A Recipe for Staying Fresh'In spite of illness, in spite even of the archenemy sorrow, one can remain alive long past the usual date of disintegration if one is unafraid of change, insatiable in intellectual curiosity, interested in big things and happy in small ways.'
--Edith Wharton, the celebrated novelist, whose eventful life stretched from the Civil War to the Great Depression. Her masterpiece (or one of them), The Age of Innocence, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1921. You can review ealier mentions of her here and here.
14 Comments:
I could not agree more. I love Wharton's writing, her books, especially Ethan Frome. It's a small masterpiece.
For some reason, you always see photos of her in old age, but she was quite fetching in her earlier years. You can see how she would have been in the middle of so much social swirl. She was just listening a lot more closely than anyone else.
I adore Edith Wharton. House of Mirth is my favorite.
I first read "Ethan Frome" in my teens, and it left a permanent mark on me. This quote speaks directly to the endurance embodied in that novel.
"Unafraid of change" is exactly how to say it. That's one of the most important survival tools anyone has ever defined.
I've never read any of her books, so thanks for the suggestions, everyone.
Interesting to see a picture of Edith Wharton, young, pretty, slender instead of the older, heftier one that's usual. And then I thought of her friend and contemporary, Henry James who is always 50ish and portly in his pictures -- it would be interesting to see a younger picture of him.
Maybe we somehow think our American classic writers should have a certain weight and maturity, although that is certainly not the image we see of contemporary writers. Thanks for the food for thought, as well as the thoughtful quote -- "unafraid of change" Yes!
Funny, but I was also thinking of Henry James when I posted it (they were close friends). I said I've never read any Wharton (yet), but James' Portrait of a Lady is easily the greatest novel I've ever read, and considered by many to be the best ever written by an American. If you haven't read it, do yourself a favor and resolve to soon.
Yes, as soon as you lose interest in life then life'll lose interest in you.
Say it, brother.
A very wise recipe!
I believe everything in life is about attitude :“We cannot change our past. We cannot change the fact that people act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude.” -Charles R. Swindoll
loveNlight
Gabi
Certainly agree with that, Gabi.
Back in the late seventies i was at a spaghetti party and i saw a person leafing through a Time-Life Yearbook and saw the more beautiful, rivetting, fetching woman ever.Far more fetching than Wharton.
Mfh
Ah, I remember it well.
As someone who is travelling through a major transition, this is timely - and inspiring - advice. Thanks for the post!
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