--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I saw men whom thirty years had changed…" description: "\"I saw men whom thirty years had changed but slightly; but their wives had grown old. These were good women; it is very wearing to be good.\" — Mark Twain" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ee/mark-twain-22_age_i-saw-men-whom-thirty-years-had-changed_708277.png" --- # I saw men whom thirty years had changed but slightly; but… ![“I saw men whom thirty years had changed but slightly; but their wives had grown old. These were good women; it is very wearing to be good.” quote by Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ee/mark-twain-22_age_i-saw-men-whom-thirty-years-had-changed_708277.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ee/mark-twain-22_age_i-saw-men-whom-thirty-years-had-changed_708277.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ee/mark-twain-22_age_i-saw-men-whom-thirty-years-had-changed_708277.png) > “I saw men whom thirty years had changed but slightly; but their wives had grown old. These were good women; it is very wearing to be good.” [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Even as people age, maintaining goodness can become burdensome and exhausting. **In simple terms:** Being good can be tiring. Key Takeaway Seek balance between kindness and self‑care. Themes morality aging burden Mood reflective empathetic Type philosophical advice When to use this quote - family caregiving - elder care - personal relationships Key Concepts ethics human nature Questions to Reflect On - How can you sustain compassion without burnout? - What boundaries protect your well‑being? A Different Perspective Goodness shouldn't demand self‑sacrifice. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age/) [Be good](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/be-good/) [Changed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/changed/) [Good woman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-woman/) [Good women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-women/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Men Thirty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men-thirty-2238694/) [Saws](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/saws/) [Thirty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thirty/) [Thirty years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thirty-years/) [Wife](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wife/) [Wives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wives/) [Wives Grown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wives-grown-5592710/) [Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years/) [Years Changed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years-changed-443243/) ## Related quotes > [Greetings, O Great Gazoo. How nice of you to join us here on planet Earth again. (Cael) Thanks, Barney. How’s Betty and Bam Bam…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/greetings-o-great-gazoo-how-nice-of-you-to-join-us-here-on-planet/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [If I had a bucket list, I'd say raising my four girls to be strong, good women would be No. 1,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-damon/if-i-had-a-bucket-list-i-d-say-raising-my-four-girls-to-be-strong/) [Matt Damon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-damon/) > [Good women are rare too, none of them have come close](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drake/good-women-are-rare-too-none-of-them-have-come-close/) [Drake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drake/) > [There are more good women in the world than there are men worthy of them!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-way/there-are-more-good-women-in-the-world-than-there-are-men-worthy-of/) [Margaret Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-way/) > [Women are pretty good. Women usually fight about some stupid guy and then when they figure out it's just a stupid guy they make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garry-marshall/women-are-pretty-good-women-usually-fight-about-some-stupid-guy-and/) [Garry Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garry-marshall/) > [Good women tell all their lives, and by day and by hour and by minute, such things that angels can read.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bram-stoker/good-women-tell-all-their-lives-and-by-day-and-by-hour-and-by-minute/) [Bram Stoker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bram-stoker/) > [Until every good man is brave, we must expect to find many good women timid--too timid even to believe in the correctness of their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/until-every-good-man-is-brave-we-must-expect-to-find-many-good-women/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [The reason good women like me and flock to my pictures is that there is a little bit of vampire instinct in every woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theda-bara/the-reason-good-women-like-me-and-flock-to-my-pictures-is-that-there/) [Theda Bara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theda-bara/) > [You young men need to know that you can hardly achieve your highest potential without the influence of a good women, particularly you mother,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-m-nelson/you-young-men-need-to-know-that-you-can-hardly-achieve-your-highest/) [Russell M. Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-m-nelson/) > [There are few good women who do not tire of their role.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/there-are-few-good-women-who-do-not-tire-of-their-role/) [Francois de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/) > [A good woman deserves the best and refuses to settle. This is why so many good women are single but ready to love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-good-woman-deserves-the-best-and-refuses-to-settle-this-is-why-so/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [What men owe to the love and help of good women can never be told.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/calvin-coolidge/what-men-owe-to-the-love-and-help-of-good-women-can-never-be-told/) [Calvin Coolidge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/calvin-coolidge/) > [And yet women-good women--frightened me because they eventually wanted your soul, and what was left of mine, I wanted to keep.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/and-yet-women-good-women-frightened-me-because-they-eventually-wanted/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [I pick good women, but I haven't had any luck with my men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-arden/i-pick-good-women-but-i-haven-t-had-any-luck-with-my-men/) [Elizabeth Arden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-arden/) > [A yet women -good women- frightened me because they eventually wanted your soul, and what was left of mine, I wanted to keep. Basically…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/a-yet-women-good-women-frightened-me-because-they-eventually-wanted/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) ## More by Mark Twain > [Sing like no one's listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, and live like its heaven on earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/sing-like-no-one-s-listening-love-like-you-ve-never-been-hurt-dance/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [If you had made the acquiring of ignorance the study of your life, you could not have graduated with higher honor than you could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-you-had-made-the-acquiring-of-ignorance-the-study-of-your-life-you/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“The Creator sat upon the throne, thinking. Behind him stretched the illimitable continent of heaven, steeped in a glory of light and color; before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-creator-sat-upon-the-throne-thinking-behind-him-stretched-the/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [It's easy to quit smoking. I've done it hundreds of times.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/it-s-easy-to-quit-smoking-i-ve-done-it-hundreds-of-times/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“It is never wrong to do the right thing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/it-is-never-wrong-to-do-the-right-thing/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [A man accustomed to American food and American domestic cookery would not starve to death suddenly in Europe, but I think he would gradually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/a-man-accustomed-to-american-food-and-american-domestic-cookery-would/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [There is nothing training can't cannot do. Nothing is above its reach.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/there-is-nothing-training-can-t-cannot-do-nothing-is-above-its-reach/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [I never write Metropolis for seven cents because I can get the same price for city. I never write policeman because I can get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-never-write-metropolis-for-seven-cents-because-i-can-get-the-same/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [The higher animals get their teeth without pain or inconvenience. Man gets his through months and months of cruel torture; he will never get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-higher-animals-get-their-teeth-without-pain-or-inconvenience-man/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“As far as I can see, Italy, for fifteen hundred years, has turned all her energies, all her finances, and all her industry to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/as-far-as-i-can-see-italy-for-fifteen-hundred-years-has-turned-all/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Begin with the determination to succeed and the work is half done already.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/begin-with-the-determination-to-succeed-and-the-work-is-half-done/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Many public-school children seem to know only two dates—1492 and 4th of July; and as a rule they don't know what happened on either…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/many-public-school-children-seem-to-know-only-two-dates-1492-and-4th/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [If we could imagine such a man, that is a man who could invent the fly and send him out on his mission and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-we-could-imagine-such-a-man-that-is-a-man-who-could-invent-the-fly/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [You perceive, now, that these things are all impossible except in a dream. You perceive that they are pure and puerile insanities, the silly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/you-perceive-now-that-these-things-are-all-impossible-except-in-a/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Lord save us all from a hope tree that has lost the faculty of putting out blossoms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/lord-save-us-all-from-a-hope-tree-that-has-lost-the-faculty-of/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) [Explore all 3,277 Mark Twain quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) ## 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": "I saw men whom thirty years had changed but slightly; but their wives had grown old. These were good women; it is very wearing to be good.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mark Twain" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-saw-men-whom-thirty-years-had-changed-but-slightly-but-their-wives/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Age" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-saw-men-whom-thirty-years-had-changed-but-slightly-but-their-wives/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ee/mark-twain-22_age_i-saw-men-whom-thirty-years-had-changed_708277.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ee/mark-twain-22_age_i-saw-men-whom-thirty-years-had-changed_708277.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ee/mark-twain-22_age_i-saw-men-whom-thirty-years-had-changed_708277.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I saw men whom thirty years had changed but slightly; but their wives had grown old. These were good women…” — Mark Twain", "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": "Mark Twain", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I saw men whom thirty years...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-saw-men-whom-thirty-years-had-changed-but-slightly-but-their-wives/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-saw-men-whom-thirty-years-had-changed-but-slightly-but-their-wives/#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 } } ] } ```