William Wordsworth on maturity

We must be free or die, who speak the tongue
That Shakespeare spake; the faith and morals hold
Which Milton held.

To me the meanest flower that blows can give
Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears.

And ‘t is my faith, that every flower
Enjoys the air it breathes.

Maturity is a bitter disappointment for which no remedy exists, unless laughter can be said to remedy anything.

Kurt Vonnegut1922–2007Cat’s Cradle (1963), Chapter 88

• Laughter

Immoderate desire is the mark of a child, not a man.

Democritus460–360 BCFreeman (1948), p. 152

I live in that solitude which is painful in youth, but delicious in the years of maturity.

Albert Einstein1879–1955Out of My Later Years (1950), Ch. 2 “Self-Portrait” (1936), p. 5

• Age