-i-m-afraid-of-it/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [“Naomi Wolf dares to explode the myth of 'victim feminism' and pleads for allowing women to be as full of good and bad desires…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/naomi-wolf-dares-to-explode-the-myth-of-victim-feminism-and-pleads/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [I knew I was in England by the smell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/i-knew-i-was-in-england-by-the-smell/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [The Lives of Great Men are more oft' at variance with their profess'd Phillosophies than consistent with 'em.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/the-lives-of-great-men-are-more-oft-at-variance-with-their-profess-d/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [Women's books are kind of discriminated against. 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Poets write straight from the heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/critics-write-out-of-intellectual-exercise-not-poets-poets-write/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [Once I worshipped Keats for dying young. Now I think it's braver to die old.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/once-i-worshipped-keats-for-dying-young-now-i-think-it-s-braver-to/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [“women are the only group in history to be idealized into powerlessness”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/women-are-the-only-group-in-history-to-be-idealized-into-powerlessness/) [erica jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) [Explore all 542 Erica Jong quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) ## More Bills quotes > [If you’re a person struggling to eat and stay healthy you might have heard about Michael Jordan or Muhammad Ali, but you’ll never have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gates/if-you-re-a-person-struggling-to-eat-and-stay-healthy-you-might-have/) [Bill Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gates/) > [Some of the folks on both sides might be sincere, but it does seem as if it is only the opposition that cares about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-bovard/some-of-the-folks-on-both-sides-might-be-sincere-but-it-does-seem-as/) [James Bovard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-bovard/) > [ \[Sport officials\] blocked their support of us. 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