Article image

12 Quotes About Making Big Changes Later in Life

Bidding farewell to the familiar and embracing change is always difficult to some degree, especially later in life once we’ve settled further into our habits and routines. But our golden years often leave us no choice but to adapt, even if we’d rather stay the course. Maybe we have to come to terms with retiring after 50 years, or cope with losing a loved one we’ve known since childhood — either way, when such events happen, the best thing we can do is face them head-on.

Knowing that change is inevitable, we’re left with two choices. We can fear it, deny it, and run from it, or we can open our minds to it and grow. If we choose the latter, we may find ourselves surprised at just how much that mindset can enrich our lives. After all, age is just a number, and whether we’re 8 or 80, we can always learn new skills.

And of course, change doesn’t necessarily have to be the result of a traumatic event. It can also mean picking up that hobby we’ve always thought about trying or selling our home and living in an RV like we’ve always dreamed about. It boils down to being willing to take that first step and walk forward into the unknown with an optimistic outlook.

Here are 12 quotes about making big changes later in life that may inspire you to forget about your age and seize those unfamiliar opportunities, no matter how imposing they may seem.

As soon as you feel too old to do a thing, do it.
Margaret Deland

Share Quote

You can’t go back and make a new start, but you can start right now and make a brand new ending.
James R. Sherman

Share Quote

It is never too late or too soon. It is when it is supposed to be.
Mitch Albom

Share Quote

Aging is not lost youth but a new stage of opportunity and strength.
Betty Friedan

Share Quote

You’re only as young as the last time you changed your mind.
Timothy Leary

Share Quote

You can, you should, and if you’re brave enough to start, you will.
Stephen King

Share Quote

Never cease to stand like curious children before the great mystery into which we were born.
Albert Einstein

Share Quote

It’s never too late to start. It’s always too late to wait.
Jeff Olson

Share Quote

Iron rusts from disuse; stagnant water loses its purity and in cold weather becomes frozen; even so does inaction sap the vigour of the mind.
Leonardo da Vinci

Share Quote

If you can’t fly, run; if you can’t run, walk; if you can’t walk, crawl; but by all means keep moving.
Martin Luther King Jr.

Share Quote

You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.
Les Brown

Share Quote

There’s no such thing as aging, but maturing and knowledge. It’s beautiful.
Celine Dion

Share Quote

Featured image credit: Leemage/ Corbis Entertainment via Getty Images

Author image
About the Author
Bennett Kleinman
Bennett is a staff writer at Optimism as well as a freelance comedy writer. He's based in New York City.
Play more header background
Play more icon
Daily Question
Fill in the blank: "It's not your job to be likable. It's your job to be ___." - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

More Inspiration

happiness theme icon

When someone tells me “no,” it doesn't mean I can't do it, it simply means I can't do it with them.

separator icon
Karen E. Quinones Miller
motivation theme icon

If you follow the natural intentions, you get the most success out of life.

separator icon
RZA
hope theme icon

Many are the wonders of the world, and none so wonderful as man.

separator icon
Sophocles
love theme icon

In quietness the soul expands.

separator icon
Rockwell Kent
wisdom theme icon

When you come out of the storm you won’t be the same person who walked in.

separator icon
Haruki Murakami
happiness theme icon

Tolerance, like any aspect of peace, is forever a work in progress.

separator icon
Octavia E. Butler
motivation theme icon

The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any.

separator icon
Alice Walker
hope theme icon

Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.

separator icon
Epictetus
love theme icon

Some people try to destroy you, precisely because they recognize your power.

separator icon
bell hooks
wisdom theme icon

It's not your job to be likable. It's your job to be yourself. Someone will like you anyway.

separator icon
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
happiness theme icon

Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought.

separator icon
Pope John Paul II