--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When I was nineteen years old, I was the…" description: "\"When I was nineteen years old, I was the number-one star for two years. When I was forty, nobody wanted me. I couldn't get a job.\" — Mickey Rooney" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b79/mickey-rooney-10095_forty_when-i-was-nineteen-years-old-i-was-the_1659485.jpg" --- # When I was nineteen years old, I was the number-one star… ![“When I was nineteen years old, I was the number-one star for two years. When I was forty, nobody wanted me. I couldn't get a job.” quote by Mickey Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b79/mickey-rooney-10095_forty_when-i-was-nineteen-years-old-i-was-the_1659485.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b79/mickey-rooney-10095_forty_when-i-was-nineteen-years-old-i-was-the_1659485.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b79/mickey-rooney-10095_forty_when-i-was-nineteen-years-old-i-was-the_1659485.jpg) > “When I was nineteen years old, I was the number-one star for two years. When I was forty, nobody wanted me. I couldn't get a job.” [Mickey Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mickey-rooney/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Early fame can fade, leading to hardship later in life. **In simple terms:** Fame is fleeting; later life may be hard. Key Takeaway Plan for long‑term stability beyond fame. Themes fame career loneliness Mood reflective melancholic Type cautionary philosophical When to use this quote - acting - public speaking - post‑celebrity life - job hunting Key Concepts sociology aging career cycles Questions to Reflect On - How can you sustain relevance? - What skills can you develop now? A Different Perspective Success early does not guarantee later opportunities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Forty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forty/) [Get](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/get/) [Job](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/job/) [Me](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/me/) [Nineteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nineteen/) [Nineteen Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nineteen-years-474621/) [Nobody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nobody/) [Old](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old/) [Star](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/star/) [Star Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/star-years-741690/) [Two](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/two/) [Two years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/two-years/) [Wanted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wanted/) [Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years/) [Years Old](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years-old/) [Years Wanted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years-wanted-293206/) ## Related quotes > [So I started chanting when I was nineteen, which was about twelve years ago, and it really had a huge impact on my outlook,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duncan-sheik/so-i-started-chanting-when-i-was-nineteen-which-was-about-twelve/) [Duncan Sheik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duncan-sheik/) > [“I was nineteen years five months old when I fell in love for the first time. This seemed to me a profound, advanced age;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/i-was-nineteen-years-five-months-old-when-i-fell-in-love-for-the/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [“So I am nineteen years old and don’t usually know what I’m doing, snap my thoughts out of the printed page, get my looks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/so-i-am-nineteen-years-old-and-don-t-usually-know-what-i-m-doing-snap/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [“In the nineteen years since then, I had learned eleven languages and 713 songs. I had found ways to conceal what I was—even, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-leckie/in-the-nineteen-years-since-then-i-had-learned-eleven-languages-and/) [Ann Leckie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-leckie/) > [“This is my life. I'm nineteen years old, and the only thing I have any control over in my entire world is the way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-filer/this-is-my-life-i-m-nineteen-years-old-and-the-only-thing-i-have-any/) [Nathan Filer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-filer/) > [“I felt now that all the uncomfortable suspicions I had about myself were coming true, and I couldn't hide the truth much longer. After…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-felt-now-that-all-the-uncomfortable-suspicions-i-had-about-myself/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“She was so young that love was still a game to her. . . . She was being neither fair nor clever, but Babette…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-christian-andersen/she-was-so-young-that-love-was-still-a-game-to-her-she-was-being/) [Hans Christian Andersen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-christian-andersen/) > [“I was, I remember, nineteen years old, wrote poems, still wore no proper collar, ran out in the rain and snow, always woke up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-walser/i-was-i-remember-nineteen-years-old-wrote-poems-still-wore-no-proper/) [Robert Walser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-walser/) > [“After nineteen years of running after good marks and prizes and grants of one sort or another, I was letting up, slowing down, dropping…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/after-nineteen-years-of-running-after-good-marks-and-prizes-and/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“I got nineteen years with your mom. But do you think I would've turned down the idea if I'd known I'd only get one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-marion/i-got-nineteen-years-with-your-mom-but-do-you-think-i-would-ve-turned/) [Isaac Marion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-marion/) > [Anthony grinned at her, knowing that would probably infuriate her all the more. "My eyes have been a-wandering, as you put it, for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johanna-lindsey/anthony-grinned-at-her-knowing-that-would-probably-infuriate-her-all/) [Johanna Lindsey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johanna-lindsey/) > [Eighteen holes of match play will teach you more about your foe than nineteen years of dealing with him across the desk.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grantland-rice/eighteen-holes-of-match-play-will-teach-you-more-about-your-foe-than/) [Grantland Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grantland-rice/) > [He was a player that hasn't had to use his legs even when he was nineteen years of age because his first two yards…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-hoddle/he-was-a-player-that-hasn-t-had-to-use-his-legs-even-when-he-was/) [Glenn Hoddle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-hoddle/) > [The scar had not pained Harry for nineteen years. All was well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-scar-had-not-pained-harry-for-nineteen-years-all-was-well/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Ideally, I would love to mix singing and acting, but you can only be a pop star for so many years. I mean, at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-stevens/ideally-i-would-love-to-mix-singing-and-acting-but-you-can-only-be-a/) [Rachel Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-stevens/) ## More by Mickey Rooney > [You always pass failure on your way to success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mickey-rooney/you-always-pass-failure-on-your-way-to-success/) [Mickey Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mickey-rooney/) > [Women liked me because I made them laugh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mickey-rooney/women-liked-me-because-i-made-them-laugh/) [Mickey Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mickey-rooney/) > [Look, I come from vaudeville, I come from burlesque, I come from heartaches, I come from sadness, I come from gladness, I come from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mickey-rooney/look-i-come-from-vaudeville-i-come-from-burlesque-i-come-from/) [Mickey Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mickey-rooney/) > [Had I been brighter, the ladies been gentler, the Scotch been weaker, had the gods been kinder, had the dice been hotter, this could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mickey-rooney/had-i-been-brighter-the-ladies-been-gentler-the-scotch-been-weaker/) [Mickey Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mickey-rooney/) > [Hollywood has unfortunately become a memory. It's nothing but a sign on the side of a hill.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mickey-rooney/hollywood-has-unfortunately-become-a-memory-it-s-nothing-but-a-sign/) [Mickey Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mickey-rooney/) > [I came from a poor family. My father was from Glasgow, Scotland; my mother's brothers were brakemen on the railroad. We didn't have anything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mickey-rooney/i-came-from-a-poor-family-my-father-was-from-glasgow-scotland-my/) [Mickey Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mickey-rooney/) > [Someone once asked me what I want on my epitaph when I pass away. Just the words 'I tried.' That's what this game of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mickey-rooney/someone-once-asked-me-what-i-want-on-my-epitaph-when-i-pass-away-just/) [Mickey Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mickey-rooney/) > [Now. Now is the most important time of all of your young lives. And what does now stand for - N-O-W? No Other Way.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mickey-rooney/now-now-is-the-most-important-time-of-all-of-your-young-lives-and/) [Mickey Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mickey-rooney/) > [I keep going because if you stop, you stop. Why retire? Inspire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mickey-rooney/i-keep-going-because-if-you-stop-you-stop-why-retire-inspire/) [Mickey Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mickey-rooney/) > [Meadowlark Lemon is one very clever man, unique and truly one of a kind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mickey-rooney/meadowlark-lemon-is-one-very-clever-man-unique-and-truly-one-of-a-kind/) [Mickey Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mickey-rooney/) > [I buy women shoes and they use them to walk away from me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mickey-rooney/i-buy-women-shoes-and-they-use-them-to-walk-away-from-me/) [Mickey Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mickey-rooney/) > [My marriage license reads, 'To whom it may concern,'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mickey-rooney/my-marriage-license-reads-to-whom-it-may-concern/) [Mickey Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mickey-rooney/) > [And that's the way I have always lived, for the laughs – today. N-O-W. No Other Way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mickey-rooney/and-that-s-the-way-i-have-always-lived-for-the-laughs-today-n-o-w-no/) [Mickey Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mickey-rooney/) > [I belong to the public. The public made me. The public can break me. I owe them my life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mickey-rooney/i-belong-to-the-public-the-public-made-me-the-public-can-break-me-i/) [Mickey Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mickey-rooney/) > [. . . children - not kids. Kids are goats. I've always spoken of my children as children.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mickey-rooney/children-not-kids-kids-are-goats-i-ve-always-spoken-of-my-children-as/) [Mickey Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mickey-rooney/) [Explore all 68 Mickey Rooney quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mickey-rooney/) ## More Forty quotes > [The Beat Generation, that was a vision that we had, John Clellon Holmes and I, and Allen Ginsberg in an even wilder way, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/the-beat-generation-that-was-a-vision-that-we-had-john-clellon-holmes/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [Whether one is twenty, forty, or sixty; whether one has succeeded, failed or just muddled along; whether yesterday was full of sun or storm,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leigh-mitchell-hodges/whether-one-is-twenty-forty-or-sixty-whether-one-has-succeeded-failed/) [Leigh Mitchell Hodges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leigh-mitchell-hodges/) > [In the olden days in England, you could be hung for stealing a sheep or a loaf of bread. However, if a sheep stole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-harding/in-the-olden-days-in-england-you-could-be-hung-for-stealing-a-sheep/) [Mike Harding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-harding/) > [It wasn't really touching to be young; it was touching not to be young, because you had less of life left. Touching to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-macaulay/it-wasn-t-really-touching-to-be-young-it-was-touching-not-to-be-young/) [Rose Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-macaulay/) > [This ball was so crowded that it took me - a trained professional journalist with vast experience in this area - forty five minutes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-barry/this-ball-was-so-crowded-that-it-took-me-a-trained-professional/) [Dave Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-barry/) > [I may be forty, but every morning when I get up, I feel like a twenty-year-old. Unfortunately, there's never one around.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-orben/i-may-be-forty-but-every-morning-when-i-get-up-i-feel-like-a-twenty/) [Robert Orben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-orben/) > [Being an actor is easy, just picture someone in a room and you outside waiting for your cue to go in. Elliot Gould's been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-burns/being-an-actor-is-easy-just-picture-someone-in-a-room-and-you-outside/) [George Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-burns/) > [Be wise with speed; a fool at forty is a fool indeed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-young/be-wise-with-speed-a-fool-at-forty-is-a-fool-indeed/) [Edward Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-young/) > [As it can be maintained that all the great advances have come from men under forty, so the history of the world shows that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-osler/as-it-can-be-maintained-that-all-the-great-advances-have-come-from/) [William Osler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-osler/) > [I am supremely humbled to receive the 40 Under Forty honor by Stony Brook University in the category of Civil Service and Activism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/momina-mustehsan/i-am-supremely-humbled-to-receive-the-40-under-forty-honor-by-stony/) [Momina Mustehsan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/momina-mustehsan/) > [In my forties, my optimism was boundless. I had really good health and tremendous success which allowed me to do anything I wanted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-cornwell/in-my-forties-my-optimism-was-boundless-i-had-really-good-health-and/) [Patricia Cornwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-cornwell/) > [Rincewind could scream for mercy in nineteen languages, and just scream in another forty-four.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/rincewind-could-scream-for-mercy-in-nineteen-languages-and-just/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [ I know that some of the folks in the press are uptight about this \[moving the press corps out of the West Wing \],… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reince-priebus/i-know-that-some-of-the-folks-in-the-press-are-uptight-about-this/) [Reince Priebus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reince-priebus/) > [It's crazy for somebody who's kind of empowered and wealthy like myself to say, "Oh, I don't need to be patronized by the state,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvine-welsh/it-s-crazy-for-somebody-who-s-kind-of-empowered-and-wealthy-like/) [Irvine Welsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvine-welsh/) > [I was given the gifts of the artist, and the trouble that goes with them: So I have that blessing, and there was never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-berliawsky-nevelson/i-was-given-the-gifts-of-the-artist-and-the-trouble-that-goes-with/) [Louise Berliawsky Nevelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-berliawsky-nevelson/) [Browse all 1,077 Forty quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forty/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When I was nineteen years old, I was the number-one star for two years. 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