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The chief prevention against getting old is to remain astonished.

Kevin Kelly

Kevin Kelly’s decades-long career as a writer, tech thinker, and founding executive editor of “Wired” magazine is living proof that there’s no age limit on curiosity or education. He summarizes this concept in a collection of advice he compiled in 2020 titled “Excellent Advice for Living: Wisdom I Wish I’d Known Earlier,” excerpted here. Too often, society equates aging with a decrease in progress, novelty, and innovation. Per Kelly’s advice, the best way to push back against this is to remain open to the possibilities of surprise, wonder, and astonishment. No matter how old we are, we’re never too old to improve ourselves, learn something new, or change our minds.

“He who plants kindness gathers love.”

"Apart from the cross, there is no other ladder by which we may go to heaven."

The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.

There is only one success... to be able to spend your life in your own way.

Christopher Morley

With more than 100 books to his credit, Christopher Morley’s oeuvre includes novels as well as essay and poetry collections. Perhaps his best-known work is 1939’s “Kitty Foyle,” a novel that sold more than a million copies and was adapted into a film starring Ginger Rogers. The source of this quote, however, is a satirical novel that the American writer debuted 17 years earlier. In “Where the Blue Begins,” all the characters are anthropomorphized dogs, starting with Gissing, the protagonist. When three puppies fall under his care, Gissing travels to the city and attempts to earn money in various ways, such as managing a department store. His adventures in the workforce remind him that accomplishments are defined by individuals, not society, and self-awareness can clarify our own unique sense of success.

Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!

—Isaiah 30:18

You cannot smile too often. Gladness is the sunshine of life.
~Ouina (Cora L. V. Scott Richmond), given through her Medium "Water Lily," "Sunbeams for My Flowers," Ouina's Canoe, 1882

In the depths of Winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.

Albert Camus

French Algerian writer Albert Camus grappled with many philosophical questions, including the meaning of life and how to weather its difficulties. In novels, plays, and essays, the Nobel Prize winner explored the depths, heights, and wonders of our existence. This quote was penned in a series of essays published in 1968, in which Camus urged humankind to persevere through adversity. In this volume, he wrote about recovering from World War II: “We must mend what has been torn apart” and “give happiness a meaning once more.” While Camus’ words on resilience were inspired by the specific struggles of his era, his hopefulness and belief that light outlives the dark is timeless.

With confidence, you have won before you have started.

Marcus Garvey

Possessing a strong sense of who you are and what you are capable of can carry you a long way in reaching your goals. The opposite is also true: Taking on a difficult task while full of self-doubt and pessimism often leads to failure. Marcus Garvey, a Black leader and activist in the early 20th century, believed this so thoroughly that he saw confidence as a victory in itself. He said, “If you have no confidence in self you are twice defeated in the race of life.”

“Moral Courage – doing what has to be done, because it is the right thing to do – is the mark of a true hero.”