Quote Origin: Growing Old Is Mandatory. Growing Up Is Optional

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Gary Wright? Maurice Lutkin? Herb Caen? Chili Davis? Bumper Sticker? Anonymous?

Silhouette image of an old person and a young person from Unsplash

Question for Quote Investigator: Aging is an unavoidable part of the human experience, but it is not necessary to become staid and boring. Here is a pertinent saying:

Growing old is mandatory. Growing up is optional.

Would you please explore the provenance of this remark?

Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest match found by QI appeared in “The Courier-Gazette” and McKinney, Texas in January 1986. The saying appeared in a piece called “Publisher’s Scratchpad” by someone using the initials JS, but the attribution was anonymous. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1

Wish we’d been wise enough to come up with this one:
“Growing old is mandatory. Growing up is optional.”

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

In December 1986 the “Reader’s Digest” printed an anecdote from Gary Wright of Anaconda, Montana. Wright spoke to the father of a high-school acquaintance who reported that his son was now earning an excellent salary and had two children. In addition, the son had accumulated substantial investments. The father inquired about Wright’s status:2

When I told him that I was single, had a modest income, and spent my free time golfing and skiing, he looked indignant.

“Well,” he finally said, “I guess growing old is mandatory and growing up is optional.”

Also, in December 1986, the newspaper of Southern Utah State College printed the following:3

Thought for the week: “Growing old is mandatory and growing up is optional.”

In May 1987 “Las Cruces Sun-News” Las Cruces, New Mexico printed the motto of airplane pilot Maurice Lutkin:4

It’s that kind of attitude that keeps Lutkin in the air. His personality is suited for the adventure piloting an airplane offers. There’s always something different just over the next hill. Lutkin’s motto: Growing old is mandatory. Growing up is optional.

In 2000 “Random House Webster’s Wit & Humor Quotationary” included the statement in a section of anonymous sayings:5

Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional.

In 2001 “Random House Webster’s Quotationary” contained the following entry:6

Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional.
SAYING (AMERICAN). Bumper sticker. In Herb Caen column (on his 80th birthday), San Francisco Chronicle, 3 April 1996

In 2010 “It Ain’t Over ’Til It’s Over: The World’s Greatest Collection of Sports Quotes!” contained an entry which credited the saying to a U.S. major league baseball player:7

‘Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional.’
CHILI DAVIS
MLB OUTFIELDER

In conclusion, the earliest instance found by QI appeared in January 1986, but the writer disclaimed credit. During subsequent years many people used the expression including Gary Wright, Maurice Lutkin, and Herb Caen, but the creator remains anonymous.

Image Notes: Silhouette image of an old person and a young person from Khysrow Akbari at Unsplash. The image has been cropped and resized.

Acknowledgement: Great thanks to Elsy who inquired about this saying during a birthday celebration. Also, thanks to quotation expert Nigel Rees who published an inquiry in his “Quote…Unquote” newsletter. These two inquiries led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration.

  1. 1986 January 9, The Courier-Gazette, Publisher’s Scratchpad, Quote Page 1, Column 1, McKinney, Texas. (Newspapers_com) link ↩︎
  2. 1986 December, Reader’s Digest, Volume 129, Number 776, Life in These United States, Quote Page 93, The Reader’s Digest Association, Pleasantville, New York. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
  3. 1986 December 8, The Thunderbird, Section: Classified, Quote Page 11, Column 2, Cedar City, Utah. (Newspapers_com) link ↩︎
  4. 1987 May 1, Las Cruces Sun-News, Soaring through the clouds rejuvenates man’s thinking by Steven Parks (Sun-News), Quote Page 1C, Column 2, Las Cruces, New Mexico. (Newspapers_com) link ↩︎
  5. 2000, Random House Webster’s Wit & Humor Quotationary, Edited by Leonard Roy Frank, Person: Anonymous, Quote Page 10, Random House, New York. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
  6. 2001, Random House Webster’s Quotationary, Editor Leonard Roy Frank, Topic: Age, Quote Page 20, Column 2, Random House, New York. (Paperback edition; Verified with hardcopy) ↩︎
  7. 2010, It Ain’t Over ’Til It’s Over: The World’s Greatest Collection of Sports Quotes!, Compiled by John Marlowe, Chapter: Age and Youth, Quote Page 14, Arcturus Publishing, London (Verified with scans) ↩︎