--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: And still the brain continues to yearn…" description: "\"And still the brain continues to yearn, continues to burn, foolishly, with desire. My old man's brain is mocked by a body that still longs to stretch i..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39e/meg-rosoff-2050_aging_and-still-the-brain-continues-to-yearn-c_1772087.jpg" --- # And still the brain continues to yearn, continues to burn… ![“And still the brain continues to yearn, continues to burn, foolishly, with desire. My old man's brain is mocked by a body that still longs to stretch in the sun and form a beautiful shape in someone else's gaze, to lie under a blue sky and dream of helpless, selfless love, to behold itself…” quote by Meg Rosoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39e/meg-rosoff-2050_aging_and-still-the-brain-continues-to-yearn-c_1772087.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39e/meg-rosoff-2050_aging_and-still-the-brain-continues-to-yearn-c_1772087.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39e/meg-rosoff-2050_aging_and-still-the-brain-continues-to-yearn-c_1772087.jpg) > “And still the brain continues to yearn, continues to burn, foolishly, with desire. My old man's brain is mocked by a body that still longs to stretch in the sun and form a beautiful shape in someone else's gaze, to lie under a blue sky and dream of helpless, selfless love, to behold itself, illuminated, in the golden light of another's eyes.” [Meg Rosoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-rosoff/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The aging mind still craves love and purpose, seeking validation through another's gaze and the beauty of shared dreams. **In simple terms:** Old mind still longs for love and purpose. Key Takeaway Embrace lifelong desire for connection and meaning. Themes loneliness desire aging purpose beauty Mood hopeful nostalgic Type reflective philosophical When to use this quote - elderly volunteering - senior art class - intergenerational mentorship - writing memoirs Key Concepts existential longing interpersonal connection self‑transcendence Questions to Reflect On - How can one find purpose later in life? - What relationships bring lasting fulfillment? A Different Perspective Physical decline can limit pursuit of desires. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Aging](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aging/) [Beautiful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beautiful/) [Blue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blue/) [Blue sky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blue-sky/) [Body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/) [Brain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brain/) [Brain Continues](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brain-continues-1787945/) [Brain Mocked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brain-mocked-1787946/) [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Desire Old](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire-old-1787947/) [Dream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dream/) [Dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams/) [Eye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eye/) [Form](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/form/) [Golden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/golden/) [Golden light](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/golden-light/) [Helpless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/helpless/) [Light](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/light/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Lying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lying/) [Man Brain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man-brain/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Old man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-man/) [Selfless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/selfless/) [Selfless love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/selfless-love/) [Shapes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shapes/) [Sky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sky/) [Stills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stills/) [Sun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sun/) ## Related quotes > [Old age is the supreme evil, for it deprives man of all pleasures while allowing his appetites to remain, and it brings with it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giacomo-leopardi/old-age-is-the-supreme-evil-for-it-deprives-man-of-all-pleasures/) [Giacomo Leopardi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giacomo-leopardi/) > [The individual, man as a man, man as a brain, if you like, interests me more than what he makes, because I've noticed that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/the-individual-man-as-a-man-man-as-a-brain-if-you-like-interests-me/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [I consider that a man's brain originally is like a little empty attic, and you have to stock it with such furniture as you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/i-consider-that-a-man-s-brain-originally-is-like-a-little-empty-attic-2/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [You must capture and keep the heart of the original and supremely able man before his brain can do its best.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-carnegie/you-must-capture-and-keep-the-heart-of-the-original-and-supremely/) [Andrew Carnegie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-carnegie/) > [Man's brain, enlarged fortuitously, invented words in an ambitious attempt to learn how to think, only to have them usurped by his emotions. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/man-s-brain-enlarged-fortuitously-invented-words-in-an-ambitious/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [If a man cannot do brain work without stimulants of any kind, he had better turn to hand work it is an indication on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/if-a-man-cannot-do-brain-work-without-stimulants-of-any-kind-he-had/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [Although most of us are complacent in our assumption that science is gaining on the unknown, scientists are acknowledging that man's own brain is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-ferguson/although-most-of-us-are-complacent-in-our-assumption-that-science-is/) [Marilyn Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-ferguson/) > [It was not the man's brain that was speaking; it was his larynx.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/it-was-not-the-man-s-brain-that-was-speaking-it-was-his-larynx/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“A man's brain must expand, if it breaks up the universe.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-k-chesterton/a-man-s-brain-must-expand-if-it-breaks-up-the-universe/) [G.K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton/) > [What a lover’s heart knows let no man’s brain dispute.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aberjhani/what-a-lover-s-heart-knows-let-no-man-s-brain-dispute/) [Aberjhani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aberjhani/) > [For a long time, I used to think that I had a man's brain that I thought more like a man than a woman.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-baddiel/for-a-long-time-i-used-to-think-that-i-had-a-man-s-brain-that-i/) [David Baddiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-baddiel/) > [She has man's brain--a brain that a man should have were he much gifted--and woman's heart. The good God fashioned her for a purpose,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bram-stoker/she-has-man-s-brain-a-brain-that-a-man-should-have-were-he-much/) [Bram Stoker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bram-stoker/) > [“I consider that a man's brain originally is like a little empty attic, and you have to stock it with such furniture as you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/i-consider-that-a-man-s-brain-originally-is-like-a-little-empty-attic/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [“Did he really not remember where it was, or is there some primitive part of a man’s brain that starts to shut down whenever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tina-reber/did-he-really-not-remember-where-it-was-or-is-there-some-primitive/) [Tina Reber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tina-reber/) > [I don't know but a book in a man's brain is better off than a book bound in calf--at any rate it is safer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/i-don-t-know-but-a-book-in-a-man-s-brain-is-better-off-than-a-book/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) ## More by Meg Rosoff > [“Maybe he's lonely, she said, and I just looked at her wondering if she expected me to open a Home for the Socially Challenged…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-rosoff/maybe-he-s-lonely-she-said-and-i-just-looked-at-her-wondering-if-she/) [Meg Rosoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-rosoff/) > [I loved horses and horse books as a child.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-rosoff/i-loved-horses-and-horse-books-as-a-child/) [Meg Rosoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-rosoff/) > [“Time erodes us all.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-rosoff/time-erodes-us-all/) [Meg Rosoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-rosoff/) > [I noticed that once you realize someone's watching you it's pretty hard not to find yourself watching them back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-rosoff/i-noticed-that-once-you-realize-someone-s-watching-you-it-s-pretty/) [Meg Rosoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-rosoff/) > [Teenagers are very dark, I think. That's all the goth and emo stuff. They're experiencing a lot of stuff that adults experience, but in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-rosoff/teenagers-are-very-dark-i-think-that-s-all-the-goth-and-emo-stuff/) [Meg Rosoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-rosoff/) > [“Minden háború történetének van fordulópontja, és minden emberének is.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-rosoff/minden-h-bor-t-rt-net-nek-van-fordul-pontja-s-minden-ember-nek-is/) [Meg Rosoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-rosoff/) > [She frowned at him. 'You are in love with solitude.' 'Is there a better cure for the world than solitude?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-rosoff/she-frowned-at-him-you-are-in-love-with-solitude-is-there-a-better/) [Meg Rosoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-rosoff/) > [“He was a peculiar sight. Tears rolling down his face, shouting to drown the sound of the singing rabbit; he said he needed help,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-rosoff/he-was-a-peculiar-sight-tears-rolling-down-his-face-shouting-to-drown/) [Meg Rosoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-rosoff/) > [I love you. I'm madly in love with you. Well, madly obviously, given I'm mad as a mudlark. But you saved my life. I'd…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-rosoff/i-love-you-i-m-madly-in-love-with-you-well-madly-obviously-given-i-m/) [Meg Rosoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-rosoff/) > [Although I've lived in England for more than twenty years, I still have a foreigner's passion for all the details of English history and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-rosoff/although-i-ve-lived-in-england-for-more-than-twenty-years-i-still/) [Meg Rosoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-rosoff/) > [My daughter is a fantastic travelling companion - she's totally organised, whereas I'm hopeless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-rosoff/my-daughter-is-a-fantastic-travelling-companion-she-s-totally/) [Meg Rosoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-rosoff/) > [I'm constantly snatching my books out of the hands of precocious ten-year-olds who are simply too young to read them, despite parents insisting that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-rosoff/i-m-constantly-snatching-my-books-out-of-the-hands-of-precocious-ten/) [Meg Rosoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-rosoff/) > [“What else? A handful of hard white sugar lumps from the supply for the master's table. Sugar and cake and blood and pork. That's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-rosoff/what-else-a-handful-of-hard-white-sugar-lumps-from-the-supply-for-the/) [Meg Rosoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-rosoff/) > [“Maybe we shouldn't be living this way, without grass and trees, and ducks, always under pressure, always trying to catch up, never enough time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-rosoff/maybe-we-shouldn-t-be-living-this-way-without-grass-and-trees-and/) [Meg Rosoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-rosoff/) > [“Things Happen and once they start happening you pretty much just have to hold on for dear life and see where they drop you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-rosoff/things-happen-and-once-they-start-happening-you-pretty-much-just-have/) [Meg Rosoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-rosoff/) [Explore all 184 Meg Rosoff quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-rosoff/) ## 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": "And still the brain continues to yearn, continues to burn, foolishly, with desire. 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