--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It's hard to feel middle-aged, because…" description: "\"It's hard to feel middle-aged, because how can you tell how long you are going to live?\" — Mignon McLaughlin" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8f/mignon-mclaughlin-742_age_it-s-hard-to-feel-middle-aged-because-ho_1944218.png" --- # It's hard to feel middle-aged, because how can you tell… ![“It's hard to feel middle-aged, because how can you tell how long you are going to live?” quote by Mignon McLaughlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8f/mignon-mclaughlin-742_age_it-s-hard-to-feel-middle-aged-because-ho_1944218.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8f/mignon-mclaughlin-742_age_it-s-hard-to-feel-middle-aged-because-ho_1944218.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8f/mignon-mclaughlin-742_age_it-s-hard-to-feel-middle-aged-because-ho_1944218.png) > “It's hard to feel middle-aged, because how can you tell how long you are going to live?” [Mignon McLaughlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mignon-mclaughlin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Middle age feels uncertain because mortality is hard to gauge. **In simple terms:** Aging brings anxiety about unknown lifespan. Key Takeaway Embrace present moments despite uncertainty. Themes aging uncertainty mortality Mood reflective hopeful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - career planning - health monitoring - life reflection Key Concepts existentialism psychology Questions to Reflect On - How do you cope with life's impermanence? - What gives you a sense of continuity? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age/) [Aged](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aged/) [Aged Tell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aged-tell-3115701/) [Aging](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aging/) [Feel Middle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feel-middle-2228561/) [Feels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feels/) [Hard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hard/) [Hard Feel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hard-feel/) [Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/) [Middle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/middle/) [Middle aged](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/middle-aged/) [Youth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/youth/) ## Related quotes > [I feel middle-class, but my family had to start from scratch. 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Over-worked, under-appreciated, middle-aged, and shriveled up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-rollins/all-i-have-is-me-over-worked-under-appreciated-middle-aged-and/) [Henry Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-rollins/) > [Youth is the period in which a man can be hopeless. The end of every episode is the end of the world. But the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/youth-is-the-period-in-which-a-man-can-be-hopeless-the-end-of-every/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [I'm officially middle-aged. I don't need drugs anymore, thank God. I can get the same effect just by standing up real fast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-katz/i-m-officially-middle-aged-i-don-t-need-drugs-anymore-thank-god-i-can/) [Jonathan Katz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-katz/) > [I'm not always in that good with middle-aged heterosexual men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathy-griffin/i-m-not-always-in-that-good-with-middle-aged-heterosexual-men/) [Kathy Griffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathy-griffin/) > [“He got out in a middle-aged kind of way, locked the car, and ambled along.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-b-cooney/he-got-out-in-a-middle-aged-kind-of-way-locked-the-car-and-ambled/) [Caroline B. Cooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-b-cooney/) > [You can't ask someone to act middle-aged. Someone has to bring their own fatigue to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-morgan/you-can-t-ask-someone-to-act-middle-aged-someone-has-to-bring-their/) [Peter Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-morgan/) > [“The further points, that he is middle-aged, that his hair is grizzled,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/the-further-points-that-he-is-middle-aged-that-his-hair-is-grizzled/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [“I was young but I hated like a middle-aged man at the end of his prime.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nnedi-okorafor/i-was-young-but-i-hated-like-a-middle-aged-man-at-the-end-of-his-prime/) [Nnedi Okorafor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nnedi-okorafor/) > [Being middle-aged is about realising that you've lived most of your life. You don't have as much time in front of you as you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julianne-moore/being-middle-aged-is-about-realising-that-you-ve-lived-most-of-your/) [Julianne Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julianne-moore/) > [When we're young, everyone over the age of thirty looks middle-aged, everyone over fifty antique. And time, as it goes by, confirms that we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/when-we-re-young-everyone-over-the-age-of-thirty-looks-middle-aged/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [“They were born, they grew up in the gutters, they went to work at twelve, they passed through a brief blossoming period of beauty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/they-were-born-they-grew-up-in-the-gutters-they-went-to-work-at/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [I'm not someone who had to worry about aging on camera. I was already aged when I got there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-landecker/i-m-not-someone-who-had-to-worry-about-aging-on-camera-i-was-already/) [Amy Landecker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-landecker/) ## More by Mignon McLaughlin > [As we are human, we can't do what we can't do; as we're neurotic, we can't do what we can.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mignon-mclaughlin/as-we-are-human-we-can-t-do-what-we-can-t-do-as-we-re-neurotic-we-can/) [Mignon McLaughlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mignon-mclaughlin/) > [Naturally, the neurotic wants you to love him twice as much, for he's going to cut it in half anyway.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mignon-mclaughlin/naturally-the-neurotic-wants-you-to-love-him-twice-as-much-for-he-s/) [Mignon McLaughlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mignon-mclaughlin/) > [We have a terror of seeming to exert ourselves, lest it be noticed that we exerted ourselves and did not succeed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mignon-mclaughlin/we-have-a-terror-of-seeming-to-exert-ourselves-lest-it-be-noticed/) [Mignon McLaughlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mignon-mclaughlin/) > [The three horrors of modern life - talk without meaning, desire without love, work without satisfaction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mignon-mclaughlin/the-three-horrors-of-modern-life-talk-without-meaning-desire-without/) [Mignon McLaughlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mignon-mclaughlin/) > [We are never more self-righteous than when giving up what we should have shunned all along.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mignon-mclaughlin/we-are-never-more-self-righteous-than-when-giving-up-what-we-should/) [Mignon McLaughlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mignon-mclaughlin/) > [The time to begin most things is ten years ago.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mignon-mclaughlin/the-time-to-begin-most-things-is-ten-years-ago/) [Mignon McLaughlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mignon-mclaughlin/) > [One of life's few really reliable pleasures: to have a family you love, and to leave them for a week.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mignon-mclaughlin/one-of-life-s-few-really-reliable-pleasures-to-have-a-family-you-love/) [Mignon McLaughlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mignon-mclaughlin/) > [So long as God reveals Himself, or doesn't, He is behaving like God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mignon-mclaughlin/so-long-as-god-reveals-himself-or-doesn-t-he-is-behaving-like-god/) [Mignon McLaughlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mignon-mclaughlin/) > [The total history of almost anyone would shock almost everyone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mignon-mclaughlin/the-total-history-of-almost-anyone-would-shock-almost-everyone/) [Mignon McLaughlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mignon-mclaughlin/) > [There are children born to be children, and others who must mark time till they can take their natural places as adults.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mignon-mclaughlin/there-are-children-born-to-be-children-and-others-who-must-mark-time/) [Mignon McLaughlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mignon-mclaughlin/) > [In life, as in restaurants, we swallow a lot of indigestible stuff just because it comes with the dinner.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mignon-mclaughlin/in-life-as-in-restaurants-we-swallow-a-lot-of-indigestible-stuff-just/) [Mignon McLaughlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mignon-mclaughlin/) > [Neurotics always feel as though they were going way up or way down, which is odd in people going sideways.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mignon-mclaughlin/neurotics-always-feel-as-though-they-were-going-way-up-or-way-down/) [Mignon McLaughlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mignon-mclaughlin/) > [Even in the same family, one child will always instinctively know when to ask for things, and another won't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mignon-mclaughlin/even-in-the-same-family-one-child-will-always-instinctively-know-when/) [Mignon McLaughlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mignon-mclaughlin/) > [People find it hard to be both comic and serious, though life manages it easily enough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mignon-mclaughlin/people-find-it-hard-to-be-both-comic-and-serious-though-life-manages/) [Mignon McLaughlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mignon-mclaughlin/) > [No good neurotic finds it difficult to be both opinionated and indecisive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mignon-mclaughlin/no-good-neurotic-finds-it-difficult-to-be-both-opinionated-and/) [Mignon McLaughlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mignon-mclaughlin/) [Explore all 383 Mignon McLaughlin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mignon-mclaughlin/) ## 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. 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