--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Past middle age, some friends suggested…" description: "\"Past middle age, some friends suggested that I should have my eyebags removed, the deepening creases on my face stretched. I often examined my face in ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/51e/f-sionil-jos-2399_age_past-middle-age-some-friends-suggested-t_3205629.png" --- # Past middle age, some friends suggested that I should have… ![“Past middle age, some friends suggested that I should have my eyebags removed, the deepening creases on my face stretched. I often examined my face in the mirror, imagining how I'd look if I followed the suggestion. I decided to retain the old mug. I was too familiar and comfortable with it. And…” quote by F. Sionil Jose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/51e/f-sionil-jos-2399_age_past-middle-age-some-friends-suggested-t_3205629.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/51e/f-sionil-jos-2399_age_past-middle-age-some-friends-suggested-t_3205629.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/51e/f-sionil-jos-2399_age_past-middle-age-some-friends-suggested-t_3205629.png) > “Past middle age, some friends suggested that I should have my eyebags removed, the deepening creases on my face stretched. I often examined my face in the mirror, imagining how I'd look if I followed the suggestion. I decided to retain the old mug. I was too familiar and comfortable with it. And the final hindrance: the cost.” [F. Sionil Jose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-sionil-jos/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator resists societal pressure to alter his appearance, valuing personal authenticity over cosmetic conformity and financial cost. **In simple terms:** He chooses to keep his natural look despite external suggestions. Key Takeaway Embrace self‑acceptance over superficial change. Themes identity self‑acceptance aging societal pressure authenticity Mood contemplative reflective Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - daily self‑reflection - social media influence - career networking - personal budgeting - healthcare decisions Key Concepts personal values body image economic considerations Questions to Reflect On - What aspects of your identity feel most authentic? - How do you balance personal comfort with external expectations? A Different Perspective Changing appearance may not resolve deeper insecurities and can lead to regret. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age/) [Comfortable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comfortable/) [Cost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cost/) [Creases Face](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creases-face-2564073/) [Decided](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decided/) [Deepening](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deepening/) [Examined](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/examined/) [Examined Face](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/examined-face-2973478/) [Eyebags Removed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eyebags-removed-5968493/) [Face](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/face/) [Face Mirror](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/face-mirror/) [Face Stretched](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/face-stretched-5968492/) [Familiar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/familiar/) [Final](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/final/) [Followed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/followed/) [Friends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friends/) [Friendship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friendship/) [Hindrance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hindrance/) [How](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/how/) [Imagining](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagining/) [Look](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/look/) [Middle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/middle/) [Middle age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/middle-age/) [Mirror](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mirror/) [Mug](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mug/) [Often](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/often/) [Old](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old/) [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) [Retain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/retain/) [Should](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should/) [Some](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/some/) [Stretched](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stretched/) [Suggested](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suggested/) [Suggestion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suggestion/) [Too](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/too/) ## Related quotes > [“There are pillow creases on her face, and she cringes whenever she moves her legs.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-destefano/there-are-pillow-creases-on-her-face-and-she-cringes-whenever-she/) [Lauren DeStefano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-destefano/) > [“Pauline examined her face for a few seconds more, her jaw set. And then she smiled a little, not kindly, raising her eyebrows and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-mcdermott/pauline-examined-her-face-for-a-few-seconds-more-her-jaw-set-and-then/) [Alice McDermott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-mcdermott/) > [“For the hundredth time, he examined his face in the bathroom mirror, patiently touched every scratch with the styptic pencil, and repowdered them. He…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-highsmith/for-the-hundredth-time-he-examined-his-face-in-the-bathroom-mirror/) [patricia highsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-highsmith/) > [“Your fortune is yet doubtful: when I examined your face, one trait contradicted another.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/your-fortune-is-yet-doubtful-when-i-examined-your-face-one-trait/) [Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [If you do not feel yourself growing in your work and your life broadening and deepening, if your task is not a perpetual tonic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orison-swett-marden/if-you-do-not-feel-yourself-growing-in-your-work-and-your-life/) [Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) > [He says a word, and I say a word—autumn is deepening.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kyoshi-takahama/he-says-a-word-and-i-say-a-word-autumn-is-deepening/) [Kyoshi Takahama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kyoshi-takahama/) > [Since entering the new century, China and Africa have seized the historic opportunities presented by the deepening of globalization, worked together and helped each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/li-keqiang/since-entering-the-new-century-china-and-africa-have-seized-the/) [Li Keqiang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/li-keqiang/) > [The future of our civilisation depends upon the widening spread and deepening hold of the scientific habit of mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-future-of-our-civilisation-depends-upon-the-widening-spread-and/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [A novel's whole pattern is rarely apparent at the outset of writing, or even at the end; that is when the writer finds out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-johnson/a-novel-s-whole-pattern-is-rarely-apparent-at-the-outset-of-writing/) [Diane Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-johnson/) > [“It’s a matter of growth, of deepening, and an ever growing surrender to the creative action of love and grace in our hearts”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-s-a-matter-of-growth-of-deepening-and-an-ever-growing-surrender-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [There are some wounds that one can heal only by deepening them and making them worse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/auguste-de-villiers-de-l-isle-adam/there-are-some-wounds-that-one-can-heal-only-by-deepening-them-and/) [Auguste de Villiers de l'Isle-Adam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/auguste-de-villiers-de-l-isle-adam/) > [Conversion is an enlarging, a deepening, and a broadening of the undergirding base of testimony. It is the result of revelation from God, accompanied…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-a-bednar/conversion-is-an-enlarging-a-deepening-and-a-broadening-of-the/) [David A. Bednar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-a-bednar/) > [When forms begin to crumble there is always an opportunity for great deepening. By deepening I mean the arising of who you are beyond…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/when-forms-begin-to-crumble-there-is-always-an-opportunity-for-great/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [The real romantics imagine greying and sagging and wrinkling as the deepening of something sacred.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-voskamp/the-real-romantics-imagine-greying-and-sagging-and-wrinkling-as-the/) [Ann Voskamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-voskamp/) > [I've reread 'The Secret Garden' every year as an adult. I have a battered copy on my bookshelf - it's really quite a mess!…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-potter/i-ve-reread-the-secret-garden-every-year-as-an-adult-i-have-a/) [Ellen Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-potter/) ## More by F. Sionil Jose > [“There is nothing like the land you belong to claiming you back. But everywhere the earth is the same. -Old David”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-sionil-jos/there-is-nothing-like-the-land-you-belong-to-claiming-you-back-but/) [F. Sionil José](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-sionil-jos/) > [“Indeed time has that ultimate capacity to render the passions of the past when recalled in the present as no more than grandiloquent gestures.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-sionil-jos/indeed-time-has-that-ultimate-capacity-to-render-the-passions-of-the/) [F. Sionil José](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-sionil-jos/) > [Class - or the economic status of individuals - is evident in all societies, some very well stratified by a rigid caste system determined…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-sionil-jos/class-or-the-economic-status-of-individuals-is-evident-in-all/) [F. Sionil Jose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-sionil-jos/) > [We write from life and call it literature, and literature lives because we are in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-sionil-jos/we-write-from-life-and-call-it-literature-and-literature-lives/) [F. Sionil José](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-sionil-jos/) > [I can imagine the writers of China, England and France, crippled and unsure of themselves when they feel that the ghosts of Confucius, Mencius,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-sionil-jos/i-can-imagine-the-writers-of-china-england-and-france-crippled-and/) [F. Sionil Jose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-sionil-jos/) > [Always remember: the alleviation of poverty is never a political or economic issue - it is moral.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-sionil-jos/always-remember-the-alleviation-of-poverty-is-never-a-political-or/) [F. Sionil Jose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-sionil-jos/) > [In the end, religion teaches us to value truth, justice and freedom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-sionil-jos/in-the-end-religion-teaches-us-to-value-truth-justice-and-freedom/) [F. Sionil Jose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-sionil-jos/) > [My reading of philosophy and history is desultory; I know so much and yet so little.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-sionil-jos/my-reading-of-philosophy-and-history-is-desultory-i-know-so-much-and/) [F. Sionil Jose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-sionil-jos/) > [Life is always sad. That's what makes suicide so tempting because life is all that we really have and haven't. Death makes us equals,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-sionil-jos/life-is-always-sad-that-s-what-makes-suicide-so-tempting-because-life/) [F. Sionil José](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-sionil-jos/) > [We recognize the distinctness of Asian art when we turn to its traditional forms, recognize it as Japanese, Chinese and Indian, even Balinese or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-sionil-jos/we-recognize-the-distinctness-of-asian-art-when-we-turn-to-its/) [F. Sionil Jose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-sionil-jos/) > [“There is nothing in the world which an artist cannot recreate into something poetic, ennobling. And why do we read these things? They are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-sionil-jos/there-is-nothing-in-the-world-which-an-artist-cannot-recreate-into/) [F. 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"Jameson, open the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-hawkins/i-need-a-bath-he-chuckled-you-smell-of-smoke-as-do-i-the-duke-turned/) [Karen Hawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-hawkins/) > [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/) > [It's easier to change a law than an age-old mentality. Deep down, many prejudices, many hostilities, many fears persist. 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