--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Old age takes from the man of intellect…" description: "\"Old age takes from the man of intellect no qualities save those that are useless to wisdom.\" — Joseph Joubert" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f57/joseph-joubert-1017_age_old-age-takes-from-the-man-of-intellect_3208753.png" --- # Old age takes from the man of intellect no qualities save… ![“Old age takes from the man of intellect no qualities save those that are useless to wisdom.” quote by Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f57/joseph-joubert-1017_age_old-age-takes-from-the-man-of-intellect_3208753.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f57/joseph-joubert-1017_age_old-age-takes-from-the-man-of-intellect_3208753.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f57/joseph-joubert-1017_age_old-age-takes-from-the-man-of-intellect_3208753.png) > “Old age takes from the man of intellect no qualities save those that are useless to wisdom.” [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Aging removes all but the useless traits, leaving only true wisdom. **In simple terms:** Old age strips away non‑essential qualities, leaving wisdom. Key Takeaway Embrace simplicity and focus on essential knowledge. Themes wisdom aging essence Mood reflective calm Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal development - education - elderly counseling - lifelong learning Key Concepts philosophy human nature Questions to Reflect On - What essential qualities have you retained with age? - How can you apply wisdom despite physical limits? A Different Perspective Even with wisdom, practical application may still be hindered by physical decline. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age/) [Intellect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intellect/) [Intelligence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intelligence/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Old age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-age/) [Quality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quality/) [Wisdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wisdom/) ## Related quotes > [Old age deprives the intelligent man only of qualities useless to wisdom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/old-age-deprives-the-intelligent-man-only-of-qualities-useless-to/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [“As manuals for contemplative understanding, the Bible and the Koran are worse than useless. Whatever wisdom can be found in their pages is never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/as-manuals-for-contemplative-understanding-the-bible-and-the-koran/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [The Life of the intellect is the best and pleasantest for man, because the intellect more than anything else is the man. Thus it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-life-of-the-intellect-is-the-best-and-pleasantest-for-man-because/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [No matter how strong our resolve, we eventually find ourselves enslaved by the compulsive preference for one particular woman. You’ve been caught, my friend.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-kleypas/no-matter-how-strong-our-resolve-we-eventually-find-ourselves/) [Lisa Kleypas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-kleypas/) > [A man of intellect is like an artist who gives a concert without any help from anyone else, playing on a single instrument--a piano,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/a-man-of-intellect-is-like-an-artist-who-gives-a-concert-without-any/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [God gifted man with intellect so that he might know his Maker. Man abused it so that he might forget his Maker.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/god-gifted-man-with-intellect-so-that-he-might-know-his-maker-man/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [A man with intellect is unparalleled, but a man with a heart is divine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-man-with-intellect-is-unparalleled-but-a-man-with-a-heart-is-divine/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We may insist as often as we like that man's intellect is powerless in comparison to his instinctual life, and we may be right…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/we-may-insist-as-often-as-we-like-that-man-s-intellect-is-powerless/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [It is only the man whose intellect is clouded by his sexual impulse that could give the name of the fair sex to that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/it-is-only-the-man-whose-intellect-is-clouded-by-his-sexual-impulse/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [I cannot understand why the poets of our day wax indignant at the vulgarity of their age and complain of having come into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriele-d-annunzio/i-cannot-understand-why-the-poets-of-our-day-wax-indignant-at-the/) [Gabriele d'Annunzio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriele-d-annunzio/) > [“There is ... a contemporary trend to make a sort of 'common intellect' out of society and forbid man his own independent access to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-t-clark/there-is-a-contemporary-trend-to-make-a-sort-of-common-intellect-out/) Mary T. Clark > [...When a man first awakens, it sometimes takes several moments before he starts thinking clearly." "And here I thought it took several years, perhaps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-marie-moning/when-a-man-first-awakens-it-sometimes-takes-several-moments-before-he/) [Karen Marie Moning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-marie-moning/) > [Man will have to go beyond intellect in the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/man-will-have-to-go-beyond-intellect-in-the-end/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [“Don’t you know that our belief in man’s intellect is the greatest fallacy of them all?” “What?” I exclaimed. “Ask any journalist, schoolmaster, politician…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/don-t-you-know-that-our-belief-in-man-s-intellect-is-the-greatest/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [All have not the same capacity. I would allow a man of intellect to earn more, I would not cramp his talent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/all-have-not-the-same-capacity-i-would-allow-a-man-of-intellect-to/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) ## More by Joseph Joubert > [Living requires but little life; doing requires much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/living-requires-but-little-life-doing-requires-much/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [A false mind is false in everything, just as a cross eye always looks askant. But one may err once, nay, a hundred times,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/a-false-mind-is-false-in-everything-just-as-a-cross-eye-always-looks/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [Criticism even should not be without its charms. When quite devoid of all amenities, it is no longer literary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/criticism-even-should-not-be-without-its-charms-when-quite-devoid-of/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [What a man knows only through feeling can be explained only through enthusiasm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/what-a-man-knows-only-through-feeling-can-be-explained-only-through/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [Imagination is the eye of the soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/imagination-is-the-eye-of-the-soul/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [One man finds in religion his literature and his science, another finds in it his joy and his duty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/one-man-finds-in-religion-his-literature-and-his-science-another/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [Which is more misshapen,--religion without virtue, or virtue without religion?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/which-is-more-misshapen-religion-without-virtue-or-virtue-without/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [How many people become abstract as a way of appearing profound.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/how-many-people-become-abstract-as-a-way-of-appearing-profound/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [How many books there are whose reputation is made that would not obtain it were it now to make?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/how-many-books-there-are-whose-reputation-is-made-that-would-not/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [God has commanded Time to console the unhappy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/god-has-commanded-time-to-console-the-unhappy/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [We shall always keep a spare corner in our heads to give passing hospitality to our friends' opinion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/we-shall-always-keep-a-spare-corner-in-our-heads-to-give-passing/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [Agriculture engenders good sense, and good sense of an excellent kind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/agriculture-engenders-good-sense-and-good-sense-of-an-excellent-kind/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [We may convince others by our arguements, but we can only persuade them by their own](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/we-may-convince-others-by-our-arguements-but-we-can-only-persuade/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [To teach is to learn twice. About all some parents accomplish in life is to send a child to Harvard. The purpose of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/to-teach-is-to-learn-twice-about-all-some-parents-accomplish-in-life/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [Grace is in garments, in movements, in manners; beauty in the nude, and in forms. This is true of bodies; but when we speak…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/grace-is-in-garments-in-movements-in-manners-beauty-in-the-nude-and/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) [Explore all 306 Joseph Joubert quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) ## More Age quotes > [I need a bath." He chuckled. "You smell of smoke, as do I." The duke turned, leaning heavily on his cane. "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. But if we take a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dacia-maraini/it-s-easier-to-change-a-law-than-an-age-old-mentality-deep-down-many/) [Dacia Maraini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dacia-maraini/) > [When I first started writing, when I was 15, I would go to work with people and they would tell me my lyrics were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sabrina-claudio/when-i-first-started-writing-when-i-was-15-i-would-go-to-work-with/) [Sabrina Claudio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sabrina-claudio/) > [Real people speak in my books about the main events of the age, such as the war, the Chernobyl disaster, and the downfall of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/svetlana-alexievich/real-people-speak-in-my-books-about-the-main-events-of-the-age-such/) [Svetlana Alexievich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/svetlana-alexievich/) > [As a child I was very involved with sports and I knew at age 9 that I wanted to be an Olympic champion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marion-jones/as-a-child-i-was-very-involved-with-sports-and-i-knew-at-age-9-that-i/) [Marion Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marion-jones/) > [If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-there-is-any-period-one-would-desire-to-be-born-in-is-it-not-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [By making conscious choices in our behavior and where we focus our attention, we can transform our experience of our body, decrease our biological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/by-making-conscious-choices-in-our-behavior-and-where-we-focus-our/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [I am just enjoying the dream of being Milan coach at the age of 40.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gennaro-gattuso/i-am-just-enjoying-the-dream-of-being-milan-coach-at-the-age-of-40/) [Gennaro Gattuso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gennaro-gattuso/) > [Age is an accumulation of life and loss. Adulthood is a series of lines crossed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-goodman/age-is-an-accumulation-of-life-and-loss-adulthood-is-a-series-of/) [Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/) > [I calculated that if I live up to the age of 80, then I end up using 450 toothbrushes in my life. All that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dia-mirza/i-calculated-that-if-i-live-up-to-the-age-of-80-then-i-end-up-using/) [Dia Mirza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dia-mirza/) > [Why is wisdom so fair? Why is beauty so wise? Because all else is temporary, while beauty and wisdom are the only real and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-nazarian/why-is-wisdom-so-fair-why-is-beauty-so-wise-because-all-else-is/) [Vera Nazarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-nazarian/) > [It was only when I went to acting school that I was like, "You are absolutely such a pigheaded freak show that you thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giles-matthey/it-was-only-when-i-went-to-acting-school-that-i-was-like-you-are/) [Giles Matthey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giles-matthey/) > [That old man dies prematurely whose memory records no benefits conferred. They only have lived long who have lived virtuously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-brinsley-sheridan/that-old-man-dies-prematurely-whose-memory-records-no-benefits/) [Richard Brinsley Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-brinsley-sheridan/) > [We have started to make music at age seven. That was a hard work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-kaulitz/we-have-started-to-make-music-at-age-seven-that-was-a-hard-work/) [Bill Kaulitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-kaulitz/) [Browse all 18,948 Age quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Old age takes from the man of intellect no qualities save those that are useless to wisdom.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Joseph Joubert" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/old-age-takes-from-the-man-of-intellect-no-qualities-save-those-that/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Age" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/old-age-takes-from-the-man-of-intellect-no-qualities-save-those-that/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f57/joseph-joubert-1017_age_old-age-takes-from-the-man-of-intellect_3208753.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f57/joseph-joubert-1017_age_old-age-takes-from-the-man-of-intellect_3208753.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f57/joseph-joubert-1017_age_old-age-takes-from-the-man-of-intellect_3208753.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Old age takes from the man of intellect no qualities save those that are useless to wisdom.” — Joseph Joubert", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Joseph Joubert", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Old age takes from the man...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/old-age-takes-from-the-man-of-intellect-no-qualities-save-those-that/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/old-age-takes-from-the-man-of-intellect-no-qualities-save-those-that/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```