--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When Goya was 80 he drew an ancient man…" description: "\"When Goya was 80 he drew an ancient man propped on two sticks, with a great mass of white hair and beard all over his face, and the inscription, \"I am ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e6/simone-de-beauvoir-407_aging_when-goya-was-80-he-drew-an-ancient-man_1405432.jpg" --- # When Goya was 80 he drew an ancient man propped on two… ![“When Goya was 80 he drew an ancient man propped on two sticks, with a great mass of white hair and beard all over his face, and the inscription, "I am still learning."” quote by Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e6/simone-de-beauvoir-407_aging_when-goya-was-80-he-drew-an-ancient-man_1405432.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e6/simone-de-beauvoir-407_aging_when-goya-was-80-he-drew-an-ancient-man_1405432.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e6/simone-de-beauvoir-407_aging_when-goya-was-80-he-drew-an-ancient-man_1405432.jpg) > “When Goya was 80 he drew an ancient man propped on two sticks, with a great mass of white hair and beard all over his face, and the inscription, "I am still learning."” [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Even at eighty, Goya’s self‑portrait declares ongoing learning, illustrating lifelong curiosity despite age. **In simple terms:** Old age still embraces learning. Key Takeaway Never stop seeking knowledge. Themes age learning humility Mood inspirational encouraging Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - senior education - career change - personal hobbies Key Concepts lifelong education self‑portrait artistic expression Questions to Reflect On - What new skill could you start now? - How does age affect your learning style? A Different Perspective May romanticize aging; not everyone can maintain artistic practice. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Aging](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aging/) [Ancient](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ancient/) [Ancient Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ancient-man-636194/) [Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beard/) [Drew Ancient](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drew-ancient-4937931/) [Face Inscription](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/face-inscription-4937930/) [Faces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faces/) [Goya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goya/) [Goya 80](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goya-80-4937929/) [Hair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hair/) [Inscriptions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inscriptions/) [Mass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mass/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Sticks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sticks/) [Stills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stills/) [Two](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/two/) [White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/white/) [White hair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/white-hair/) ## Related quotes > [The art of beautiful motion is far and away the oldest. Before man learned how to use any instruments at all, he moved the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-van-der-leeuw/the-art-of-beautiful-motion-is-far-and-away-the-oldest-before-man/) [Gerard van der Leeuw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerard-van-der-leeuw/) > [If an ancient man saw planes two thousand years ago, he would've thought they were birds or angels from another world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dejan-stojanovic/if-an-ancient-man-saw-planes-two-thousand-years-ago-he-would-ve-2/) [Dejan Stojanovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dejan-stojanovic/) > [“If an ancient man saw planes two thousand years ago He would've thought they were birds Or angels from another world Or messengers from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dejan-stojanovic/if-an-ancient-man-saw-planes-two-thousand-years-ago-he-would-ve/) [Dejan Stojanovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dejan-stojanovic/) > [“As per the Wisdom of the Ancient One: "Man, can not live by smoothies alone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques/as-per-the-wisdom-of-the-ancient-one-man-can-not-live-by-smoothies/) [Jacques](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques/) > [“There is no force in the life of ancient man, the influence of which so pervades all his activities as does that of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-henry-breasted/there-is-no-force-in-the-life-of-ancient-man-the-influence-of-which/) [James Henry Breasted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-henry-breasted/) > [But when I am alone, I do not have the effrontery to consider myself an artist at all, not in the grand old meaning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/but-when-i-am-alone-i-do-not-have-the-effrontery-to-consider-myself/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [“Götz Bergander, son of Dresden, eyewitness to its suffering, and the first objective historian of its destruction, summed up succinctly but tellingly: What began…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-taylor/g-tz-bergander-son-of-dresden-eyewitness-to-its-suffering-and-the/) [Frederick Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-taylor/) > [Of course, the camera is a far more objective and trustworthy witness than a human being. 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Although they were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hain-friswell/the-studio-was-immense-and-gloomy-the-sole-light-within-it-proceeding/) [James Hain Friswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hain-friswell/) > [“A Belgian journalist, struggling to describe the scene, had said that it resembled a cross between a permanent mass wake, an ongoing grad night…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/a-belgian-journalist-struggling-to-describe-the-scene-had-said-that/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [It was my 16th birthday - my mom and dad gave me my Goya classical guitar that day. I sat down, wrote this song,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stevie-nicks/it-was-my-16th-birthday-my-mom-and-dad-gave-me-my-goya-classical/) [Stevie Nicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stevie-nicks/) > [In the social equation, the value of a single life is nil; in the cosmic equation, it is infinite... Not only communism, but any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/in-the-social-equation-the-value-of-a-single-life-is-nil-in-the/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [Titian, Rembrandt and Goya were the great painters. I am only a public clown.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/titian-rembrandt-and-goya-were-the-great-painters-i-am-only-a-public/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) ## More by Simone de Beauvoir > [The time that one gains cannot be accumulated in a storehouse; it is contradictory to want to save up existence, which, the fact is,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/the-time-that-one-gains-cannot-be-accumulated-in-a-storehouse-it-is/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [One is not born a genius, one becomes a genius; and the feminine situation has up to the present rendered this becoming practically impossible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/one-is-not-born-a-genius-one-becomes-a-genius-and-the-feminine/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [Many things would be changed for Americans if they would only admit that there is ill-luck in this world and that misfortune is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/many-things-would-be-changed-for-americans-if-they-would-only-admit/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [“You said something very true the other day: that for us, nudity begins with the face.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/you-said-something-very-true-the-other-day-that-for-us-nudity-begins/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [“Ženama se ne rađamo, nego postajemo”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/enama-se-ne-ra-amo-nego-postajemo/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [Life is occupied in both perpetuating itself and in surpassing itself; if all it does is maintain itself, then living is only not dying.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/life-is-occupied-in-both-perpetuating-itself-and-in-surpassing-itself/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [Fathers never have exactly the daughters they want because they invent a notion a them that the daughters have to conform to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/fathers-never-have-exactly-the-daughters-they-want-because-they/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [However gifted an individual is at the outset, if his or her talents cannot be developed because of his or her social condition, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/however-gifted-an-individual-is-at-the-outset-if-his-or-her-talents/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [In fact, people seem to be tired of fiction now. There are so many other ways of exploring humanity - by ethnology, psychoanalysis, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/in-fact-people-seem-to-be-tired-of-fiction-now-there-are-so-many/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [Feminism is one way of attacking society as it now exists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/feminism-is-one-way-of-attacking-society-as-it-now-exists/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [“Magari mi troverai ridicola, ma mi disprezzerei se non osassi esserlo mai”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/magari-mi-troverai-ridicola-ma-mi-disprezzerei-se-non-osassi-esserlo/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [from one minute to the next the present is merely an honorary past. 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I want to be a woman and to be a man, to have many friends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/i-am-awfully-greedy-i-want-everything-from-life-i-want-to-be-a-woman/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [“I enjoyed my exhaustion, though; I liked overdoing things”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/i-enjoyed-my-exhaustion-though-i-liked-overdoing-things/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [“But I miss you to the point of anguish.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/but-i-miss-you-to-the-point-of-anguish/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) [Explore all 488 Simone de Beauvoir quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) ## 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": "When Goya was 80 he drew an ancient man propped on two sticks, with a great mass of white hair and beard all over his face, and the inscription, \"I am still learning.\"", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Simone de Beauvoir" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/when-goya-was-80-he-drew-an-ancient-man-propped-on-two-sticks-with-a/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Aging" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/when-goya-was-80-he-drew-an-ancient-man-propped-on-two-sticks-with-a/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e6/simone-de-beauvoir-407_aging_when-goya-was-80-he-drew-an-ancient-man_1405432.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e6/simone-de-beauvoir-407_aging_when-goya-was-80-he-drew-an-ancient-man_1405432.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e6/simone-de-beauvoir-407_aging_when-goya-was-80-he-drew-an-ancient-man_1405432.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When Goya was 80 he drew an ancient man propped on two sticks, with a great mass of white hair and beard all…” — Simone de Beauvoir", "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": "Simone de Beauvoir", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "When Goya was 80 he drew...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/when-goya-was-80-he-drew-an-ancient-man-propped-on-two-sticks-with-a/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/when-goya-was-80-he-drew-an-ancient-man-propped-on-two-sticks-with-a/#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 } } ] } ```