"Whenever a man's friends begin to compliment him about looking young, he may be sure that they think he is growing old."

Washington Irving Literature See all quotes by Washington Irving →

React to this quote

More by Washington Irving

“I endeavor to take things as they come with cheerfulness, and when I cannot get a dinner to suit my taste, I endeavor to get a taste to suit my dinner.”

“Thus man passes away; his name perishes from record and recollection; his history is as a tale that is told, and his very monument becomes a ruin.”

“There is in every true woman's heart a spark of heavenly fire, which lies dormant in the broad daylight of prosperity; but which kindles up, and beams, and blazes in the dark hour of adversity.”

“My native country was full of youthful promise; Europe was rich in the accumulated treasures of age.”

“I am always at a loss to know how much to believe of my own stories.”

“There is an eloquence in true enthusiasm that is not to be doubted.”

Resonant Thoughts

"Consider another analogy. If you are worried about your father’s health, it does not make you less worried about his health if you are told that your mother is entirely healthy. It is obviously good t…"

— David Benatar

Philosophy1966

#family

"The heart may think it knows better: The senses know that absence blots people out. We have really no absent friends."

— Elizabeth Bowen

Literature1899–1973

#friendship

"There's this myth in drama, which I think comes from theatre, and I think it comes from writers, who are too articulate for their own good, that everyone is sincere and able to communicate their ideas…"

— Tilda Swinton

Entertainment1960

#art