10 of Ian McKellen's Most Delightful Quotes on Aging Gracefully
Lindsay Lowe
MAY 25, 2019
Happy birthday, Ian McKellen! The British actor turns 80 on May 25, 2019.
McKellen may be one of the most celebrated actors alive today, with countless awards to his name. However, he remains humble and down to earth when reflecting on his long career, and the changes that come with aging.
In honor of his milestone birthday, here are 10 of his best quotes on aging wisely and gracefully.
1. “When you grumble about a taxi being dirty, people your own age will absolutely agree with you, whereas younger people say, ‘You should be so lucky to have a taxi—I walk to work!’ So I have lots of young friends, who fortunately don’t treat me as a guru, a person that knows all the answers.”
2. “I quite like it when I’m on the Tube and people offer me their seat. Sometimes I take it. The other day I was offered a seat by a pregnant lady. I thought, ‘That’s going a bit far.'”
3. “It is really, really wonderful that in your old age you are protected by specialists who understand your problems and sort them out for you. Well, isn’t that what we all need?”
4. “You always think that 70 is the end of the road: ‘Somebody died when they were 73; good life.’ You’re closer to death, and you better make sure you don’t waste too much of your time doing things you don’t want to do. No point in saying things you don’t believe in.”
5. “So it’s joyful to me, in my 71st year, to be able to be in a play that is absolutely right for my age and my experience, and that is a popular success. What more could you ask as an actor?”
6. “There are not many things in my life I can be absolutely proud of or certain I got right, but one of them is that I’ve got better as an actor. I’ve learnt how to do it. And I still have enough energy to do it.”
7. “I don’t really like being with people my own age for long periods, because all we talk about is our decrepitude, how the world is changing for the worse even though it isn’t.”
8. “I am lucky, I don’t have aches and pains. I do Pilates regularly, which is a series of stretching exercises, and I recommend it to anyone of my age because the temptation is not to exercise when you get older. Well, you should.”
9. “Eventually, before I die, I hope to have written about every part I’ve played.”
10. “I don’t have Gandalf the White’s certainty about everything.”