Whether you are an elderly adult or someone caring for a senior loved one – life can be just a little bit better and easier when you are inspired.
Following are some of my favorite inspirational quotes by older adults that have helped me get through (and still do) some difficult moments.
Most are from famous individuals such as celebrities, musicians, etc.
Some of these will be famous quotes you may recognize and others you may have not heard before. Either way – I hope they give you some inspiration.
Live your life, listen to your music way too loud, be as crazy and as ‘different’ as you want to be and always remember you’re not alone.
Ian McKellen
Healing yourself is connected with healing others.
Yoko Ono
Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.
Desmond Tutu
It’s better to hang out with people better than you. Pick out associates whose behavior is better than yours and you’ll drift in that direction.
Warren Buffet
However difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at.
Stephen Hawking
Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.
Dalai Lama
What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.
Jane Goodall
“Everybody needs a passion. That’s what keeps life interesting. If you live without passion, you can go through life without leaving any footprints.”
Betty White
“I have reached an age where if someone tells me to wear socks, I don’t have to.”
Albert Einstein
“You can live to be a hundred if you give up all the things that make you want to live to be a hundred.”
Woody Allen
“Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.”
Mark Twain
“We are not put on this earth to see through one another. We are put on this earth to see one another through.”
Gloria Vanderbilt
“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.”
George Carlin
“We all need people who will give us feedback. That’s how we improve.”
Bill Gates
“Aging is an extraordinary process where you become the person you always should have been.”
David Bowie
“And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.”
Paul McCartney
“If there is one thing I’ve learned in my years on this planet, it’s that the happiest and most fulfilled people are those who devoted themselves to something bigger and more profound than merely their own self-interest.”
John Glenn
“Don’t try too hard to be young. Be who you are.”
Tony Danza
“Without passion, you don’t have any energy, and without energy, you simply have nothing.”
Warren Buffet
“There are only four kinds of people in the world. Those who have been caregivers. Those who are currently caregivers. Those who will be caregivers, and those who will need a caregiver.”
Rosalyn Carter
“If you can’t change your fate, change your attitude.”
Amy Tan
“Old age is always fifteen years older than I am.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes
“The idea is to die young as late as possible.”
Ashley Montagu
“Don’t cry because it is over, smile because it happened.”
Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss)
“There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of people you love. When you learn to tap this source, you will truly have defeated age.”
Sophia Loren
“I am where I am because I believe in all possibilities.”
Whoopi Goldberg
“Perhaps one has to be very old before one learns to be amused rather than shocked.”
Robert Browning
“If you associate enough with older people who do enjoy their lives, who are not stored away in any golden ghettos, you will gain a sense of continuity and of the possibility for a full life.”
Margaret Mead
“With realization of one’s own potential and self-confidence in one’s ability, one can build a better world.”
Dalai Lama
“Live your life and forget your age.”
Norman Vincent Peale
“The trick in life is learning how to deal with it.”
Helen Mirren
“Don’t be afraid to go out on a limb. It’s where all the fruit is.”
Shirley MacLaine
“Even though you are on the right track – you will get run over if you just sit there.”
Will Rogers
“Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.”
C. S. Lewis
“You cannot correct an old person every time they say something offensive. You would never make it through Thanksgiving dinner!”
Stephen Colbert
“Old age is an excellent time for outrage. My goal is to say or do at least one outrageous thing every week.”
Maggie Kuhn
“Aging is not lost youth but a new stage of opportunity and strength.”
Betty Friedan
“How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are.”
Satchel Paige
“Don’t waste your time worrying about your skin or your weight. Develop what you do, what you put your hands on in the world.”
Meryl Streep
“Know that you are the perfect age. Each year is special and precious, for you shall only live it once. Be comfortable with growing older.”
Louise Hay
“Getting old is like climbing a mountain; you get a little out of breath, but the view is much better!”
Ingrid Bergman
“You can’t help getting older, but you don’t have to get old.”
George Burns
“I am appalled that the term we use to talk about aging is ‘anti.’ Aging is as natural as a baby’s softness and scent. Aging is human evolution in its pure form.”
Jamie Lee Curtis
“At age 20, we worry about what others think of us. At age 40, we don’t care what they think of us. At age 60, we discover they haven’t been thinking of us at all.”
Ann Landers
“The problem with aging is not that it’s one damn thing after another – it’s every damn thing, all at once, all the time.”
John Scalzi
“I don’t dwell on my age. It might limit what I can do. As long as I have my mind and health, it’s just a number.”
Nola Ochs
“Age is merely a number, it’s never too late to be great.”
Ernestine Shepherd
“You’ll never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine.”
John C. Maxwell
“I’ve always maintained that all characters and all personalities are in all of us. The whole thing is available. You’re not this or that, no one is.”
Richard Gere
“You are a light. You are the light. Never let anyone – any person or any force – dampen, dim or diminish your light … Release the need to hate, to harbor division, and the enticement of revenge. Release all bitterness. Hold only love, only peace in your heart, knowing that the battle of good to overcome evil is already won.”
John Lewis
These and many other inspiring quotes can help us through many different types of situations and I encourage you to look at the Chicken Soup for the Soul book, which is a great book to read and share as a gift.
About the Author: Kane, CAPS, C.D.S.
Esther C. Kane, CAPS, C.D.S. is a retired occupational therapist, a CAPS certified specialist. a certified Senior Home Safety Specialist and a CARES® Dementia Specialist (C.D.S.). She graduated from Florida International University and practiced OT in Florida, Georgia and North Carolina for 10 years. She specialized in working with neurological impairments in the senior adult population. Her expertise in home assessments and home safety issues for seniors will help you to make the best possible decisions for yourself or your elderly parent.
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