“The days pass and the years, until at length old age comes upon us, and finds us utterly emasculated in body and in mind. But the law of Nature is just the reverse of this. The older we grow, the keener should grow our intellect also; the longer we live, the greater should be our capacity to transmit the fruits of our accumulated experience to our fellowmen. And such is indeed the case with those who have been true Brahmacharies. They know no fear of death, and they do not forget good even in the hour of death; nor do they indulge in vain complaints. ... We hardly realise the fact that incontinence is the root-cause of all the vanity, anger, fear and jealousy in the world. If our mind is not under our control, if we behave once or more every day more foolishly than even little children, what sins may we not commit consciously or unconsciously?”
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Source: A Guide to Health (1921), Part I, Chapter IX 'Sexual Relations'.
About this quote
Growing older can mean decline, but it doesn't have to. Handled well, the years sharpen judgment and hand you a store of experience worth passing on. The difference is self-mastery: a mind kept under control keeps learning, while one left loose dulls no matter how many years pile up.
When to use it
- A retired electrician spends Saturdays teaching apprentices the tricks four decades taught him.
- In her seventies, a woman takes up a new language, and her memory for it surprises the whole class.
- An aging craftsman keeps his hands steady through daily practice long after his peers gave it up.

