It is old age, rather than death, that is to be contrasted with life. Old age is lifes parody, whereas death transforms life into a destiny: in a way it preserves it by giving it the absolute dimension. Death does away with time. – Simone de Beauvoir
People until I was 60 would always say they thought I looked younger, which I think, without flattering myself, I did, but I think I certainly have, as George Orwell says people do after a certain age, the face they deserve. – Christopher Hitchens
The best books for a man are not always those which the wise recommend, but often those which meet the peculiar wants, the natural thirst of his mind, and therefore awaken interest and rivet thought. – William Ellery Channing