The Agency of the Aged

Why Care About 85 When You Are 25?

By Caryn Kseniya Rubanovich

The ailments, agist stereotypes, and ultimate end-point of death itself rarely figure in the minds of the young. Until, that is, the long-term consequences of our short-term denial become more and more obvious as the years pass.

On Old Age

By Lucius Annaeus Seneca

"Our span of life is divided into parts; it consists of large circles enclosing smaller. One circle embraces and bounds the rest; it reaches from birth to the last day of existence."

Of Age

By Michel De Montaigne

I cannot allow of our way of establishing the duration of life. I see that the wise shorten it very much in comparison of the common opinion. “What,” said the younger Cato to those who would prevent him from killing himself, “am I now of an age to be reproached…

Animal Tranquility and Decay

By William Wordsworth

The English romantic poet speaks to the envy of old age.

Dennis the Menace & Mr. Wilson

By Cash Nickerson

Future businesses may have as many as five different generations working together. Here is how to best cultivate an environment in which everyone works their best.

Provide, Provide

By Robert Frost

The witch that came (the withered hag)
To wash the steps with pail and rag
Was once the beauty Abishag,

The picture pride of Hollywood.
Too many fall from great and good
For you to doubt the likelihood.

Die early and avoid the fate.
Or…

Eighteen Popular Songs About Aging and the Old

By Gerald Early

From Bill Withers' "Grandma's Hands" to Jack Yellin and Ted Shapiro's "Life Begins at Forty," music has our number when it comes to growing old.

Does Political Judgement Improve with Age?

By Ben Fulton

One measure of the extent to which we believe age influences political beliefs is the extent to which we know Churchill’s famous phrase, “If you’re not a socialist before you’re 25, you have no heart; if you are a socialist after 25, you have no head.” Or, at least, whether we believe we know it.

“When You Are Old”

By William Butler Yeats

The great Irish poet's late verse homage to "our changing face."

A Graph For the Ages

By Sarah Harty, Stephanie Herbers & Nancy Morrow-Howell

Here are some common realities for aging adults.

Reflections of a Baby Boomer

By Fernando M. Torres-Gil & Aryun Hahm

There is perhaps one last chance for my exulted cohort, the baby boomers, to step forward and provide a moral voice and active leadership in righting the American ship of state toward its demographic realities. Those of us who are on the leading edge of our cohort are now moving toward our 70s.

A Shift Unlike Any Other

By Brian D. Carpenter, Guest Editor

To study aging and its impacts on a campus that, seemingly, never ages can be a stark reminder of a crucial dynamic at work.