Erin McHugh - So Who’s Counting?: The Little Quote Book About Growing Older and Still Kicking Ass

To Anne Burke Sadow With love and thanks C o n t en t s I N T R O D U C T I O N We always thought of the 50s as Elvis and the postwar boom; the 60s as Woodstock, free love, and getting high; and the 70s as The Me Decade, living the good life amid fondue, lava lamps, and disco madness. Now that were in our 50s, 60s, and 70s, those numbers mean something else entirely: our age. They also mean Social Security, little aches and pains, and the gateway to our third act. But really, things are just beginning to happen. Were healthier, we live longer than the generations before us; we have later-in-life careers; we go on dating websites; were more engaged and travel farther. Older is getting younger every day.

SO WHOS COUNTING? is the book that proves it. Its an acknowledgment and affirmation of our journey, chock-full of inspiration, humor, and reminders that things are just beginning to happen. The best is now. A T T I T U D E
I S
E V E RY T HI N G Its all in how you look at the world, your life, your future. Never say no to adventures. Always say yes; otherwise, youll lead a very dull life.

Ian Fleming Get busy living or get busy dying. Stephen King

I want to be around a really long time. I want to be a thorn in the side of everything as long as possible. Patti Smith Dont wait. The time will never be just right. Napoleon Hill It isnt where you come from, its where youre going that counts.

Ella Fitzgerald

I dont have any rules, because Id only be breaking them. Iris Apfel I wake up every day and I think, Im breathing! Its a good day. Eve Ensler What I love best in life is new starts. Karl Lagerfeld Im thrilled to death with life. Johnny Cash I prefer to be a beautiful woman of my age than try desperately to look 30. Demi Moore At the end of every movie, always Im feeling, Youre never going to work again.

Thats going to happen one day, but I hope Im not alive. Lauren Bacall N obody looks good when they get ol d... but what the hell can you do about it? Nothing. So you may as well ignore it as best you can and just be who you are. Grace Slick I need to retire from retirement. Sandra Day OConnor Its the rudest word in my dictionary, retire.

And old is another one. I dont allow that in my house. And being called vintage. I dont want any of these old words. I like enthusiastic. Judi Dench

Getting old is a fascinating thing.

The older you get, the older you want to get. Keith Richards A S O L D
A S Y O U
F E E L Age is a state of mind more than a physical marker: Make sure you approach life that way every day. T here 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 Everyone is the age of their heart. Guatemalan proverb I have retired, but if there is anything that would kill me it is to wake up in the morning not knowing what to do.

Nelson Mandela T he trick is to age honestly and gracefully and make it look great, so that everyone looks forward to it. Emma Thompson You may be old, you may be in your third act, but you can still be vital and sexual and funny. Life isnt over. Jane Fonda

Theres nothing I would retire for, so I wont retire. Ill just keep going until I fall over. James Earl Jones I figure if I keep my spirit in shape, the bones will take care of themselves.

Rita Moreno

Theres a part of you that always remains a child, no matter how mature you get, how sophisticated or weary. Barbra Streisand We are always the same age inside. Gertrude Stein We turn not older with years but newer every day. Emily Dickinson K e e p m o vi n g. Dick Van Dyke I m just too busy living every day to really spend a lot of time thinking, Am I old? Im this age. I am in this moment and in this life.

Emmylou Harris I want to die young at a ripe old age. Ashley Montagu S I L V E R
L I N I N G S There are pluses to being older: Lets focus on what those are and make sure to enjoy them. One of the few advantages to not being beautiful is that one usually gets better-looking as one gets older. I am, in fact, at this very moment gaining my looks. Nora Ephron I didnt get old on purpose, it just happened. If youre lucky, it could happen to you.

Andy Rooney The great thing about getting older is that you dont lose all the other ages youve been. Madeleine LEngle

A sense of freedom is something that, happily, comes with age and life experience. Diane Keaton I look forward to being older, when what you look like becomes less and less an issue and what you are is the point. Susan Sarandon D ont ever give up on life. Life can be so beautiful, especially after youve spent a lot of time with it. Yoko Ono I m t o o o l d t o d o t hi n g s b y h a l f.

Lou Reed

I have reached an age when, if someone tells me to wear socks, I dont have to. Albert Einstein Aging is not lost youth but a new stage of opportunity and strength. Betty Friedan To be old can be glorious if one has not unlearned how to begin. Martin Buber A h, well, perhaps one has to be very old before one learns how to be amused rather than shocked. Pearl S. Buck