When I was writingmy current bestseller, I thought it would be the cream on the cake if I added relevant quotes and words of wisdom to the book's many sections.
I was surprised how easy that task was.
As it turned out, the tough part was to select the most appropriate from heaps of possibilities.
If you've lived long enough, the chances are pretty good that some people expect that, as part of your journey, you've acquired wisdom.
Unless, of course, you too have found as H.
L.
Mencken did: 'The older I grow the more I distrust the familiar doctrine that age brings wisdom'.
Anyhow, along my path, I have assembled some of my gems in relation to ageing.
No doubt, you, too, have your favourites.
If I'm right, I'd love to hear them.
First-off, there are those that I'd class as my current favourites (by the time you're reading this, my choices almost certainly will have changed).

1. No wiser person ever wanted to be younger.
   (Native American aphorism)
2. One day your life will flash before your eyes.
   Make sure it's worth watching.
   (Anon.
   )
3. You're never too old to become younger.
   (Mae West)
4. Invest in something you can count on-yourself! (Harvard Business School)

Then there are the proverbs.
The Scots and the Italians are at the top of my list.

1. Be happy while you're living, for you're a long time dead.
   (Scottish)
2. The best way to get praise is to die.
   (Italian)

'Attitude' is BIG-deal in relation to ageing.
Here are a few of my favourites.

1. The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes.
   (William James)
2. A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.
   (Herm Albright)
3. It's a funny thing about life: if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you'll very often get it.
   (Somerset Maugham)

Then there's a group that I'd call 'philosophical', including

• You can't help getting older, but you don't have to get old (George Burns)
• Birthdays are good for you.
  The more you have the longer you live.
  (Anon.
  )
• When you cease to make a contribution, you begin to die.
  (Eleanor Roosevelt)
• Life is a lot like jazz, it's best when you improvise.
  (George Gershwin)
• Anyone can get old.
  All you have to do is live long enough.
  (Groucho Marx)

You, too, will probably have your favourite bits of advice on advice.
Here are some of my favourites.

• The best advice we can take is our own.
  (George Burns)
• No one can give you better advice than yourself.
  (Cicero)
• Wall Street is the only place that people ride in a Rolls Royce to get advice from those who take the subway.
  (Warren Buffet)
• I always pass on good advice.
  It's the only thing to do with it.
  It is never any use to oneself.
  (Oscar Wilde)
• I hate giving advice, because people won't take it.
  (Jack Nicholson)
• There is nothing more hateful than bad advice.
  (Sophocles)
• Whatever advice you give, be short.
  (Horace)

Whew! This could be a never-ending list.
So, in the interests of available space and your time, here are some 'others'.
(Is it OK if I call them 'golden oldies'?)

• Don't worry about avoiding temptation.
  As you grow older, it will avoid you.
  (Joey Adams)
• It's never too late to be what you might have been.
  (George Eliot)
• We've passed a lot of water since then.
  (Sam Goldwyn)
• Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.
  (Ben Franklin)
• All I ask is a chance to prove that money can't make me happy.
  (Spike Milligan)