--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If we grow old wisely, we lay aside the…" description: "\"If we grow old wisely, we lay aside the senseless forms and meaningless conventions of society and go back to a more primitive mode of social intercour..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd3/mary-heaton-vorse-30652_aging_if-we-grow-old-wisely-we-lay-aside-the-s_2667416.jpg" --- # If we grow old wisely, we lay aside the senseless forms… ![“If we grow old wisely, we lay aside the senseless forms and meaningless conventions of society and go back to a more primitive mode of social intercourse, picking our friends the way children do, - because we like them, - spending time enough with them to get some real good out of them.” quote by Mary Heaton Vorse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd3/mary-heaton-vorse-30652_aging_if-we-grow-old-wisely-we-lay-aside-the-s_2667416.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd3/mary-heaton-vorse-30652_aging_if-we-grow-old-wisely-we-lay-aside-the-s_2667416.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd3/mary-heaton-vorse-30652_aging_if-we-grow-old-wisely-we-lay-aside-the-s_2667416.jpg) > “If we grow old wisely, we lay aside the senseless forms and meaningless conventions of society and go back to a more primitive mode of social intercourse, picking our friends the way children do, - because we like them, - spending time enough with them to get some real good out of them.” [Mary Heaton Vorse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-heaton-vorse/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Aging wisely means shedding superficial norms and forming genuine friendships like children do. **In simple terms:** Age wisely by valuing true friendships. Key Takeaway Prioritize authentic connections over social conventions. Themes friendship aging authenticity simplicity social norms Mood contemplative warm Type social philosophical When to use this quote - retirement communities - family gatherings - friendship circles Key Concepts sociology psychology humanism Questions to Reflect On - What social conventions no longer serve you? - How can you nurture child‑like friendships? A Different Perspective May idealize childhood simplicity without acknowledging adult responsibilities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Aging](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aging/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Conventions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conventions/) [Enough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enough/) [Form](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/form/) [Friend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friend/) [Friends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friends/) [Friendship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friendship/) [Grow Old](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grow-old/) [Grows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grows/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Intercourse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intercourse/) [Lays](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lays/) [Meaningless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meaningless/) [Old Wisely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-wisely-2476839/) [Picking Friends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/picking-friends-367324/) [Primitive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/primitive/) [Real](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real/) [Social](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social/) [Social Intercourse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social-intercourse-680386/) [Spending](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spending/) [Spending time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spending-time/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) [Wisely Lay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wisely-lay-2476840/) ## Related quotes > [What men call friendship is only social intercourse, an exchange of favours and good offices; it comes down to a commercial dealing in which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-maurois/what-men-call-friendship-is-only-social-intercourse-an-exchange-of/) [Andre Maurois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-maurois/) > [Nobody can write the life of a man but those who have eat and drunk and lived in social intercourse with him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/nobody-can-write-the-life-of-a-man-but-those-who-have-eat-and-drunk/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [In man, social intercourse has centred mainly on the process of absorbing fluid into the organism, but in the domestic dog and to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olaf-stapledon/in-man-social-intercourse-has-centred-mainly-on-the-process-of/) [Olaf Stapledon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olaf-stapledon/) > [Fashion is only the attempt to realize art in living forms and social intercourse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-bacon/fashion-is-only-the-attempt-to-realize-art-in-living-forms-and-social/) [Francis Bacon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-bacon/) > [Social intercourse, even friendship among most people, is a merely a business arrangement that lasts only so long as there is need.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-de-souvre-marquise-de-sable/social-intercourse-even-friendship-among-most-people-is-a-merely-a/) [Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-de-souvre-marquise-de-sable/) > [The acquisition of an accurate and easy conversation, of some skill in music, and in pure and healthful diversions, are of great benefit in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-p-bradley/the-acquisition-of-an-accurate-and-easy-conversation-of-some-skill-in/) [Joseph P. Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-p-bradley/) > [You can tell if someone is about social intercourse or just about browbeating somebody with their opinion. It's no fun arguing with a closed-minded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-schneider/you-can-tell-if-someone-is-about-social-intercourse-or-just-about/) [John Schneider](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-schneider/) > [Beer has long been the prime lubricant in our social intercourse and the sacred throat-anointing fluid that accompanies the ritual of mateship. To sink…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rennie-ellis/beer-has-long-been-the-prime-lubricant-in-our-social-intercourse-and/) [Rennie Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rennie-ellis/) > [Social intercourse -- a very limited thing in a half civilized country, becomes in our centers of civilization a great power. . .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-blackwell/social-intercourse-a-very-limited-thing-in-a-half-civilized-country/) [Emily Blackwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-blackwell/) > [Kindness is the velvet of social intercourse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-leonard-gordon/kindness-is-the-velvet-of-social-intercourse/) [James Leonard Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-leonard-gordon/) > [From social intercourse are derived some of the highest enjoyments of life; where there is a free interchange of sentiments the mind acquires new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/from-social-intercourse-are-derived-some-of-the-highest-enjoyments-of/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [I'm good at picking friends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hoda-kotb/i-m-good-at-picking-friends/) [Hoda Kotb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hoda-kotb/) > [Beware of the word 'friend'. It can often be used by men or the women that love them to excuse the most unfriendly behavior.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-behrendt/beware-of-the-word-friend-it-can-often-be-used-by-men-or-the-women/) [Greg Behrendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-behrendt/) > [Personally, when I'm picking friends, I like the ones who don't make me cry myself to sleep.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-behrendt/personally-when-i-m-picking-friends-i-like-the-ones-who-don-t-make-me/) [Greg Behrendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-behrendt/) > [The routines of social intercourse in established settings allow us to deal with anticipated others without special attention or thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erving-goffman/the-routines-of-social-intercourse-in-established-settings-allow-us/) [Erving Goffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erving-goffman/) ## More by Mary Heaton Vorse > [I had never before seen my friends come in beaten, their heads laid open, their noses broken, or seen them jailed for peaceably demonstrating…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-heaton-vorse/i-had-never-before-seen-my-friends-come-in-beaten-their-heads-laid/) [Mary Heaton Vorse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-heaton-vorse/) > [I am trying for nothing so hard in my own personal life as how not to be respectable when married.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-heaton-vorse/i-am-trying-for-nothing-so-hard-in-my-own-personal-life-as-how-not-to/) [Mary Heaton Vorse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-heaton-vorse/) > [English audiences of working people are like an instrument that responds to the player. Thought ripples up and down them, and if in some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-heaton-vorse/english-audiences-of-working-people-are-like-an-instrument-that/) [Mary Heaton Vorse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-heaton-vorse/) > [We all marry strangers. All men are strangers to all women.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-heaton-vorse/we-all-marry-strangers-all-men-are-strangers-to-all-women/) [Mary Heaton Vorse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-heaton-vorse/) > [Gathering news in Russia was like mining coal with a hat pin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-heaton-vorse/gathering-news-in-russia-was-like-mining-coal-with-a-hat-pin/) [Mary Heaton Vorse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-heaton-vorse/) > [In the last analysis civilization itself is measured by the way in which children will live and what chance they will have in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-heaton-vorse/in-the-last-analysis-civilization-itself-is-measured-by-the-way-in/) [Mary Heaton Vorse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-heaton-vorse/) > [When a new idea assaults the power of established authority, authority always screams out that morality has been affronted. It makes no difference if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-heaton-vorse/when-a-new-idea-assaults-the-power-of-established-authority-authority/) [Mary Heaton Vorse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-heaton-vorse/) > [All the laws made for the betterment of workers' lives have their origin with the workers. Hours are shortened,wages go up, conditions are better----only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-heaton-vorse/all-the-laws-made-for-the-betterment-of-workers-lives-have-their/) [Mary Heaton Vorse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-heaton-vorse/) > [We can always find noble reasons for what we want to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-heaton-vorse/we-can-always-find-noble-reasons-for-what-we-want-to-do/) [Mary Heaton Vorse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-heaton-vorse/) > [... no one knows anything about a strike until he has seen it break down into its component parts of human beings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-heaton-vorse/no-one-knows-anything-about-a-strike-until-he-has-seen-it-break-down/) [Mary Heaton Vorse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-heaton-vorse/) > [The art of writing is the art of applying the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-heaton-vorse/the-art-of-writing-is-the-art-of-applying-the-seat-of-the-pants-to/) [Mary Heaton Vorse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-heaton-vorse/) > [any peace movement must have behind it a higher passion than the desire for war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-heaton-vorse/any-peace-movement-must-have-behind-it-a-higher-passion-than-the/) [Mary Heaton Vorse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-heaton-vorse/) > [It was the spirit of the workers that was dangerous. The tired, gray crowds ebbing and flowing perpetually into the mills had waked and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-heaton-vorse/it-was-the-spirit-of-the-workers-that-was-dangerous-the-tired-gray/) [Mary Heaton Vorse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-heaton-vorse/) > [... peace is a militant thing ... any peace movement must have behind it a higher passion than the desire for war. No one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-heaton-vorse/peace-is-a-militant-thing-any-peace-movement-must-have-behind-it-a/) [Mary Heaton Vorse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-heaton-vorse/) > [ What if all the forces of society were bent upon developing \[poor\] children? What if society's business were making people insteadof profits? How much… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-heaton-vorse/what-if-all-the-forces-of-society-were-bent-upon-developing-poor/) [Mary Heaton Vorse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-heaton-vorse/) [Explore all 17 Mary Heaton Vorse quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-heaton-vorse/) ## 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": "If we grow old wisely, we lay aside the senseless forms and meaningless conventions of society and go back to a more primitive mode of social intercourse, picking our friends the way children do, - because we like them, - spending time enough with them to get some real good out of them.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mary Heaton Vorse" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-heaton-vorse/if-we-grow-old-wisely-we-lay-aside-the-senseless-forms-and/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Aging" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-heaton-vorse/if-we-grow-old-wisely-we-lay-aside-the-senseless-forms-and/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd3/mary-heaton-vorse-30652_aging_if-we-grow-old-wisely-we-lay-aside-the-s_2667416.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd3/mary-heaton-vorse-30652_aging_if-we-grow-old-wisely-we-lay-aside-the-s_2667416.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd3/mary-heaton-vorse-30652_aging_if-we-grow-old-wisely-we-lay-aside-the-s_2667416.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If we grow old wisely, we lay aside the senseless forms and meaningless conventions of society and go back…” — Mary Heaton Vorse", "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": "Mary Heaton Vorse", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-heaton-vorse/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "If we grow old wisely, we...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-heaton-vorse/if-we-grow-old-wisely-we-lay-aside-the-senseless-forms-and/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-heaton-vorse/if-we-grow-old-wisely-we-lay-aside-the-senseless-forms-and/#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 } } ] } ```