Washington Irving: Quotes about age

Washington Irving was writer, historian and diplomat from the United States. Explore interesting quotes on age.
Washington Irving: 92 quotes11 likes

“A tart temper never mellows with age, and a sharp tongue is the only edge tool that grows keener with constant use.”

Washington Irving Rip Van Winkle

The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon (1819–1820)
Source: "Rip Van Winkle".

“The great British Library — an immense collection of volumes of all ages and languages, many of which are now forgotten, and most of which are seldom read: one of these sequestered pools of obsolete literature to which modern authors repair, and draw buckets full of classic lore, or “pure English, undefiled” wherewith to swell their own scanty rills of thought.”

Washington Irving book The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.

"The Art of Book-Making".
The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon (1819–1820)

“That happy age when a man can be idle with impunity.”

Washington Irving book The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.

"Rip Van Winkle".
The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon (1819–1820)

“We feel that we are surrounded by the congregated bones of the great men of past times, who have filled history with their deeds, and the earth with their renown. And yet it almost provokes a smile at the vanity of human ambition to see how they are crowded together and jostled in the dust; what parsimony is observed in doling out a scanty nook, a gloomy corner, a little portion of earth, to those whom, when alive, kingdoms could not satisfy, and how many shapes and forms and artifices are devised to catch the casual notice of the passenger, and save from forgetfulness for a few short years a name which once aspired to occupy ages of the world's thought and admiration.”

Washington Irving book The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.

"Westminster Abbey".
The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon (1819–1820)

“My native country was full of youthful promise; Europe was rich in the accumulated treasures of age.”

Washington Irving book The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.

"The Author's Account of Himself".
The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon (1819–1820)