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

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Walt Disney? Tom Batiuk? 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.

This remark has been attributed to entrepreneur Walt Disney, comic artist Tom Batiuk, newspaper columnist Herb Caen, and others. Would you please explore the provenance of this remark?

Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest match found by QI appeared in “The Courier-Gazette” in 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” in 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 September 1987 the statement appeared in the third panel of the syndicated comic strip “Crankshaft” written by Tom Batiuk.5

In February 1988 “The Observer” La Grande, Oregon attributed the saying to Steve Vess who was the city prosecutor of West Linn, Oregon:6

“Growing old is mandatory, but growing up is optional. You don’t stop playing when you grow old; you grow old when you stop playing.” — Steve Vess

In 2000 “Random House Webster’s Wit & Humor Quotationary” included the statement in a section of anonymous sayings.7

In 2001 “Random House Webster’s Quotationary” contained the following entry:8

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:9

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

In 2014 a tweet from Indonesian telecommunication company Smartfren implausibly attributed the saying to Walt Disney who had died in 1966:10

“Growing old is mandatory, but growing up is optional” – Walt Disney

In 2018 a high school in Missouri selected the saying as a class motto:11

Class Motto: “Growing old is mandatory, but growing up is optional” Walt Disney

In conclusion, the earliest instance found by QI appeared in January 1986, but the writer disclaimed credit. During subsequent years the saying was attributed to many people including Walt Disney, Tom Batiuk, Gary Wright, Maurice Lutkin, and Herb Caen. Yet, 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. Thanks to Trevor and Ed who mentioned the attribution to Walt Disney.

Update History: On September 25, 2026, the citations dated September 18, 1987; February 4, 1998; April 5, 2014; and April 12, 2018 were added to the article.

  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. 1987 September 18, The Columbian, Comic Strip: Crankshaft by Tom Batiuk and Chuck Ayers, Quote Page C9, Column 2, Vancouver, Washington. (Newspapers_com) link ↩︎
  6. 1998 February 4, The Observer, La Grande native has no time for idleness as he serves as West Linn city prosecutor, lawyer and pro-tem judge by Ian Rollins, Quote Page 6, Column 3, La Grande, Oregon. (Newspapers_com) link ↩︎
  7. 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) ↩︎
  8. 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) ↩︎
  9. 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) ↩︎
  10. Tweet, From: SMARTFREN @smartfrenworld, Time: 10:50 AM, Date: April 5, 2014, Text: “Growing old is mandatory, but growing up is optional” – Walt Disney. (Accessed on x.com on September 25, 2026) link ↩︎
  11. 2018 April 12, Schuyler County Times, Congratulations Graduates Class of 2018, Quote Page 7, Column 3, Glenwood, Missouri. (Newspapers_com) link ↩︎