---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To ripen into an elder, into a being that…"
description: "\"“To ripen into an elder, into a being that is more than simply elderly and more than only self, is a deliberate, thoughtful, sustained choice that aris..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/688/kathleen-dowling-singh-52658_aging_to-ripen-into-an-elder-into-a-being-that_726899.jpg"
---

#  To ripen into an elder, into a being that is more than…

![“To ripen into an elder, into a being that is more than simply elderly and more than only self, is a deliberate, thoughtful, sustained choice that arises from the intention to see things as they are. There” quote by Kathleen Dowling Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/688/kathleen-dowling-singh-52658_aging_to-ripen-into-an-elder-into-a-being-that_726899.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/688/kathleen-dowling-singh-52658_aging_to-ripen-into-an-elder-into-a-being-that_726899.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/688/kathleen-dowling-singh-52658_aging_to-ripen-into-an-elder-into-a-being-that_726899.jpg)

> ““To ripen into an elder, into a being that is more than simply elderly and more than only self, is a deliberate, thoughtful, sustained choice that arises from the intention to see things as they are. There””

[Kathleen Dowling Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-dowling-singh/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

The passage describes aging as a conscious, intentional process of growing beyond mere physical years, requiring deliberate self-awareness.

**In simple terms:** Aging is a thoughtful, intentional growth beyond just getting older.

Key Takeaway

Cultivate intentional self-awareness as you age.

Themes

aging mindfulness personal growth self-awareness intentionality wisdom

Mood

reflective inspirational thoughtful

Type

philosophical motivational educational

When to use this quote

- personal reflection
- mentorship
- mindful practices
- healthcare counseling
- community support

Key Concepts

lifelong learning psychological development spiritual maturity

Questions to Reflect On

- What practices help maintain intentional growth in later life?
- How does self-awareness affect aging experience?

A Different Perspective

Aging can be involuntary and constrained by health or societal factors.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Aging](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aging/) [Arises Intention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arises-intention-5701003/) [Choice Arises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/choice-arises-5315361/) [Deliberate Thoughtful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deliberate-thoughtful-5701004/) [Elderly Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elderly-self-5701005/) [Ripen Elder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ripen-elder-5701002/) [Youth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/youth/)

## Related quotes

> [“When the choice arises, people choose what’s easy. Doesn’t matter what mess it lands them in down the line. When they find a problem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patsy-hand/when-the-choice-arises-people-choose-what-s-easy-doesn-t-matter-what/)

[Patsy Hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patsy-hand/)

> [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/)

> [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/)

> [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/)

> [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/)

> [“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/)

> [“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/)

> [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/)

> [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/)

> [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/)

> [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/)

> [“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/)

> [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/)

> [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/)

> [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/)

## More by Kathleen Dowling Singh

> [Something of defeat, something of tragedy, can be a sacrament because it stops us and causes us to look deeper.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-dowling-singh/something-of-defeat-something-of-tragedy-can-be-a-sacrament-because/)

[Kathleen Dowling Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-dowling-singh/)

> [The life and death of a human being is so exquisitely calibrated as to automatically produce union with Spirit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-dowling-singh/the-life-and-death-of-a-human-being-is-so-exquisitely-calibrated-as/)

[Kathleen Dowling Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-dowling-singh/)

> [“Ego is like a street urchin, born of fear and wanting and left to its own devices…”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-dowling-singh/ego-is-like-a-street-urchin-born-of-fear-and-wanting-and-left-to-its/)

[Kathleen Dowling Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-dowling-singh/)

> [“Like the medieval cartographers of Europe, who felt one would fall into endless space at the edges of the oceans of their maps, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-dowling-singh/like-the-medieval-cartographers-of-europe-who-felt-one-would-fall/)

[Kathleen Dowling Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-dowling-singh/)

> [Anger is our reaction to the violation of our boundaries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-dowling-singh/anger-is-our-reaction-to-the-violation-of-our-boundaries/)

[Kathleen Dowling Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-dowling-singh/)

> [“Love one another." If we took those simple words to heart, we'd already be the Buddhas Jesus wanted us to be.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-dowling-singh/love-one-another-if-we-took-those-simple-words-to-heart-we-d-already/)

[Kathleen Dowling Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-dowling-singh/)

[Explore all 7 Kathleen Dowling Singh quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-dowling-singh/)

## 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": "“To ripen into an elder, into a being that is more than simply elderly and more than only self, is a deliberate, thoughtful, sustained choice that arises from the intention to see things as they are. There”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Kathleen Dowling Singh"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-dowling-singh/to-ripen-into-an-elder-into-a-being-that-is-more-than-simply-elderly/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Aging"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-dowling-singh/to-ripen-into-an-elder-into-a-being-that-is-more-than-simply-elderly/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/688/kathleen-dowling-singh-52658_aging_to-ripen-into-an-elder-into-a-being-that_726899.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/688/kathleen-dowling-singh-52658_aging_to-ripen-into-an-elder-into-a-being-that_726899.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/688/kathleen-dowling-singh-52658_aging_to-ripen-into-an-elder-into-a-being-that_726899.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“To ripen into an elder, into a being that is more than simply elderly and more than only self, is a…” — Kathleen Dowling Singh",
                "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": "Kathleen Dowling Singh",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-dowling-singh/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“To ripen into an elder, into...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-dowling-singh/to-ripen-into-an-elder-into-a-being-that-is-more-than-simply-elderly/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-dowling-singh/to-ripen-into-an-elder-into-a-being-that-is-more-than-simply-elderly/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
