Quote?

October 24, 2007 8:18 PM

I'm running in circles looking for a quotation. Something about how at the age of 40 you become the person you always were, or always were meant to be, or something like that. Anybody know the quote and who said it? Thx!!
posted by Misciel to Writing & Language (10 answers total)

Forty meant freedom. When you were forty, you could be yourself, you didn’t have to live up to other’s expectations.

from the introduction to 40 Over 40: 40 Things Every Women over 40 Needs to Know About Getting Dressed (Paperback)
by Brenda Reiten Kinsel
posted by rakish_yet_centered at 9:14 PM on October 24, 2007

I'm doubtful you're thinking of this one from Muhammad Ali...but I'll include it for the record: "A man who views the world the same at 50 as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life."
posted by vito90 at 9:16 PM on October 24, 2007

The one that comes to mind for me is the one about "the face you have at 40 is the face you deserve".
posted by padraigin at 9:33 PM on October 24, 2007

No mention of 40 but a similar sentiment:
"Sometimes people carry to such perfection the mask they have assumed that in due course they actually become the person they seem." - W. Somerset Maugham
and on another note:
"A woman at 20 is like ice, at 30 she is warm and at 40 she is hot." - Gina Lollobrigida
On preview, padraigin:
"Nature gives you the face you have at twenty; it is up to you to merit the face you have at fifty." - Coco Chanel
posted by tellurian at 9:37 PM on October 24, 2007

I believe this is Chanel's exact quote (posted in an earlier thread about Sen. Obama's distant cousin).
posted by rob511 at 9:53 PM on October 24, 2007

"Life begins at 40", perhaps?
posted by Jabberwocky at 1:07 AM on October 25, 2007

That sounds vaguely Oprah-ish. I think I saw her say something to that affect on her show and I have an even vaguer memory that it came from Maya Angelou.

I could be wrong, though.
posted by SoulOnIce at 2:23 AM on October 25, 2007

I've seen that face quote attributed to George Orwell:

"At 50, everyone has the face he deserves."
posted by futility closet at 6:09 AM on October 25, 2007

I came into the thread with a very similar quotation to padraigin's in mind: 'after 40 your face is your own responsibility.' I would have sworn it was from Orwell; but the linked page (the text of a convocation address given at Amherst) attributes it to Camus.
posted by jamjam at 8:35 AM on October 25, 2007

Response by poster: Very interesting about the face quotes! But the one I'm thinking of has a more of an identity/lifestyle emphasis instead of a physical appearence one... Any further suggestions??

Thanks for the help so far! (Those quotes are entertaining!!)
posted by Misciel at 7:55 PM on October 25, 2007