Herman Melville on age

Heaven have mercy on us all⁠—Presbyterians and Pagans alike⁠—for we are all dreadfully cracked about the head and desperately in need of mending.

Are there no Moravians in the Moon, that not a missionary has yet visited this poor pagan planet of ours, to civilize civilization and christianize Christendom?

Ah, happiness courts the light, so we deem the world is gay, but misery hides aloof, so we deem that misery there is none.

When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around.
But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.

And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.

Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.

Jack Benny1894–1974Often credited to Mark Twain