--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: This is what forty looks like. We've been…" description: "\"This is what forty looks like. We've been lying so long, who would know?\" — Gloria Steinem" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc0/gloria-steinem-277_forty_this-is-what-forty-looks-like-we-ve-been_3085941.jpg" --- # This is what forty looks like. We've been lying so long… ![“This is what forty looks like. We've been lying so long, who would know?” quote by Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc0/gloria-steinem-277_forty_this-is-what-forty-looks-like-we-ve-been_3085941.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc0/gloria-steinem-277_forty_this-is-what-forty-looks-like-we-ve-been_3085941.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc0/gloria-steinem-277_forty_this-is-what-forty-looks-like-we-ve-been_3085941.jpg) > “This is what forty looks like. We've been lying so long, who would know?” [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote critiques how society masks the realities of aging, suggesting that truth is hidden behind prolonged deception. **In simple terms:** Aging truths are hidden by lies. Key Takeaway Challenge ageist narratives openly. Themes age truth social perception Mood reflective critical Type social activist When to use this quote - media coverage - personal storytelling - public policy Key Concepts ageism media representation personal identity Questions to Reflect On - How does media shape our view of aging? - What can individuals do to confront ageist myths? A Different Perspective Denial can perpetuate stereotypes; openness may cause discomfort. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Lying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lying/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) ## Related quotes > [“He’s lying. She’s lying. And before long, they’re lying. Together. In bed...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tawny-weber/he-s-lying-she-s-lying-and-before-long-they-re-lying-together-in-bed/) Tawny Weber > [Contrary to his infallibly "honest" image, Abe wasn't above lying so long as it served a noble purpose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-grahame-smith/contrary-to-his-infallibly-honest-image-abe-wasn-t-above-lying-so/) [Seth Grahame-Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-grahame-smith/) > [Don't you know that I've been lying from the start.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/skin/don-t-you-know-that-i-ve-been-lying-from-the-start/) [Skin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/skin/) > [I've been lying to you guys for a long time, saying I wasn't nervous and there's no pressure. There was a lot of pressure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-jeter/i-ve-been-lying-to-you-guys-for-a-long-time-saying-i-wasn-t-nervous/) [Derek Jeter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-jeter/) > [“But I stayed up thinking about how I've been lying to him, no less than I lie to myself in my pre-sleep ritual. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zack-love/but-i-stayed-up-thinking-about-how-i-ve-been-lying-to-him-no-less/) [Zack Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zack-love/) > [“I thought you would try to run when my men flashed my full title, so I positioned myself in the location where you were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/k-m-shea/i-thought-you-would-try-to-run-when-my-men-flashed-my-full-title-so-i/) [K.M. Shea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/k-m-shea/) > [Some people LIE to save their asses. Some people LIE to make themselves look better then you. Some people LIE to hide who they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/some-people-lie-to-save-their-asses-some-people-lie-to-make/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Who keeps on loving you when you've been lying, saying things that ain't what they seem? God does, but I don't. God will, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyle-lovett/who-keeps-on-loving-you-when-you-ve-been-lying-saying-things-that-ain/) [Lyle Lovett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyle-lovett/) > [“All this time, you've been lying to me!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julianna-baggott/all-this-time-you-ve-been-lying-to-me/) [Julianna Baggott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julianna-baggott/) > [“When the moment shifts, and you realize you don't actually want to be alone, that underneath the bravado is an ache that won’t quite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-m-richards/when-the-moment-shifts-and-you-realize-you-don-t-actually-want-to-be/) [J.M. Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-m-richards/) > [“You have been getting all worked up about not looking out for me. Me, I've been lying here getting pissed about falling down on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tess-gerritsen/you-have-been-getting-all-worked-up-about-not-looking-out-for-me-me-i/) [Tess Gerritsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tess-gerritsen/) > [ If \[Respulicans\] can't get rid of \[Obamacare\], they're going to have to tell their base, we've been lying to you for the last five… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/if-respulicans-can-t-get-rid-of-obamacare-they-re-going-to-have-to/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [I feel like you've been lying too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/skin/i-feel-like-you-ve-been-lying-too/) [Skin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/skin/) > [“My friend, I've been lying all my life. Even when I was telling the truth. I never spoke for the truth, but only for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoyevsky/my-friend-i-ve-been-lying-all-my-life-even-when-i-was-telling-the/) [Fyodor Dostoyevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoyevsky/) > [As long as you know you have enough to live on, take some risks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-taylor/as-long-as-you-know-you-have-enough-to-live-on-take-some-risks/) [Diana Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-taylor/) ## More by Gloria Steinem > [People waste more time waiting for someone to take charge of their lives than they do in any other pursuit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/people-waste-more-time-waiting-for-someone-to-take-charge-of-their/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Nothing will happen automatically. Change depends on what you and I do every day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/nothing-will-happen-automatically-change-depends-on-what-you-and-i-do/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Women are never again going to be mindless coffee-makers or mindless policy-makers in politics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/women-are-never-again-going-to-be-mindless-coffee-makers-or-mindless/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [The state of female artists is very good. But the very definition of art has been biased in that 'art' was what men did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/the-state-of-female-artists-is-very-good-but-the-very-definition-of/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [We will live to see the day that St. Patrick's Cathedral is a child-care center and the pope is no longer a disgrace to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/we-will-live-to-see-the-day-that-st-patrick-s-cathedral-is-a-child/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Just when you thought multi-nationals and crazed consumerism were too big to fight, along comes Naomi Klein with facts, spirit, and news of successful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/just-when-you-thought-multi-nationals-and-crazed-consumerism-were-too/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [I don't know Beyoncé, but I have the impression that she's sincere, that she really is a feminist and wanted to put the word…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/i-don-t-know-beyonc-but-i-have-the-impression-that-she-s-sincere-that/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [I started out life as a writer, and writers write in part because they don't want to talk.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/i-started-out-life-as-a-writer-and-writers-write-in-part-because-they/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Proust's tea cake has nothing on one hour in a college dorm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/proust-s-tea-cake-has-nothing-on-one-hour-in-a-college-dorm/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Sadomasochiasm - which we know very well doesn't exist in societies that don't have child abuse - is regarded some sort of natural sexual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/sadomasochiasm-which-we-know-very-well-doesn-t-exist-in-societies/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Behave like everything you do matters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/behave-like-everything-you-do-matters/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [“Part of traveling over years means coming back to the same place and knowing it for the first time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/part-of-traveling-over-years-means-coming-back-to-the-same-place-and/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [If you say, I'm for equal pay, that's a reform. But if you say. I'm a feminist, that's a transformation of society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/if-you-say-i-m-for-equal-pay-that-s-a-reform-but-if-you-say-i-m-a/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [I think that part of everybody's success is due to their looks, but it just works in different ways. If you're whatever society calls…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/i-think-that-part-of-everybody-s-success-is-due-to-their-looks-but-it/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Of course, we can change. We're very adaptable. But it takes a while.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/of-course-we-can-change-we-re-very-adaptable-but-it-takes-a-while/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) [Explore all 766 Gloria Steinem quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) ## More Forty quotes > [The Beat Generation, that was a vision that we had, John Clellon Holmes and I, and Allen Ginsberg in an even wilder way, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/the-beat-generation-that-was-a-vision-that-we-had-john-clellon-holmes/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [Whether one is twenty, forty, or sixty; whether one has succeeded, failed or just muddled along; whether yesterday was full of sun or storm,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leigh-mitchell-hodges/whether-one-is-twenty-forty-or-sixty-whether-one-has-succeeded-failed/) Leigh Mitchell Hodges > [In the olden days in England, you could be hung for stealing a sheep or a loaf of bread. However, if a sheep stole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-harding/in-the-olden-days-in-england-you-could-be-hung-for-stealing-a-sheep/) [Mike Harding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-harding/) > [It wasn't really touching to be young; it was touching not to be young, because you had less of life left. Touching to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-macaulay/it-wasn-t-really-touching-to-be-young-it-was-touching-not-to-be-young/) [Rose Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-macaulay/) > [This ball was so crowded that it took me - a trained professional journalist with vast experience in this area - forty five minutes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-barry/this-ball-was-so-crowded-that-it-took-me-a-trained-professional/) [Dave Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-barry/) > [I may be forty, but every morning when I get up, I feel like a twenty-year-old. Unfortunately, there's never one around.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-orben/i-may-be-forty-but-every-morning-when-i-get-up-i-feel-like-a-twenty/) [Robert Orben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-orben/) > [Being an actor is easy, just picture someone in a room and you outside waiting for your cue to go in. Elliot Gould's been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-burns/being-an-actor-is-easy-just-picture-someone-in-a-room-and-you-outside/) [George Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-burns/) > [Be wise with speed; a fool at forty is a fool indeed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-young/be-wise-with-speed-a-fool-at-forty-is-a-fool-indeed/) [Edward Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-young/) > [As it can be maintained that all the great advances have come from men under forty, so the history of the world shows that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-osler/as-it-can-be-maintained-that-all-the-great-advances-have-come-from/) [William Osler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-osler/) > [I am supremely humbled to receive the 40 Under Forty honor by Stony Brook University in the category of Civil Service and Activism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/momina-mustehsan/i-am-supremely-humbled-to-receive-the-40-under-forty-honor-by-stony/) [Momina Mustehsan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/momina-mustehsan/) > [In my forties, my optimism was boundless. I had really good health and tremendous success which allowed me to do anything I wanted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-cornwell/in-my-forties-my-optimism-was-boundless-i-had-really-good-health-and/) [Patricia Cornwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-cornwell/) > [Rincewind could scream for mercy in nineteen languages, and just scream in another forty-four.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/rincewind-could-scream-for-mercy-in-nineteen-languages-and-just/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [ I know that some of the folks in the press are uptight about this \[moving the press corps out of the West Wing \],… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reince-priebus/i-know-that-some-of-the-folks-in-the-press-are-uptight-about-this/) [Reince Priebus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reince-priebus/) > [It's crazy for somebody who's kind of empowered and wealthy like myself to say, "Oh, I don't need to be patronized by the state,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvine-welsh/it-s-crazy-for-somebody-who-s-kind-of-empowered-and-wealthy-like/) [Irvine Welsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvine-welsh/) > [I was given the gifts of the artist, and the trouble that goes with them: So I have that blessing, and there was never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-berliawsky-nevelson/i-was-given-the-gifts-of-the-artist-and-the-trouble-that-goes-with/) [Louise Berliawsky Nevelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-berliawsky-nevelson/) Browse all 1,077 Forty quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "This is what forty looks like. 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