--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The easy path of aging is to become a…" description: "\"The easy path of aging is to become a thick-skinned, unbudging curmudgeon, a battle-ax. To grow soft and sweet is the harder way.\" — James Hillman" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b7d/james-hillman-2336_aging_the-easy-path-of-aging-is-to-become-a-th_2603363.png" --- # The easy path of aging is to become a thick-skinned… ![“The easy path of aging is to become a thick-skinned, unbudging curmudgeon, a battle-ax. To grow soft and sweet is the harder way.” quote by James Hillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b7d/james-hillman-2336_aging_the-easy-path-of-aging-is-to-become-a-th_2603363.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b7d/james-hillman-2336_aging_the-easy-path-of-aging-is-to-become-a-th_2603363.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b7d/james-hillman-2336_aging_the-easy-path-of-aging-is-to-become-a-th_2603363.png) > “The easy path of aging is to become a thick-skinned, unbudging curmudgeon, a battle-ax. To grow soft and sweet is the harder way.” [James Hillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hillman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Contrasts the easy, hardened aging of becoming a curmudgeon with the harder, softer path of kindness. **In simple terms:** Hard aging = curmudgeon; soft aging = kindness. Key Takeaway Choose empathy over bitterness. Themes aging empathy hardship softness Mood thoughtful inspirational Type philosophical personal When to use this quote - retirement - family interactions - self‑reflection - community service Key Concepts psychology personal development life choices Questions to Reflect On - How can you cultivate softness? - What benefits arise from kindness? A Different Perspective Softness may be seen as weakness. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Aging](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aging/) [Aging Skinned](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aging-skinned-1965028/) [Battle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/battle/) [Curmudgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/curmudgeon/) [Easy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/easy/) [Fun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fun/) [Grow Soft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grow-soft-1965029/) [Grows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grows/) [Harder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/harder/) [Harder Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/harder-way-1965031/) [Path](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/path/) [Path Aging](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/path-aging-1965030/) [Sweet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sweet/) [Thick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thick/) [Unbudging Curmudgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unbudging-curmudgeon-1965032/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) [Wisdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wisdom/) [Youth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/youth/) ## Related quotes > [“In this world, you have to fight to live. In this world, there's no easy way, there's the hard way, and the harder way.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darby-browne/in-this-world-you-have-to-fight-to-live-in-this-world-there-s-no-easy/) [Darby Browne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darby-browne/) > [“you’re such a curmudgeon that only the trees can put up with you,” Aigilaos shot back with a laugh. “And only because they can’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernhard-hennen/you-re-such-a-curmudgeon-that-only-the-trees-can-put-up-with-you/) [Bernhard Hennen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernhard-hennen/) > [My generation didn't face the kind of urgent, pressing issues that my parents did, who fought through a war and a Depression and know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-maher/my-generation-didn-t-face-the-kind-of-urgent-pressing-issues-that-my/) [Bill Maher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-maher/) > [I'm a bit of a curmudgeon. I don't like Valentine's Day and New Year's and Halloween.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-middleditch/i-m-a-bit-of-a-curmudgeon-i-don-t-like-valentine-s-day-and-new-year-s/) [Thomas Middleditch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-middleditch/) > [I love playing a curmudgeon. I just love playing a sour guy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zach-galifianakis/i-love-playing-a-curmudgeon-i-just-love-playing-a-sour-guy/) [Zach Galifianakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zach-galifianakis/) > [“I myself hope to live long enough to graduate from being a 'bad boy,' which I once was, to becoming a curmudgeon…”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/i-myself-hope-to-live-long-enough-to-graduate-from-being-a-bad-boy/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [ I really liked playing \[Wilson\]. I started to really - I mean, I think the thing about him is he's not really a curmudgeon,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woody-harrelson/i-really-liked-playing-wilson-i-started-to-really-i-mean-i-think-the/) [Woody Harrelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woody-harrelson/) > [Anybody who notices unpleasant facts in the have-a-nice-day world we live in is going to be designated a curmudgeon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-fussell/anybody-who-notices-unpleasant-facts-in-the-have-a-nice-day-world-we/) [Paul Fussell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-fussell/) > [Gu was a worrier, a neurotic curmudgeon. If he had a headache, it was a brain tumor; if it looked like rain, this year's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-brooks/gu-was-a-worrier-a-neurotic-curmudgeon-if-he-had-a-headache-it-was-a/) [Max Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-brooks/) > [I am no longer a curmudgeon. I am a curmudgeon emeritus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-gibbons/i-am-no-longer-a-curmudgeon-i-am-a-curmudgeon-emeritus/) [James Gibbons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-gibbons/) > [“I believe that I shall become a curmudgeon. Then at least I can complain, and it will be expected of me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mercedes-lackey/i-believe-that-i-shall-become-a-curmudgeon-then-at-least-i-can/) [Mercedes Lackey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mercedes-lackey/) > [It suddenly dawned on me one day, when I was reading in the paper about a woman wrestler, that being a curmudgeon was the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cleveland-amory/it-suddenly-dawned-on-me-one-day-when-i-was-reading-in-the-paper/) [Cleveland Amory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cleveland-amory/) > [But you know, I'm the negative-Nancy, curmudgeon, glass-half-empty-with-a-leak-in-it guy - which is basically the fuel that fires me up anyway. Without that, we wouldn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maynard-james-keenan/but-you-know-i-m-the-negative-nancy-curmudgeon-glass-half-empty-with/) [Maynard James Keenan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maynard-james-keenan/) > [I have been called a curmudgeon, which my obsolescent dictionary defines as a 'surly, ill-mannered, bad-tempered fellow'. Nowadays, curmudgeon is likely to refer to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/i-have-been-called-a-curmudgeon-which-my-obsolescent-dictionary/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [Sometimes you wake up in the morning and wish your parents had never met.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-fitch/sometimes-you-wake-up-in-the-morning-and-wish-your-parents-had-never/) [Bill Fitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-fitch/) ## More by James Hillman > [“Each life is formed by its unique image, an image that is the essence of that life and calls it to a destiny. As…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hillman/each-life-is-formed-by-its-unique-image-an-image-that-is-the-essence/) [James Hillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hillman/) > [Fear is a huge thing for older people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hillman/fear-is-a-huge-thing-for-older-people/) [James Hillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hillman/) > [It's a terrible cruelty of predatory capitalism: both parents now have to work. A family has to have two incomes in order to buy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hillman/it-s-a-terrible-cruelty-of-predatory-capitalism-both-parents-now-have/) [James Hillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hillman/) > [You know, people come to therapy really for a blessing. Not so much to fix what's broken, but to get what's broken blessed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hillman/you-know-people-come-to-therapy-really-for-a-blessing-not-so-much-to/) [James Hillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hillman/) > [Until the culture recognizes the legitimacy of growing down, each person in the culture struggles blindly to make sense of the darkness that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hillman/until-the-culture-recognizes-the-legitimacy-of-growing-down-each/) [James Hillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hillman/) > [ “The first way has been excellently presented by David Holt in his lecture on “Jung and Marx.” \[1\] There Holt shows that Jung imagined his… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hillman/the-first-way-has-been-excellently-presented-by-david-holt-in-his/) [James Hillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hillman/) > [I'm the result of upbringing, class, race, gender, social prejudices, and economics. So I'm a victim again. A result.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hillman/i-m-the-result-of-upbringing-class-race-gender-social-prejudices-and/) [James Hillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hillman/) > [There is more in a human life than our theories of it allow. Sooner or later something seems to call us onto a particular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hillman/there-is-more-in-a-human-life-than-our-theories-of-it-allow-sooner-or/) [James Hillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hillman/) > [Depression opens the door to beauty of some kind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hillman/depression-opens-the-door-to-beauty-of-some-kind/) [James Hillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hillman/) > [The idea of death robs inquiry of its passionate vitality and empties our efforts of their purpose by coming to one predestined conclusion, death.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hillman/the-idea-of-death-robs-inquiry-of-its-passionate-vitality-and-empties/) [James Hillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hillman/) > [I'm in favor of destruction, aggression, hating things. Not bearing things anymore. We think the breakdown comes because our life is in bad shape.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hillman/i-m-in-favor-of-destruction-aggression-hating-things-not-bearing/) [James Hillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hillman/) > [In the past, friendship was a huge thing. But it's hard for us to think of friendship as a calling, because it's not a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hillman/in-the-past-friendship-was-a-huge-thing-but-it-s-hard-for-us-to-think/) [James Hillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hillman/) > [Psychotherapy theory turns it all on you: you are the one who is wrong. If a kid is having trouble or is discouraged, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hillman/psychotherapy-theory-turns-it-all-on-you-you-are-the-one-who-is-wrong/) [James Hillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hillman/) > [The self divided is precisely where the self is authentically located. . . We all have identity crises because a single identity is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hillman/the-self-divided-is-precisely-where-the-self-is-authentically-located/) [James Hillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hillman/) > [Love alone is not enough. Without imagination, love stales into sentiment, duty, boredom. Relationships fail not because we have stopped loving but because we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hillman/love-alone-is-not-enough-without-imagination-love-stales-into/) [James Hillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hillman/) [Explore all 171 James Hillman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hillman/) ## 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": "The easy path of aging is to become a thick-skinned, unbudging curmudgeon, a battle-ax. 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