“The worst death for anyone is to lose the center of his being, the thing he really is. Retirement is the filthiest word in the language. Whether by choice or by fate, to retire from what you do - and makes you what you are - is to back up into the grave.”

— Ernest Hemingway

Pt. 3, Ch.12
Papa Hemingway (1966)

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Ernest Hemingway 501

American author and journalist 1899–1961

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“When a man is forced into early retirement, he is often being ‘given up for a younger man.’ Being forced into early retirement can be to a man what being ‘given up for a younger woman’ is for a woman… Why do many men get more upset by retirement than women do from the empty nest —when their children leave home? When females retire from children, they can try a career; when a man retires from a career, his children are gone.”

Warren Farrell book The Myth of Male Power

Source: The Myth of Male Power (1993), Part II: The Glass Cellars of the disposable sex, p. 174.

“Being a retired major looks like an ideal thing to me. What a pity you couldn't eternally have been just a retired major.”

Fernando Pessoa book The Book of Disquiet

Ibid., p. 218
The Book of Disquiet
Original: Ser major reformado parece-me uma coisa ideal. É pena não se poder ter sido eternamente apenas major reformado.

“I don't think anyone should tap you on the shoulder and tell you that it's time to sit down and retire. Imagine if I told you, "You know what, you should really hang it up right now."”

Erika Jayne (1969) American singer, actress and television personality

As women, we need to do more to support each other. And I think it's a lot of old rules that are being broken.
Erika Jayne interview to MTV http://www.mtv.com/news/2884785/erika-jayne-interview/ (2016)

“To the elderly ones, you are retired but don't be tired. Just keep doing what you were doing.”

Grace Alele-Williams (1932–2022) mathematician

Source: https://www.youtube.com/0y3EdD7sKow Prof in an interview on words to the young and elderly.

“Retire to the center of your being, which is calmness.”

Paramahansa Yogananda (1893–1952) Yogi, a guru of Kriya Yoga and founder of Self-Realization Fellowship

“I advance with obedience to the work, ready to retire from it whenever you become sensible how much better choice it is in your power to make.”

Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) 3rd President of the United States of America

1800s, First Inaugural Address (1801)

“Kumble was a real, out and out professional. It is definitely a sad day for Indian cricket. You won`t realise the impact of his retirement now but when you won`t hear his name after some days, you will his void. He decided to retire absolutely at the right time. A few days back I wrote in a column that you don`t have to tell Kumble when to retire because being a true gentleman he knows when to take the call. Kumble left the game with utmost respect. He showed his true sportsmanship in Australia.”

Anil Kumble (1970) Former Indian cricketer

By Ravi Shastri.
Kumble Calls it a Day: Quotes... For and By Kumble...

“When people asked me in a RV park, "What do you do?" I just said, "I'm a retired state employee from Maine."”

Angus King (1944) United States Senator from Maine

Bowdoin Academic Spotlight interview (2011)

“Being forced into early retirement can be to a man what being "given up for a younger woman" is for a woman.”

Warren Farrell book The Myth of Male Power

Source: The Myth of Male Power (1993), Part II: The Glass Cellars of the disposable sex, p. 174.

“It's a pity, a gentleman in refined retirement composing poetry:
He models his work on the classic verse of China.
And his poems are elegant, full of fine phrases.
But if you don't write of things deep in your own heart,
What's the use of churning out so many words?”

Ryōkan (1758–1831) Japanese Buddhist monk

Variant translation:
With gaudy words their lines are formed
And further adorned by novel and curious phrases.
Yet if they fail to express what is in their own minds
What is the use, no matter
How many poems they compose!
"Zen Poetics of Ryokan" in Simply Haiku: A Quarterly Journal of Japanese Short Form Poetry (Summer 2006)
Dewdrops on a Lotus Leaf : Zen Poems of Ryokan (1993)

“The worst death for anyone is to lose the center of his being, the thing he really is. Retirement is the filthiest word in the language. Whether by choice or by fate, to retire from what you do - and makes you what you are - is to back up into the grave.”

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Ernest Hemingway 501

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