T.S. Eliot on Middle Age

“The years between fifty and seventy are the hardest. You are always being asked to do more, and you are not yet decrepit enough to turn them down.”

–T.S. Eliot, Time, 10/23/1950

(via WikiQuote)

Eliot was 62 years old when Time published the above words. The American-British poet had long been revered for his keen observations on age and experience, even when he was a young man. His famous poem, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, was lauded for its portrayal of a frustrated middle-aged man. Eliot began writing Prufrock at the age of 22. 

The photo above is from a roll taken by the photographer Ida Kar.