--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Now, five years is nothing in a man's…" description: "\"Now, five years is nothing in a man's life except when he is very young and very old... - Wang Lung\" — Pearl S. Buck" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc5/pearl-s-buck-1024_five-years_now-five-years-is-nothing-in-a-man-s-lif_1966838.png" --- # Now, five years is nothing in a man's life except when he… ![“Now, five years is nothing in a man's life except when he is very young and very old... - Wang Lung” quote by Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc5/pearl-s-buck-1024_five-years_now-five-years-is-nothing-in-a-man-s-lif_1966838.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc5/pearl-s-buck-1024_five-years_now-five-years-is-nothing-in-a-man-s-lif_1966838.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc5/pearl-s-buck-1024_five-years_now-five-years-is-nothing-in-a-man-s-lif_1966838.png) > “Now, five years is nothing in a man's life except when he is very young and very old... - Wang Lung” [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Time feels fleeting when we are young or old, but stretches in middle age. **In simple terms:** Youth and old age make years seem short. Key Takeaway Cherish each stage of life. Themes time age perspective Mood reflective nostalgic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - childhood - adolescence - midlife - elder years Key Concepts relativity human experience Questions to Reflect On - How does your current age affect your sense of time? - What moments feel longest to you? A Different Perspective Age perception varies with personal health and mindset. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Five years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/five-years/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-young/) [Man Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man-life/) [Man's Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mans-life/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Wang Lung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wang-lung-2164317/) [Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years/) [Years Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years-man-689909/) [Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/young/) ## Related quotes > [The best years of a man's life are after he is forty. A man at forty has ceased to hunt the moon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-du-maurier/the-best-years-of-a-man-s-life-are-after-he-is-forty-a-man-at-forty/) [George du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-du-maurier/) > [“Then Wang Lung turned to the woman and looked at her for the first time. She had a square, honest face, a short, broad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/then-wang-lung-turned-to-the-woman-and-looked-at-her-for-the-first/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [“It was Wang Lung's marriage day.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/it-was-wang-lung-s-marriage-day/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [“And listening to all the things they would do if they had these things, Wang Lung heard only of how much they would eat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/and-listening-to-all-the-things-they-would-do-if-they-had-these/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [Each ten years of a man's life has its own fortunes, its own hopes, its own desires.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/each-ten-years-of-a-man-s-life-has-its-own-fortunes-its-own-hopes-its/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [“The difference between rising at five and seven o’clock in the morning, for forty years, supposing a man to go to bed at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-j-scott/the-difference-between-rising-at-five-and-seven-o-clock-in-the/) [S.J. Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-j-scott/) > [What is a man's life but a prelude to his death? And what is death but a long sleep, a most welcome forgetfulness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/what-is-a-man-s-life-but-a-prelude-to-his-death-and-what-is-death-but/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [How good is man's life, the mere living! How fit to employ all the heart and the soul and the senses forever in joy!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/how-good-is-man-s-life-the-mere-living-how-fit-to-employ-all-the/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [So soon did we, wayfarers, begin to learn that man's life is rounded with the same few facts, the same simple relations everywhere, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/so-soon-did-we-wayfarers-begin-to-learn-that-man-s-life-is-rounded/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [“The Transitoriness of Life To what may man's life be compared? To a boat which rowed away, Far in the sea, and left no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reiko-chiba/the-transitoriness-of-life-to-what-may-man-s-life-be-compared-to-a/) [Reiko Chiba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reiko-chiba/) > [There are times in a man's life where he must STRIP.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gray-fullbuster-fairy-tail/there-are-times-in-a-man-s-life-where-he-must-strip/) [Gray Fullbuster Fairy Tail](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gray-fullbuster-fairy-tail/) > [ If \[people\] place such things as friendship and family ties above their own productive work, yes, then they are immoral. Friendship, family life and… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/if-people-place-such-things-as-friendship-and-family-ties-above-their/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Films and gramophone records, music, books and buildings show clearly how vigorously a man's life and work go on after his death, whether we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-bormann/films-and-gramophone-records-music-books-and-buildings-show-clearly/) [Martin Bormann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-bormann/) > [He said that whether a man's life was writ in a book someplace or whether it took its form day by day was one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/he-said-that-whether-a-man-s-life-was-writ-in-a-book-someplace-or/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“A man's life is about keeping rules, breaking them, and making new ones.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ogwo-david-emenike/a-man-s-life-is-about-keeping-rules-breaking-them-and-making-new-ones/) [Ogwo David Emenike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ogwo-david-emenike/) ## More by Pearl S. Buck > [For war to man, like childbirth to women, is simplifying in its emotions and activities. All the real problems of life can be put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/for-war-to-man-like-childbirth-to-women-is-simplifying-in-its/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [Hunger makes a thief of any man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/hunger-makes-a-thief-of-any-man/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [War is the most devastating endemic and epidemic disease the human race has to endure, and yet too little has been done to discover…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/war-is-the-most-devastating-endemic-and-epidemic-disease-the-human/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [In our changing world nothing changes more than geography.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/in-our-changing-world-nothing-changes-more-than-geography/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [No one really understood music unless he was a scientist, her father had declared, and not just a scientist, either, oh, no, only the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/no-one-really-understood-music-unless-he-was-a-scientist-her-father/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [Upon the profound discontent of the young in every country do I set my faith. I beg you, the young, to be discontented. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/upon-the-profound-discontent-of-the-young-in-every-country-do-i-set/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [“Wang Lung sat smoking, thinking of the silver as it had lain upon the table. It had come out of the earth, this silver,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/wang-lung-sat-smoking-thinking-of-the-silver-as-it-had-lain-upon-the/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [The secret of joy in work is contained in one word - excellence. To know how to do something well is to enjoy it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/the-secret-of-joy-in-work-is-contained-in-one-word-excellence-to-know/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [If our American way of life fails the child, it fails us all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/if-our-american-way-of-life-fails-the-child-it-fails-us-all/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [“Mind and body were well or ill together.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/mind-and-body-were-well-or-ill-together/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [“U meni postoji mjesto gdje živim posve sama; tu obnavljam svoja proljeća koja nikad ne presahnu”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/u-meni-postoji-mjesto-gdje-ivim-posve-sama-tu-obnavljam-svoja-prolje/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [“Brave young American men climbed the rugged slopes of Korean mountains and fought in homesickness and desperate weariness for the sake of a people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/brave-young-american-men-climbed-the-rugged-slopes-of-korean/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [Truth is always exciting. Speak it, then; life is dull without it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/truth-is-always-exciting-speak-it-then-life-is-dull-without-it/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [“All scientific effort must now be concentrated in the area of defence (sic). We have learned our lesson. We, the most civilized of people,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/all-scientific-effort-must-now-be-concentrated-in-the-area-of-defence/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [to know how to read is to light a lamp in the mind, to release the soul from prison, to open a gate to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/to-know-how-to-read-is-to-light-a-lamp-in-the-mind-to-release-the/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) [Explore all 304 Pearl S. Buck quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) ## More Five years quotes > [“Women will be at least 50 percent of the communications community workforce … from executive suite to interns. Why? The “integrated” agency will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yoram-wind/women-will-be-at-least-50-percent-of-the-communications-community/) [Yoram Wind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yoram-wind/) > [“A clear look back on the Cold War's battlegrounds, along with a sense of relief that the world survived forty-five years of confrontation, evokes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-clear-look-back-on-the-cold-war-s-battlegrounds-along-with-a-sense/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Something had been confirmed: I was worth giving a shit about; I was getting to be a successful sick person. Sick is when they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marya-hornbacher/something-had-been-confirmed-i-was-worth-giving-a-shit-about-i-was/) [Marya Hornbacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marya-hornbacher/) > [“His Army Ranger unit had always been ready for an ambush. Five years in special ops had made him suspicious of most. On that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-perini/his-army-ranger-unit-had-always-been-ready-for-an-ambush-five-years/) [Robin Perini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-perini/) > [“I looked at him, tipping down the coarse wine like a man who expects to put up with worse. I felt I was looking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-renault/i-looked-at-him-tipping-down-the-coarse-wine-like-a-man-who-expects/) [Mary Renault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-renault/) > [I was sober for five years a long time ago and was just bored out of my tree.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-sheen/i-was-sober-for-five-years-a-long-time-ago-and-was-just-bored-out-of/) [Charlie Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-sheen/) > [“Whatand why were never questions for me. How was the only question. When I look back now, I realize that I never thought about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadhguru/whatand-why-were-never-questions-for-me-how-was-the-only-question/) [Sadhguru](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadhguru/) > [We know, Southern men declare that their slaves are better off than hired laborers amongst us. How little they know, whereof they speak! There…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/we-know-southern-men-declare-that-their-slaves-are-better-off-than/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [“most professionals progress until they reach an “acceptable” level, and then they plateau. Software engineers, for instance, usually stop progressing somewhere around five years…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-grenny/most-professionals-progress-until-they-reach-an-acceptable-level-and/) [Joseph Grenny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-grenny/) > [In five years of my previous tenure, the treasury was never shut for one day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amarinder-singh/in-five-years-of-my-previous-tenure-the-treasury-was-never-shut-for/) [Amarinder Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amarinder-singh/) > [We have been playing every summer on clay since I was five years old, so it is an easy surface for us in Belgium.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-goffin/we-have-been-playing-every-summer-on-clay-since-i-was-five-years-old/) [David Goffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-goffin/) > [I'm an immigrant, a legal immigrant to the United States. I only became a citizen five years ago. 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I have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-mankoff/i-have-entered-the-new-yorker-s-cartoon-caption-contest-almost-weekly/) [Bob Mankoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-mankoff/) [Browse all 2,724 Five years quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/five-years/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Now, five years is nothing in a man's life except when he is very young and very old... - Wang Lung", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Pearl S. 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