“There are two great days in a person’s life – the day we are born and the day we discover why.”
—William Barclay
“God gave us the gift of life; it is up to us to give ourselves the gift of living well.”—Voltaire
“How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?”—Satchel Paige (famous baseball pitcher who was famously elusive or uncertain about his own age, perhaps so he could keep pitching professionally).
“The great thing about getting older is that you don’t lose all the other ages you’ve been.”—
Madeleine L’Engle
“It takes a long time to become young.”— Pablo Picasso
“You know you’re getting old when you get that one candle on the cake. It’s like, ‘See if you can blow this out.”— Jerry Seinfeld
“I remember when the candle shop burned down. Everyone stood around singing ‘Happy Birthday.'”—
Steven Wright
“But I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now.”— Bob Dylan
“I kept a diary right after I was born. Day 1: Tired from the move. Day 2: Everyone thinks I’m an idiot”.— Steven Wright [and we could keep going: Day 3: Why did they stick me in a room full of whining newborns? ; Day 4: No one told me that this stuff I’m drinking would go right through me and leave me with a rash at the other end. Day 5: I haven’t figured out what I am yet, but I must be something like a koala bear. I hear he sleeps 18-22 hours a day, and eats the rest of the time. Day 6: Already I’m tired of milk.; Day 7: Why in the world do they keep taking pictures of me when all I do is squint and drool? I’m not doing any selfies any time soon.
So next year when I’m 64, I expect lots of creative renditions sung to me of the Paul McCartney classic about that event.
Most disturbing birthday quote I saw when composing this— ‘If religious bigots really believed what they say about life, they would be busily celebrating the date of conception not the date of the birth of someone.’
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