Einstein on Aging
I have remained a simple fellow who asks nothing of the world; only my youth is gone—the enchanting youth that forever walks on air.
To Anna Meyer-Schmid, May 12, 1909. CPAE, Vol. 5, Doc. 154
I lived in that solitude which is painful in youth, but delicious in maturity. From a statement written for Georges Schreiber’s Portraits and Self-Portraits (Boston: Houghton Miffl in, 1936). Reprinted in Out of My Later Years, 13. Einstein Archives 28-332
There is, after all, something eternal that lies beyond the reach of the hand of fate and of all human delusions. And such eternals lie closer to an older person than to a younger one who oscillates between fear and hope. To Queen Elisabeth of Belgium, March 20, 1936. Einstein Archives 32-387
*At our age, the devil doesn’t give you much time off! To Heinrich Zangger, February 27, 1938. Quoted in Seelig, Helle Zeit, Dunkle Zeit, 45, and translated in Neffe, Einstein,
199. Einstein Archives 40-105
People like you and I, though mortal of course, like everyone else, do not grow old no matter how long we live. What I mean is that we never cease to stand like curious children before the great Mystery into which we were born. To Otto Juliusburger, September 29, 1942. Einstein Archives 38-238
*Your “I feel too old” I am not taking too seriously, because I know this feeling myself. Sometimes . . . it surges upwards and then subsides again. We can after all quietly leave it to nature gradually to reduce us to dust if she does not prefer a more rapid method. To Max Born, September 7, 1944. In Born, Born-Einstein Letters, 145. Einstein Archives 8-207
*Though I am now an old fogey, I am still hard at work and still refuse to believe that God plays dice. To former Berlin student Ilse Rosenthal-Schneider, May 11, 1945. Einstein Archives 20-274
I am content in my later years. I have kept my good humor and take neither myself nor the next person seriously. To P. Moos, March 30, 1950. Einstein Archives 60-587
All of one’s contemporaries and aging friends are living in a delicate balance, and one feels that one’s own consciousness is no longer as brightly lit as it once was. But then, twilight with its more subdued colors has its charms as well. To Gertrud Warschauer, April 4, 1952. Einste1n Archives 39-515
I [have] always loved solitude, a trait that tends to increase with age. To E. Marangoni, October 1, 1952. Einste1n Archives 60-406
If younger people were not taking care of me, I would surely try to be institutionalized, so that I would not have to become so concerned about the decline of my physical and mental powers, which after all is unpreventable in the natural course of things. To W. Lebach, May 12, 1953. Einstein Archives 60-221
I feel like an egg, of which only the shell remains—at 75 years old, one can’t expect anything else. One should prepare a person for his death. Quoted by Fantova, “Conversations with Einstein,” January 1, 1954
In one’s youth every person and every event appear to be unique. With age, one becomes much more aware that similar events recur. Later on, one is lss often delighted or surprised, but also less disappointed. To Queen Elisabeth of Belgium, January 3, 1954. Einste1n Archives 32-408
I believe that older people who have scarcely anything to lose ought to be willing to speak out on behalf of those who are young and who are subject to much greater restraint.
To Queen Elisabeth of Belgium, March 28, 1954. Einste1n Archives 32-411
I am feeling my age greatly. I’m no longer so eager to work and always have to lie down after a meal. I enjoy living, but I would not mind if it all suddenly ended.
Quoted by Fantova, “Conversations with Einste1n,” April 27, 1954
I no longer have the strong pains I had earlier, but I feel very weakened, as can be expected of such an old geezer. Ibid., May 29, 1954
Today [due to illness] I stayed in bed and received guests like an old lady of the eighteenth century. This was fashionable in Paris at that time. But I’m not a woman, and this isn’t the eighteenth century! Ibid., June 11, 1954
I’m like a run-down old car—something is wrong in every corner. But life is still worthwhile as long as I can still work. Ibid., January 9, 1955
Even [old] age has very beautiful moments. To Margot Einstein. Quoted in Sayen, Einstein in America, 298 ~Alice Calaprice, The Ultimate Einstein Quotable 52-59
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