---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: At a certain point, you have to face the…"
description: "\"At a certain point, you have to face the fact that you've turned into an old fart.\" — Robert Gottlieb"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/579/robert-gottlieb-2761_certain_at-a-certain-point-you-have-to-face-the_929350.png"
---

#  At a certain point, you have to face the fact that you've…

![“At a certain point, you have to face the fact that you've turned into an old fart.” quote by Robert Gottlieb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/579/robert-gottlieb-2761_certain_at-a-certain-point-you-have-to-face-the_929350.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/579/robert-gottlieb-2761_certain_at-a-certain-point-you-have-to-face-the_929350.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/579/robert-gottlieb-2761_certain_at-a-certain-point-you-have-to-face-the_929350.png)

> “At a certain point, you have to face the fact that you've turned into an old fart.”

[Robert Gottlieb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-gottlieb/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

He acknowledges aging and its impact on self‑perception.

**In simple terms:** Accepting you’re getting older.

Key Takeaway

Embrace aging with humor.

Themes

age self‑awareness humor

Mood

thoughtful wry

Type

philosophical inspirational

When to use this quote

- career retrospectives
- personal essays
- social gatherings

Key Concepts

mortality identity

Questions to Reflect On

- How does age affect your goals?
- What wisdom comes with age?

A Different Perspective

May discourage confronting age‑related challenges.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

## Related quotes

> [You never want to look like an old fart doing young rap music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dj-quik/you-never-want-to-look-like-an-old-fart-doing-young-rap-music/)

[DJ Quik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dj-quik/)

> [Though I've turned 21, I don't drink. I'm an old hag now. I'm just an old fart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mena-suvari/though-i-ve-turned-21-i-don-t-drink-i-m-an-old-hag-now-i-m-just-an/)

[Mena Suvari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mena-suvari/)

> [You see the names of places roundabout? They're mine now, and I've turned them inside out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-motion/you-see-the-names-of-places-roundabout-they-re-mine-now-and-i-ve/)

[Andrew Motion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-motion/)

> [I've never turned my back on country music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reba-mcentire/i-ve-never-turned-my-back-on-country-music/)

[Reba McEntire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reba-mcentire/)

> [I've turned down a lot of roles to make time to record and tour.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-curry/i-ve-turned-down-a-lot-of-roles-to-make-time-to-record-and-tour/)

[Tim Curry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-curry/)

> [How can you respect the world when you see it's being run by a bunch of kids turned old?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/how-can-you-respect-the-world-when-you-see-it-s-being-run-by-a-bunch/)

[John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/)

> [“So this is it ⎯ what cost me all that time. A man who turned out to be old, a house that turned out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-egan/so-this-is-it-what-cost-me-all-that-time-a-man-who-turned-out-to-be/)

[Jennifer Egan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-egan/)

> [“I wonder either their God has turned old, sick or died, because even the religious people no more believe in shit.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-f-moonzajer/i-wonder-either-their-god-has-turned-old-sick-or-died-because-even/)

[M.F. Moonzajer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-f-moonzajer/)

> [“Boredom brings out the bingo in every old fart.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnny-shaw/boredom-brings-out-the-bingo-in-every-old-fart/)

[Johnny Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnny-shaw/)

> [“A woman's got one life: She's got to reach out and grab it with both hands, or it'll pass her by and leave nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-schone/a-woman-s-got-one-life-she-s-got-to-reach-out-and-grab-it-with-both/)

Robin Schone

> [The first thing you learn about the music business is that it changes very quickly. You come into it at a certain point and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-wareham/the-first-thing-you-learn-about-the-music-business-is-that-it-changes/)

[Dean Wareham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-wareham/)

> [I don't regret anything that I've turned down, and I don't regret anything that I've done, really.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-frost/i-don-t-regret-anything-that-i-ve-turned-down-and-i-don-t-regret/)

[Nick Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-frost/)

> [I've not had it the hardest by any means, but in terms of what I've worked for, I knew what my dream was and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leah-williamson/i-ve-not-had-it-the-hardest-by-any-means-but-in-terms-of-what-i-ve/)

[Leah Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leah-williamson/)

> [I wanted to prove something to everybody - that I've turned my life around.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerry-katona/i-wanted-to-prove-something-to-everybody-that-i-ve-turned-my-life/)

[Kerry Katona](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerry-katona/)

> [I got behind that pencil and nothing happened for many years, but since they put me in the Songwriters Hall of Fame, I've turned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/otis-blackwell/i-got-behind-that-pencil-and-nothing-happened-for-many-years-but/)

[Otis Blackwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/otis-blackwell/)

## More by Robert Gottlieb

> [Paul Taylor's 'Offenbach Overtures' has lots of zip and charm, and its pair of dueling soldiers in red, who end up starry-eyed about each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-gottlieb/paul-taylor-s-offenbach-overtures-has-lots-of-zip-and-charm-and-its/)

[Robert Gottlieb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-gottlieb/)

> [Jodi Melnick is hotly self-absorbed. Her onstage musicians are much too loud, and like so many narcissistic performers, she goes on much too long:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-gottlieb/jodi-melnick-is-hotly-self-absorbed-her-onstage-musicians-are-much/)

[Robert Gottlieb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-gottlieb/)

> [Increasingly, editing means going to lunch. It means editing with a credit card, not with a pencil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-gottlieb/increasingly-editing-means-going-to-lunch-it-means-editing-with-a/)

[Robert Gottlieb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-gottlieb/)

> ['Porgy and Bess' has never been thought of as a dance show, and yet it's filled with dance. It uses dance to punctuate the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-gottlieb/porgy-and-bess-has-never-been-thought-of-as-a-dance-show-and-yet-it-s/)

[Robert Gottlieb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-gottlieb/)

> [Blood is the leitmotif of 'Black Swan.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-gottlieb/blood-is-the-leitmotif-of-black-swan/)

[Robert Gottlieb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-gottlieb/)

> [We know how Merce Cunningham works and how he thinks - we've been told, over and over again, by him and by others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-gottlieb/we-know-how-merce-cunningham-works-and-how-he-thinks-we-ve-been-told/)

[Robert Gottlieb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-gottlieb/)

> [When I was at Cambridge in the early fifties, there was a school nearby for training Army officers in Russian, and some imaginative genius…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-gottlieb/when-i-was-at-cambridge-in-the-early-fifties-there-was-a-school/)

[Robert Gottlieb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-gottlieb/)

> [Acting has changed since the nineteen-forties.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-gottlieb/acting-has-changed-since-the-nineteen-forties/)

[Robert Gottlieb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-gottlieb/)

> [Many people say to me, particularly about my dance writing, 'It sounds just like you.' But it sounds just like me after I've made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-gottlieb/many-people-say-to-me-particularly-about-my-dance-writing-it-sounds/)

[Robert Gottlieb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-gottlieb/)

> [Schumann's 'Quintet in E flat for Piano and Strings' is one of the sublime moments in Romantic music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-gottlieb/schumann-s-quintet-in-e-flat-for-piano-and-strings-is-one-of-the/)

[Robert Gottlieb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-gottlieb/)

> [What makes a publishing house great? The easy answer is the consistency with which it produces books of value over a lengthy period of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-gottlieb/what-makes-a-publishing-house-great-the-easy-answer-is-the/)

[Robert Gottlieb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-gottlieb/)

> [For me, the real pleasure in writing is in having an excuse to pursue my curiosity about people who have meant something to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-gottlieb/for-me-the-real-pleasure-in-writing-is-in-having-an-excuse-to-pursue/)

[Robert Gottlieb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-gottlieb/)

> [Ballet in September used to be dead as a dodo. Now, with City Ballet's ingenious decision to give us four weeks of repertory in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-gottlieb/ballet-in-september-used-to-be-dead-as-a-dodo-now-with-city-ballet-s/)

[Robert Gottlieb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-gottlieb/)

> [I have fixed more sentences than most people have read in their lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-gottlieb/i-have-fixed-more-sentences-than-most-people-have-read-in-their-lives/)

[Robert Gottlieb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-gottlieb/)

> [You can approach 'The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death' in a variety or combination of ways: as a startlingly eccentric hobby; as a series…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-gottlieb/you-can-approach-the-nutshell-studies-of-unexplained-death-in-a/)

[Robert Gottlieb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-gottlieb/)

[Explore all 150 Robert Gottlieb quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-gottlieb/)

## More Certain quotes

> [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/)

[Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/)

> [One can put some trust in the gratitude of a sovereign, and also in that of his family; under certain conditions, one can even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/otto-von-bismarck/one-can-put-some-trust-in-the-gratitude-of-a-sovereign-and-also-in/)

[Otto von Bismarck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/otto-von-bismarck/)

> [For successful education there must always be a certain freshness in the knowledge dealt with. It must be either new in itself or invested…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/for-successful-education-there-must-always-be-a-certain-freshness-in/)

[Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/)

> [People don't always realize that a record is forever. It'll always be there under your name. You've got to be certain that it's right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-iero/people-don-t-always-realize-that-a-record-is-forever-it-ll-always-be/)

[Frank Iero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-iero/)

> [Faith gives you a certain structure and meaning to your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/riffat-hassan/faith-gives-you-a-certain-structure-and-meaning-to-your-life/)

Riffat Hassan

> [I started out dancing on a reality TV show, but always with the intention of making my way over to film. I transitioned into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julianne-hough/i-started-out-dancing-on-a-reality-tv-show-but-always-with-the/)

[Julianne Hough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julianne-hough/)

> [One of the deepest and strangest of all human moods is the mood which will suddenly strike us perhaps in a garden at night,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/one-of-the-deepest-and-strangest-of-all-human-moods-is-the-mood-which/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [A dialogue is very important. It is a form of communication in which question and answer continue till a question is left without an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/a-dialogue-is-very-important-it-is-a-form-of-communication-in-which/)

[Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/)

> [I mean those people who are interested in good government will certainly contribute in order to make certain there's some counter-balance to those whose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-breyer/i-mean-those-people-who-are-interested-in-good-government-will/)

[Stephen Breyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-breyer/)

> [Why do we love certain homes, and why do they seem to love us? It is the warmth of our individual hearts reflected in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-h-robsjohn-gibbings/why-do-we-love-certain-homes-and-why-do-they-seem-to-love-us-it-is/)

T. H. Robsjohn-Gibbings

> [Human life consists of doing certain things ... to take part in the life of the community; to be able to talk about subjects…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/human-life-consists-of-doing-certain-things-to-take-part-in-the-life/)

[Amartya Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amartya-sen/)

> [We've all seen talented young players who get to a certain level but there comes a point where that talent will only take you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-gatland/we-ve-all-seen-talented-young-players-who-get-to-a-certain-level-but/)

[Warren Gatland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-gatland/)

> [The concept of humanity is an especially useful ideological instrument of imperialist expansion, and in its ethical-humanitarian form it is a specific vehicle of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-schmitt/the-concept-of-humanity-is-an-especially-useful-ideological/)

[Carl Schmitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-schmitt/)

> [I think that at a certain age, say fifteen or sixteen, poetry is like masturbation. But later in life good poets burn their early…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/i-think-that-at-a-certain-age-say-fifteen-or-sixteen-poetry-is-like/)

[Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/)

> [If a person does not listen to the demands of their own spiritual and heart life and insists on a certain program, you're going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/if-a-person-does-not-listen-to-the-demands-of-their-own-spiritual-and/)

[Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/)

Browse all 13,673 Certain quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "At a certain point, you have to face the fact that you've turned into an old fart.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Robert Gottlieb"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-gottlieb/at-a-certain-point-you-have-to-face-the-fact-that-you-ve-turned-into/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Certain"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-gottlieb/at-a-certain-point-you-have-to-face-the-fact-that-you-ve-turned-into/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/579/robert-gottlieb-2761_certain_at-a-certain-point-you-have-to-face-the_929350.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/579/robert-gottlieb-2761_certain_at-a-certain-point-you-have-to-face-the_929350.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/579/robert-gottlieb-2761_certain_at-a-certain-point-you-have-to-face-the_929350.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“At a certain point, you have to face the fact that you've turned into an old fart.” — Robert Gottlieb",
                "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": "Robert Gottlieb",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-gottlieb/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "At a certain point, you have...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-gottlieb/at-a-certain-point-you-have-to-face-the-fact-that-you-ve-turned-into/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-gottlieb/at-a-certain-point-you-have-to-face-the-fact-that-you-ve-turned-into/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
