---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: As I got older, I thought about aging…"
description: "\"“As I got older, I thought about aging more, as we all do. I came to think of old age as a fallibility akin to illness, something that left a person we..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/794/lai-wen-173003_aging_as-i-got-older-i-thought-about-aging-mor_1374413.jpg"
---

#  As I got older, I thought about aging more, as we all do…

![“As I got older, I thought about aging more, as we all do. I came to think of old age as a fallibility akin to illness, something that left a person weak and in some way less than themselves. But I never used to think of my grandmother that way. Her hands with veins running across them like vines…” quote by Lai Wen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/794/lai-wen-173003_aging_as-i-got-older-i-thought-about-aging-mor_1374413.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/794/lai-wen-173003_aging_as-i-got-older-i-thought-about-aging-mor_1374413.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/794/lai-wen-173003_aging_as-i-got-older-i-thought-about-aging-mor_1374413.jpg)

> ““As I got older, I thought about aging more, as we all do. I came to think of old age as a fallibility akin to illness, something that left a person weak and in some way less than themselves. But I never used to think of my grandmother that way. Her hands with veins running across them like vines, the lines that criss-crossed her forehead, the full softness of her belly, the solidity of her arthritic shoulders, and those ancient, timeless eyes - to me these things spoke not of fallibility but of permanence. Of implacable strength, like an old gnarly tree that had been battered by wind and weather, but remained stubbornly set into the soil.””

Lai Wen

## About This Quote

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

Aging is often seen as decline but can be viewed as enduring strength and permanence.

**In simple terms:** Old age shows lasting strength like a sturdy tree.

Key Takeaway

Respect the wisdom and resilience that comes with age.

Themes

aging wisdom strength permanence

Mood

reflective respectful

Type

narrative philosophical

When to use this quote

- elder care
- family storytelling
- intergenerational mentorship

Key Concepts

gerontology philosophy of aging

Questions to Reflect On

- How does your perception of aging affect your elders?
- What strengths do you see in older individuals?

A Different Perspective

Focusing only on decline may overlook vitality.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Aging](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aging/) [Aging-quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aging-quotes/) [Grandmother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grandmother/) [Old age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-age/)

## Related quotes

> [I don't really have an anti-aging strategy. I accept it. It is what it is. I think about how I feel. So to me,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christy-turlington/i-don-t-really-have-an-anti-aging-strategy-i-accept-it-it-is-what-it/)

[Christy Turlington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christy-turlington/)

> [I have a role now that I think becomes me. I am a grandmother.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-tierney/i-have-a-role-now-that-i-think-becomes-me-i-am-a-grandmother/)

[Gene Tierney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-tierney/)

> [I don't think your grandmother would like it very much. I think a lot of people like this movie but probably not your grandmother.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amber-heard/i-don-t-think-your-grandmother-would-like-it-very-much-i-think-a-lot/)

[Amber Heard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amber-heard/)

> [I think her Grandmother Hall gave her a great sense of family love, and reassurance. Her grandmother did love her, like her father, unconditionally.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blanche-wiesen-cook/i-think-her-grandmother-hall-gave-her-a-great-sense-of-family-love/)

[Blanche Wiesen Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blanche-wiesen-cook/)

> [I've always been taught to care what other people think. My grandmother and mother taught me to project a positive image of myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lamar-odom/i-ve-always-been-taught-to-care-what-other-people-think-my/)

[Lamar Odom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lamar-odom/)

> [“I do not either want to, and them candies make me think a my grandmother, so it's real fuckin' weird that you turned 'em…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-seville/i-do-not-either-want-to-and-them-candies-make-me-think-a-my/)

[Jane Seville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-seville/)

> [I think my grandmother saw my potential first. When I was young, I told her, 'I think I should get a job.' She said,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-mayweather-jr/i-think-my-grandmother-saw-my-potential-first-when-i-was-young-i-told/)

[Floyd Mayweather, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-mayweather-jr/)

> [I don't think my grandmother would ever be convinced, but my family was convinced that I was convinced, and actually, they came around. My…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-nash/i-don-t-think-my-grandmother-would-ever-be-convinced-but-my-family/)

[Diane Nash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-nash/)

> [I think when I became a grandmother my life changed a lot, and I think I changed personally.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carine-roitfeld/i-think-when-i-became-a-grandmother-my-life-changed-a-lot-and-i-think/)

[Carine Roitfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carine-roitfeld/)

> [Even now / I am not old. / I never think of it, and yet / I am a grandmother to eleven grandchildren.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grandma-moses/even-now-i-am-not-old-i-never-think-of-it-and-yet-i-am-a-grandmother/)

[Grandma Moses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grandma-moses/)

> [I remember Tim Meadows gave me a radio. It was a radio he didn't want anymore. I gave it to my grandmother, and she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wyatt-cenac/i-remember-tim-meadows-gave-me-a-radio-it-was-a-radio-he-didn-t-want/)

[Wyatt Cenac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wyatt-cenac/)

> [My granddaddy died when I was about 6 years old, I think. And my grandmother took a job cooking in the school lunchroom. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willie-nelson/my-granddaddy-died-when-i-was-about-6-years-old-i-think-and-my/)

[Willie Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willie-nelson/)

> [“When your mind's too restless to think," Grandmother said, "move your hands.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-s-durbin/when-your-mind-s-too-restless-to-think-grandmother-said-move-your/)

[Frederic S. Durbin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-s-durbin/)

> [“As I look back, I think of my own grandmother, who made some of the biggest adjustments I ever saw a human being make.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-roosevelt/as-i-look-back-i-think-of-my-own-grandmother-who-made-some-of-the/)

[Eleanor Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-roosevelt/)

> [I think my grandmother was one of my biggest influences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/curtis-mayfield/i-think-my-grandmother-was-one-of-my-biggest-influences/)

[Curtis Mayfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/curtis-mayfield/)

## 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": "“As I got older, I thought about aging more, as we all do. I came to think of old age as a fallibility akin to illness, something that left a person weak and in some way less than themselves. But I never used to think of my grandmother that way. Her hands with veins running across them like vines, the lines that criss-crossed her forehead, the full softness of her belly, the solidity of her arthritic shoulders, and those ancient, timeless eyes - to me these things spoke not of fallibility but of permanence. Of implacable strength, like an old gnarly tree that had been battered by wind and weather, but remained stubbornly set into the soil.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Lai Wen"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lai-wen/as-i-got-older-i-thought-about-aging-more-as-we-all-do-i-came-to/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Aging"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lai-wen/as-i-got-older-i-thought-about-aging-more-as-we-all-do-i-came-to/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/794/lai-wen-173003_aging_as-i-got-older-i-thought-about-aging-mor_1374413.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/794/lai-wen-173003_aging_as-i-got-older-i-thought-about-aging-mor_1374413.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/794/lai-wen-173003_aging_as-i-got-older-i-thought-about-aging-mor_1374413.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“As I got older, I thought about aging more, as we all do. I came to think of old age as a fallibility akin…” — Lai Wen",
                "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": "Lai Wen",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lai-wen/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“As I got older, I thought...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lai-wen/as-i-got-older-i-thought-about-aging-more-as-we-all-do-i-came-to/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lai-wen/as-i-got-older-i-thought-about-aging-more-as-we-all-do-i-came-to/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
