I discovered this African proverb recently, and it has moved me profoundly:

“When an old person dies, a library burns to the ground.”

I thought about these words for a long time, and I see them as absolutely true. They honor the immense, accumulated knowledge and life experience that exists within every older person, regardless of how society treats them.

Every older person carries irreplaceable wisdom inside them – a lifetime of understanding that can never be replicated.

What strikes me most is how this proverb recognizes that the library exists whether we choose to visit it or not.

An elder person, who society might overlook, still carries that treasure collection of experiences and insights. Their minds and hearts hold vast and important ways of understanding the world – decades of watching patterns unfold, learning what truly matters and what doesn’t.

I study quotes about aging because they help me understand how other people see growing older, and they help me know myself better.

At 73, I find myself less fearful than I once was. I’m still energetic, still working, still loving life. This exploration of ageing has taught me that growing older isn’t about what you might lose, but about what you’re continuously gaining and have to offer – depth, perspective, wisdom that only comes from having lived through many seasons.

In traditional African societies, elders are living repositories of oral history, cultural practices, and spiritual understanding. But this wisdom isn’t unique to one culture.

Every older person has accumulated their own valuable internal library through the historical moments they have witnessed, the relationships they have navigated, the mistakes they have learned from, the failures and successes they have experienced, and the meaning they have discovered.

The tragedy isn’t aging itself – it’s when these libraries burn without anyone having visited them, without anyone asking the questions that would unlock their treasures.

Growing older has brought me unexpected freedom and confidence. I feel like a leader now – someone who has earned the right to guide others through gathered wisdom.

I see myself as ‘vintage’ – getting better with age, like fine wine or a well-maintained vintage car, art deco furniture in museums, exquisite Tiffany lamps, and a classic book that becomes more treasured with each passing year.

Vintage doesn’t mean outdated; it means refined, valuable, sought after precisely because of the time and care that went into its creation.

I’m profoundly grateful to be both librarian and visitor in this ongoing collection of a life fully lived, and proud to be a vintage leader whose library continues growing with each passing day.

Thanks – Michael (he, him)

Please share my Daily with others.
This also matters – Older and Younger Unite – Bidirectional Mentoring is Revolutionary.

#2052