--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I have lived to see that being seventeen…" description: "\"I have lived to see that being seventeen is no protection against becoming seventy, but to know this needs the experience of a lifetime, for no imagina..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f0/lord-dunsany-13558_becoming_i-have-lived-to-see-that-being-seventeen_463346.png" --- # I have lived to see that being seventeen is no protection… ![“I have lived to see that being seventeen is no protection against becoming seventy, but to know this needs the experience of a lifetime, for no imagination copes with it.” quote by Lord Dunsany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f0/lord-dunsany-13558_becoming_i-have-lived-to-see-that-being-seventeen_463346.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f0/lord-dunsany-13558_becoming_i-have-lived-to-see-that-being-seventeen_463346.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f0/lord-dunsany-13558_becoming_i-have-lived-to-see-that-being-seventeen_463346.png) > “I have lived to see that being seventeen is no protection against becoming seventy, but to know this needs the experience of a lifetime, for no imagination copes with it.” [Lord Dunsany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-dunsany/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Aging erodes youthful invulnerability; only a lifetime of experience can truly grasp the loss of imagination that comes with age. **In simple terms:** Aging removes youthful protection, needing life experience to understand. Key Takeaway Accept that age brings new challenges beyond youthful confidence. Themes aging experience vulnerability Mood reflective somber Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - career planning - healthcare - personal growth - intergenerational counseling Key Concepts existential psychology Questions to Reflect On - How does experience change your perception of risk? - What can youth learn from the wisdom of age? A Different Perspective Youthful optimism cannot fully prepare one for later life realities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) [Lifetime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lifetime/) [Protection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/protection/) ## Related quotes > [If you want to be a dear old lady at seventy you have to begin early, say about seventeen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maude-royden/if-you-want-to-be-a-dear-old-lady-at-seventy-you-have-to-begin-early/) [Maude Royden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maude-royden/) > [“Every person has one particular time in his life when he is more beautiful than he is ever going to be again. For some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-buechner/every-person-has-one-particular-time-in-his-life-when-he-is-more/) [Frederick Buechner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-buechner/) > [“for ever. It was the year of Our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five. Spiritual revelations were conceded to England at that favoured…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/for-ever-it-was-the-year-of-our-lord-one-thousand-seven-hundred-and/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [People under seventy and over seven are very unreliable if they are not cats.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonora-carrington/people-under-seventy-and-over-seven-are-very-unreliable-if-they-are/) [Leonora Carrington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonora-carrington/) > [“Seventy times seven" is a medicine for a healing community, not for a community with all the answers beforehand and all the appropriate punishments…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rohr/seventy-times-seven-is-a-medicine-for-a-healing-community-not-for-a/) [Richard Rohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rohr/) > [Don't live the same year seventy-five times and call it a life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-s/don-t-live-the-same-year-seventy-five-times-and-call-it-a-life/) Robin S > [It is not quite the same when we are seventy-two as when we are twenty-seven; still I am glad of what is left, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-stone/it-is-not-quite-the-same-when-we-are-seventy-two-as-when-we-are/) [Lucy Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-stone/) > [I died last night. Seventy years too young.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-thompson/i-died-last-night-seventy-years-too-young/) [Colin Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-thompson/) > [Jose DeLeon on his career has seventy-three wins and one-hundred and five RBIs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-kiner/jose-deleon-on-his-career-has-seventy-three-wins-and-one-hundred-and/) [Ralph Kiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-kiner/) > [Top football is tough nowadays, 60 games a year in club football, 10 international games. Seventy games means that every third or fourth day…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-ten-hag/top-football-is-tough-nowadays-60-games-a-year-in-club-football-10/) [Erik ten Hag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-ten-hag/) > [“because the driving kept him going stay under seventy; God, my heart racing; I hate the taste of coffee; so wired though; okay, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/because-the-driving-kept-him-going-stay-under-seventy-god-my-heart/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [Being seventy is not a sin. It's not a joy, either.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/golda-meir/being-seventy-is-not-a-sin-it-s-not-a-joy-either/) [Golda Meir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/golda-meir/) > [The hardest years in life are those between ten and seventy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-hayes/the-hardest-years-in-life-are-those-between-ten-and-seventy/) [Helen Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-hayes/) > [I sometimes lie awake at night and try to imagine what would be the best period in history to spend one's seventy-odd years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-dirda/i-sometimes-lie-awake-at-night-and-try-to-imagine-what-would-be-the/) [Michael Dirda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-dirda/) > [At seventy-three I learned a little about the real structure of animals, plants, birds, fishes and insects. Consequently when I am eighty I'll have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hokusai/at-seventy-three-i-learned-a-little-about-the-real-structure-of/) [Hokusai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hokusai/) ## More by Lord Dunsany > [“Humanity, let us say, is like people packed in an automobile which is traveling downhill without lights at terrific speed and driven by a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-dunsany/humanity-let-us-say-is-like-people-packed-in-an-automobile-which-is/) [Lord Dunsany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-dunsany/) > [It was the hour when gauze-winged insects are born that only live for a day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-dunsany/it-was-the-hour-when-gauze-winged-insects-are-born-that-only-live-for/) [Lord Dunsany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-dunsany/) > [If one who looked from a tower for a new star, watching for years the same part of the sky, suddenly saw it (quite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-dunsany/if-one-who-looked-from-a-tower-for-a-new-star-watching-for-years-the/) [Lord Dunsany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-dunsany/) > [“Then said Fate to Chance: "Let us play our old game again." 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Who shall see them again, or who wot of them? And who shall say what hath…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-dunsany/the-gardener-hath-gathered-up-this-autumn-s-leaves-who-shall-see-them/) [Lord Dunsany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-dunsany/) > [There is no beauty or romance or mystery in the sea except for the men that sail abroad upon it, and those who stay…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-dunsany/there-is-no-beauty-or-romance-or-mystery-in-the-sea-except-for-the/) [Lord Dunsany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-dunsany/) > [“So he sat and listened to pigeons talking, till it seemed to him they were trying to lull the restlessness of Earth, and thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-dunsany/so-he-sat-and-listened-to-pigeons-talking-till-it-seemed-to-him-they/) [Lord Dunsany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-dunsany/) [Explore all 50 Lord Dunsany quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-dunsany/) ## More Becoming quotes > [Focus on becoming more to achieve more while doing less](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-elrod/focus-on-becoming-more-to-achieve-more-while-doing-less/) [Hal Elrod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-elrod/) > [If the media is sending girls the message that their value lies in their bodies, this can only leave them feeling disempowered and distract…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-siebel-newsom/if-the-media-is-sending-girls-the-message-that-their-value-lies-in/) Jennifer Siebel Newsom > [But I already saw no great difference between the psyche and spirituality. 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It got to the point where I would try…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-moyet/becoming-famous-is-a-really-shocking-thing-especially-when-you-don-t/) [Alison Moyet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-moyet/) > [When other boys dreamt of going to the moon or becoming doctors, I wanted to be a designer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivier-theyskens/when-other-boys-dreamt-of-going-to-the-moon-or-becoming-doctors-i/) [Olivier Theyskens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivier-theyskens/) > [One is not born a genius, one becomes a genius; and the feminine situation has up to the present rendered this becoming practically impossible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/one-is-not-born-a-genius-one-becomes-a-genius-and-the-feminine/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [The dream of coming back is becoming a reality. A lot of the uncertainty about the future has been cleared up. 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I'm learning how to stand onstage for two hours and play…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mayer/i-m-getting-to-a-point-where-everything-is-becoming-streamlined-in-my/) [John Mayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mayer/) > [The term 'Pre-Raphaelite' is in danger of becoming one of the most misused tags in art history](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-wood/the-term-pre-raphaelite-is-in-danger-of-becoming-one-of-the-most/) Christopher Wood > [We are somehow the children of the planet, we are somehow its finest hour; we bind time, we bind the past, we anticipate the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/we-are-somehow-the-children-of-the-planet-we-are-somehow-its-finest/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [The reason so many of us are obsessed with becoming stars is because we are not yet starring in our own lives. 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