--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Getting old is like standing in a long…" description: "\"“Getting old is like standing in a long, slow line. You wake up out of the shuffle and torpor only at those moments when the line moves you one step cl..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b3/wallace-stegner-1352_getting-old_getting-old-is-like-standing-in-a-long-s_1079010.jpg" --- # Getting old is like standing in a long, slow line. You… ![“Getting old is like standing in a long, slow line. You wake up out of the shuffle and torpor only at those moments when the line moves you one step closer to the window.” quote by Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b3/wallace-stegner-1352_getting-old_getting-old-is-like-standing-in-a-long-s_1079010.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b3/wallace-stegner-1352_getting-old_getting-old-is-like-standing-in-a-long-s_1079010.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b3/wallace-stegner-1352_getting-old_getting-old-is-like-standing-in-a-long-s_1079010.jpg) > ““Getting old is like standing in a long, slow line. You wake up out of the shuffle and torpor only at those moments when the line moves you one step closer to the window.”” [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Aging feels like a slow, inevitable progression where moments of awareness only occur when we move forward. **In simple terms:** Aging is a slow line with occasional awakenings. Key Takeaway Embrace each small forward step. Themes aging patience awareness Mood reflective melancholic Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - daily routines - health checkups - career milestones - family gatherings Key Concepts life cycle mindfulness existential reflection Questions to Reflect On - How do you notice progress in your own life? - What moments break the monotony for you? A Different Perspective The metaphor may oversimplify the varied experiences of aging. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Getting old](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/getting-old/) [Like Standing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-standing-342061/) [Old Like](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-like-687904/) [Slow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slow/) [Slow Line](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slow-line-2729530/) ## Related quotes > [When I'm out shopping, I look at somebody who's buying something or sitting down, and I look at him and think: 'Mmmm,' however old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-marsh/when-i-m-out-shopping-i-look-at-somebody-who-s-buying-something-or/) [Jean Marsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-marsh/) > [I sort of fell out of new music. I'm old, I like what I like, and that's that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-heidecker/i-sort-of-fell-out-of-new-music-i-m-old-i-like-what-i-like-and-that-s/) [Tim Heidecker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-heidecker/) > [I don't like a lot of the stuff that goes on in the art world, but it's hard to be old and like what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-stella/i-don-t-like-a-lot-of-the-stuff-that-goes-on-in-the-art-world-but-it/) [Frank Stella](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-stella/) > [My heart is a thousand years old. I am not like other people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/my-heart-is-a-thousand-years-old-i-am-not-like-other-people/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [50 years old is like springtime to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lena-horne/50-years-old-is-like-springtime-to-me/) [Lena Horne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lena-horne/) > [I think ageing suits me because I was born old, like Spencer Tracy or Dolly the Sheep.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-hardy/i-think-ageing-suits-me-because-i-was-born-old-like-spencer-tracy-or/) [Jeremy Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-hardy/) > [Don't look at me like I've gotten old or something like that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clint-eastwood/don-t-look-at-me-like-i-ve-gotten-old-or-something-like-that/) [Clint Eastwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clint-eastwood/) > [My forte is the music. But obviously if ya don't keep up with the business, then your kinda doing it for nothing. So I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dj-quik/my-forte-is-the-music-but-obviously-if-ya-don-t-keep-up-with-the/) [DJ Quik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dj-quik/) > [But I don't like to, tell people how old I am. I like that to be a mystery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/calista-flockhart/but-i-don-t-like-to-tell-people-how-old-i-am-i-like-that-to-be-a/) [Calista Flockhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/calista-flockhart/) > [I don't care how old I am, I still like cartoons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bubbles/i-don-t-care-how-old-i-am-i-still-like-cartoons/) [Bubbles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bubbles/) > [I love looking at you, hundred-year-old tree, loaded with shoots and boughs as though you were a stripling. Teach me the secret of growing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-lder-c-mara/i-love-looking-at-you-hundred-year-old-tree-loaded-with-shoots-and/) [Hélder Câmara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-lder-c-mara/) > [Old friend, there are people—young and old—that I like, and people that I do not like. The former are always in short supply. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-macdonald/old-friend-there-are-people-young-and-old-that-i-like-and-people-that/) [John D. MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-macdonald/) > [We grow neither better or worse as we get old, but more like ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-baruch/we-grow-neither-better-or-worse-as-we-get-old-but-more-like-ourselves/) [Bernard Baruch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-baruch/) > [We grow neither better nor worse as we get old, but more like ourselves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-lamberton-becker/we-grow-neither-better-nor-worse-as-we-get-old-but-more-like-ourselves/) [May Lamberton Becker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-lamberton-becker/) > [With the "old dog" stuff, maybe the term "old" is in there, but I'm 26. I'm not that old. It's mostly like, "Ah, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mac-demarco/with-the-old-dog-stuff-maybe-the-term-old-is-in-there-but-i-m-26-i-m/) [Mac DeMarco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mac-demarco/) ## More by Wallace Stegner > [“I have to blame myself for not finding any way of reaching him, but I can't feel that either Ruth or I had anything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/i-have-to-blame-myself-for-not-finding-any-way-of-reaching-him-but-i/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [No life goes past so swiftly as an eventless one, no clock spins like a clock whose days are all alike.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/no-life-goes-past-so-swiftly-as-an-eventless-one-no-clock-spins-like/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [“within yourself, you became a grave for her as you were a grave for Chet, and you carried your dead unquietly within you. —”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/within-yourself-you-became-a-grave-for-her-as-you-were-a-grave-for/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [Towns are like people. Old ones often have character, the new ones are interchangeable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/towns-are-like-people-old-ones-often-have-character-the-new-ones-are/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [By his very profession, a serious fiction writer is a vendor of the sensuous particulars of life, a perceiver and handler of things. His…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/by-his-very-profession-a-serious-fiction-writer-is-a-vendor-of-the/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [“The creative writer is compulsively concrete . . . . His fictional house should be haunted by ideas, not inhabited by them; they should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/the-creative-writer-is-compulsively-concrete-his-fictional-house/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [Hard writing makes easy reading.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/hard-writing-makes-easy-reading/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [You married me...but you didn't marry what you could make out of me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/you-married-me-but-you-didn-t-marry-what-you-could-make-out-of-me/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [Wisdom. . .is knowing what you have to accept.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/wisdom-is-knowing-what-you-have-to-accept/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [“His mouth is full of ecology, his mind is full of fumes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/his-mouth-is-full-of-ecology-his-mind-is-full-of-fumes/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [I gave my heart to the mountains the minute I stood beside this river with its spray in my face and watched it thunder…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/i-gave-my-heart-to-the-mountains-the-minute-i-stood-beside-this-river/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [“Poetry ought to be a by-product of living, and you can't have a by-product unless you've got a product first .”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/poetry-ought-to-be-a-by-product-of-living-and-you-can-t-have-a-by/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [Something will have gone out of us as a people if we ever let the remaining wilderness be destroyed; if we permit the last…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/something-will-have-gone-out-of-us-as-a-people-if-we-ever-let-the/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [“Some people, I am told, have memories like computers, nothing to do but punch the button and wait for the print-out. Mine is more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/some-people-i-am-told-have-memories-like-computers-nothing-to-do-but/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [ “\[Y\]ou were too alert to the figurative possibilities of words not to see the phrase \[angle of repose\] as descriptive of human as well… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/y-ou-were-too-alert-to-the-figurative-possibilities-of-words-not-to/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) [Explore all 251 Wallace Stegner quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) ## More Getting old quotes > [I feel excited about getting older as an actress, too. I think there are some amazing opportunities around the corner and I don't need…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sutton-foster/i-feel-excited-about-getting-older-as-an-actress-too-i-think-there/) [Sutton Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sutton-foster/) > [Getting older doesn't help you in the fact that you might have covered some of this ground before. So you're listening to a song…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-brooks/getting-older-doesn-t-help-you-in-the-fact-that-you-might-have/) [Garth Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-brooks/) > [“I walked over to her. She took my hand. “You’re a fine kid, Frank. There’s something wild and hard inside you that needs gentling,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-robbins/i-walked-over-to-her-she-took-my-hand-you-re-a-fine-kid-frank-there-s/) [Harold Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-robbins/) > [“Pretty girls lie at the centre of straight culture, dyke culture, fag culture. They sell everything, they buy everything, they ruin great men and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/pretty-girls-lie-at-the-centre-of-straight-culture-dyke-culture-fag/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [I'm still the baddest expletive in the world. Yeah, I'm getting older, but Kareem got older. Hakeem got older. I don't need Earthlings' respect.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shaquille-o-neal/i-m-still-the-baddest-expletive-in-the-world-yeah-i-m-getting-older/) [Shaquille O'Neal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shaquille-o-neal/) > [I'm getting back to my old roots.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tiger-woods/i-m-getting-back-to-my-old-roots/) [Tiger Woods](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tiger-woods/) > [Our souls are getting older and we're tired of doing things the same old way. We want to find some real solutions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/echo-bodine/our-souls-are-getting-older-and-we-re-tired-of-doing-things-the-same/) [Echo Bodine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/echo-bodine/) > [When I first started, I was really nervous. You could hear my voice quiver. So I started drinking a bit and that helped. A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-mcgraw/when-i-first-started-i-was-really-nervous-you-could-hear-my-voice/) [Tim McGraw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-mcgraw/) > [The way that I feel about my Jewish identity has been really radically changed by events in life. Like, becoming a writer is one.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/the-way-that-i-feel-about-my-jewish-identity-has-been-really/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [Everything runs its course. We had told a lot of stories that happened in our life. My kid was getting older, and we were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howie-mandel/everything-runs-its-course-we-had-told-a-lot-of-stories-that-happened/) [Howie Mandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howie-mandel/) > [“I'm 68 years old, and somebody asked if I'm retired. I told him, "No, I'll still be writing long after I'm dead.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-brackin/i-m-68-years-old-and-somebody-asked-if-i-m-retired-i-told-him-no-i-ll/) [Ron Brackin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-brackin/) > [Most famous people get younger and younger. I sometimes ask myself that question: 'How come I'm the only person who's getting older?'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victoria-beckham/most-famous-people-get-younger-and-younger-i-sometimes-ask-myself/) [Victoria Beckham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victoria-beckham/) > [“I'm getting old, thought Eileen Calder. Old and worn out and cynical. And being cynical is a lot worse than being old or worn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-sheffield/i-m-getting-old-thought-eileen-calder-old-and-worn-out-and-cynical/) [Charles Sheffield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-sheffield/) > [I'm not bothered by the idea of getting old, or I guess you could say by having arrived at old. I was 10 when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penn-jillette/i-m-not-bothered-by-the-idea-of-getting-old-or-i-guess-you-could-say/) [Penn Jillette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penn-jillette/) > [Germany's population is getting older and older and smaller and smaller. To be able to finance our welfare system over the long term, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-achleitner/germany-s-population-is-getting-older-and-older-and-smaller-and/) [Paul Achleitner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-achleitner/) [Browse all 600 Getting old quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/getting-old/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Getting old is like standing in a long, slow line. 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