--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I sometimes imagine that as one grows…" description: "\"I sometimes imagine that as one grows older one comes to live a role which as a young person one merely 'played.\" — May Sarton" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c8/may-sarton-897_grows_i-sometimes-imagine-that-as-one-grows-ol_581267.jpg" --- # I sometimes imagine that as one grows older one comes to… ![“I sometimes imagine that as one grows older one comes to live a role which as a young person one merely 'played.” quote by May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c8/may-sarton-897_grows_i-sometimes-imagine-that-as-one-grows-ol_581267.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c8/may-sarton-897_grows_i-sometimes-imagine-that-as-one-grows-ol_581267.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c8/may-sarton-897_grows_i-sometimes-imagine-that-as-one-grows-ol_581267.jpg) > “I sometimes imagine that as one grows older one comes to live a role which as a young person one merely 'played.” [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Aging involves shifting from playing roles to embodying them fully. **In simple terms:** Roles become lived reality. Key Takeaway Embrace mature identity. Themes aging identity role transition Mood reflective hopeful Type essay philosophical When to use this quote - career - family - personal growth Key Concepts Existentialism developmental psychology Questions to Reflect On - How have your roles changed with age? - What does “playing” versus “living” mean to you? A Different Perspective Resistance to change can hinder authentic living. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Young person](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/young-person/) ## Related quotes > [Any time you get a role that's a young person, that resembles what it's like to be a teenager, I always kind of jump…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mia-wasikowska/any-time-you-get-a-role-that-s-a-young-person-that-resembles-what-it/) [Mia Wasikowska](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mia-wasikowska/) > [The heart never grows better by age; I fear rather worse, always harder. A young liar will be an old one, and a young…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-heart-never-grows-better-by-age-i-fear-rather-worse-always-harder/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The whole business of marshaling ones energies becomes more and more important as one grows older.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hume-cronyn/the-whole-business-of-marshaling-ones-energies-becomes-more-and-more/) [Hume Cronyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hume-cronyn/) > [It is the nature of a man as he grows older- to protest against change, particularly changes for the better](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/it-is-the-nature-of-a-man-as-he-grows-older-to-protest-against-change/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [As a man grows older, his ability to sit still and follow indoor occupations increases. He grows vespertinal in his habits as theevening of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/as-a-man-grows-older-his-ability-to-sit-still-and-follow-indoor/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [As one grows older, one becomes wiser and more foolish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/as-one-grows-older-one-becomes-wiser-and-more-foolish/) [Francois de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/) > [As an artist grows older, he has to fight disillusionment and learn to establish the same relation to nature as an adult, as he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-e-burchfield/as-an-artist-grows-older-he-has-to-fight-disillusionment-and-learn-to/) [Charles E. Burchfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-e-burchfield/) > [“Apparently one grows more carnal and more mortal as one grows older. Only youth has a taste of immortality--”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence-2/apparently-one-grows-more-carnal-and-more-mortal-as-one-grows-older/) [D.H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence-2/) > [I don't believe one grows older. I think that what happens early on in life is that at a certain age one stands still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/i-don-t-believe-one-grows-older-i-think-that-what-happens-early-on-in/) [T. S. 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Tolkien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-r-r-tolkien/) > [It is best as one grows older to strip oneself of possessions, to shed oneself downward like a tree, to be almost wholly earth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-townsend-warner/it-is-best-as-one-grows-older-to-strip-oneself-of-possessions-to-shed/) [Sylvia Townsend Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-townsend-warner/) > [As one grows older one must try not to work oneself to death unnecessarily. At least that's how it is with me... I can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/as-one-grows-older-one-must-try-not-to-work-oneself-to-death/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [As a man grows older it is harder and harder to frighten him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul/as-a-man-grows-older-it-is-harder-and-harder-to-frighten-him/) [Jean Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul/) > [The whole business of marshaling one's energies becomes more and more important as one grows older.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hume-cronyn/the-whole-business-of-marshaling-one-s-energies-becomes-more-and-more/) [Hume Cronyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hume-cronyn/) ## More by May Sarton > [“I felt pain like an assault, The old pain again When the world thrusts itself inside, When we have to take in the outside,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/i-felt-pain-like-an-assault-the-old-pain-again-when-the-world-thrusts/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [Most people have to talk so they won't hear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/most-people-have-to-talk-so-they-won-t-hear/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [People who cannot feel punish those who do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/people-who-cannot-feel-punish-those-who-do/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [This suspension of one's own reality, this being entirely alone in a strange city (at times I wondered if I had lost the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/this-suspension-of-one-s-own-reality-this-being-entirely-alone-in-a/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [One must think like a hero to behave like a merely decent human being.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/one-must-think-like-a-hero-to-behave-like-a-merely-decent-human-being/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [Real joy is becoming exceedingly rare among artists of any kind. And I have an idea that those who can and do communicate it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/real-joy-is-becoming-exceedingly-rare-among-artists-of-any-kind-and-i/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [For to be desperate is to discover strength. / We die of comfort and by conflict live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/for-to-be-desperate-is-to-discover-strength-we-die-of-comfort-and-by/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [“I see you with that shell Held to your sensitive abstracted ear, Hunting the ocean’s rumor till you hear it well, Until you can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/i-see-you-with-that-shell-held-to-your-sensitive-abstracted-ear/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [There is a wilder solitude in winter When every sense is pricked alive and keen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/there-is-a-wilder-solitude-in-winter-when-every-sense-is-pricked/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [I long for the bulbs to arrive, for the early autumn chores are melancholy, but the planting of bulbs is the work of hope…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/i-long-for-the-bulbs-to-arrive-for-the-early-autumn-chores-are/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [Why is it that people who cannot show feeling presume that that is a strength and not a weakness?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/why-is-it-that-people-who-cannot-show-feeling-presume-that-that-is-a/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [Innocence is not pure so much as pleased, Always expectant, bright-eyed, self-enclosed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/innocence-is-not-pure-so-much-as-pleased-always-expectant-bright-eyed/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [I have written every poem, every novel, for the same purpose-to find out what I think, to know where I stand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/i-have-written-every-poem-every-novel-for-the-same-purpose-to-find/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [For art is order, but it is born out of the chaos of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/for-art-is-order-but-it-is-born-out-of-the-chaos-of-life/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [all great people are humble because great people have great work and are humbled by the largeness of their dreams.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/all-great-people-are-humble-because-great-people-have-great-work-and/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) [Explore all 336 May Sarton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) ## More Grows 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/) > [“Laugh and grow strong”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ignatius-of-loyola/laugh-and-grow-strong/) [Ignatius of Loyola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ignatius-of-loyola/) > [Our young Marines of today are courageous, willing to make sacrifices, and are marvelous team players. I am confident our Corps, and indeed our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-t-conway/our-young-marines-of-today-are-courageous-willing-to-make-sacrifices/) James T. Conway > [Some minds corrode and grow inactive under the loss of personal liberty; others grow morbid and irritable; but it is the nature of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/washington-irving/some-minds-corrode-and-grow-inactive-under-the-loss-of-personal/) [Washington Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/washington-irving/) > [I've long believed one of the mainsprings of our own liberty has been the widespread ownership of property among our people and the expectation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/i-ve-long-believed-one-of-the-mainsprings-of-our-own-liberty-has-been/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [The teacher is one who makes two ideas grow where only one grew before.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elbert-hubbard/the-teacher-is-one-who-makes-two-ideas-grow-where-only-one-grew-before/) [Elbert Hubbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elbert-hubbard/) > [Every woman I have ever loved has left her print upon me, where I loved some invaluable piece of myself apart from me-so different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/every-woman-i-have-ever-loved-has-left-her-print-upon-me-where-i/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [Their peace and their war Are like wind and storm. War grows from their peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertolt-brecht/their-peace-and-their-war-are-like-wind-and-storm-war-grows-from/) [Bertolt Brecht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertolt-brecht/) > [Consideration is the soil in which wisdom may be expected to grow, and strength be given to every up-springing plant of duty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/consideration-is-the-soil-in-which-wisdom-may-be-expected-to-grow-and/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [I just want to grow spiritually with the Lord,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-durant/i-just-want-to-grow-spiritually-with-the-lord/) [Kevin Durant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-durant/) > [It's a challenge to work a character's arc into a format in which you only have a very limited amount of time to grow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ginnifer-goodwin/it-s-a-challenge-to-work-a-character-s-arc-into-a-format-in-which-you/) [Ginnifer Goodwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ginnifer-goodwin/) > [May God bless each of us in our calls to serve. May our faith strengthen as we serve in righteousness, faithfully keeping the commandments.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-tom-perry/may-god-bless-each-of-us-in-our-calls-to-serve-may-our-faith/) [L. Tom Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-tom-perry/) > [Love grows. Lust wastes by Enjoyment, and the Reason is, that one springs from an Union of Souls, and the other from an Union…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-penn/love-grows-lust-wastes-by-enjoyment-and-the-reason-is-that-one/) [William Penn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-penn/) > [I didn't grow up thinking of movies as film, or art, but as movies, something to do on a Saturday afternoon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sydney-pollack/i-didn-t-grow-up-thinking-of-movies-as-film-or-art-but-as-movies/) [Sydney Pollack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sydney-pollack/) > [Were you indeed not blinded by the Curse Of Self-exile, that still grows worse and worse, Yourselves would know that, though you see him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/farid-al-din-attar/were-you-indeed-not-blinded-by-the-curse-of-self-exile-that-still/) [Farid al-Din Attar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/farid-al-din-attar/) Browse all 9,037 Grows quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I sometimes imagine that as one grows older one comes to live a role which as a young person one merely 'played.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "May Sarton" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/i-sometimes-imagine-that-as-one-grows-older-one-comes-to-live-a-role/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Grows" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/i-sometimes-imagine-that-as-one-grows-older-one-comes-to-live-a-role/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c8/may-sarton-897_grows_i-sometimes-imagine-that-as-one-grows-ol_581267.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c8/may-sarton-897_grows_i-sometimes-imagine-that-as-one-grows-ol_581267.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c8/may-sarton-897_grows_i-sometimes-imagine-that-as-one-grows-ol_581267.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I sometimes imagine that as one grows older one comes to live a role which as a young person one merely…” — May Sarton", "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": "May Sarton", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I sometimes imagine that as one...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/i-sometimes-imagine-that-as-one-grows-older-one-comes-to-live-a-role/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/i-sometimes-imagine-that-as-one-grows-older-one-comes-to-live-a-role/#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 } } ] } ```