Herbert Spencer? G. Stanley Hall? Karl Groos? George L. Knapp? George Bernard Shaw? Anonymous?
Question for Quote Investigator: Children enjoy playing, yet this rambunctious and exploratory spirit often fades with age. The following adage encourages the retention of a youthful temperament. Here are four versions:
(1) People do not cease playing because they grow old, but they grow old because they cease playing.
(2) We do not so much quit playing because we grow old, as grow old because we quit playing.
(3) We don’t stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing.
(4) People grow old because they stop playing, and not conversely.
The first three sayings above employ a rhetorical device called antimetabole. Words in the first half of the statement are reordered in the second half.
This notion has been attributed to English polymath Herbert Spencer, U.S. psychologist G. Stanley Hall, German philosopher Karl Groos, and Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw. Would you please explore this topic?
Reply from Quote Investigator: QI believes that this family of sayings evolved over time. The earliest strong match found by QI appeared in the 1904 book “Adolescence: Its Psychology and Its Relations to Physiology, Anthropology, Sociology, Sex, Crime, Religion and Education” by G. Stanley Hall. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1
. . . men grow old because they stop playing, and not conversely . . .
QI has not found any substantive evidence that Herbert Spencer employed this saying. He died in 1903, and he received credit by 1915.
QI has not found any substantive evidence that George Bernard Shaw employed this saying. He died in 1950, and he received credit by 1983.
Karl Groos penned a closely related remark which inspired Hall to craft his remark. Details are presented below.
Here are additional selected citations in chronological order.
Continue reading “Quote Origin: People Do Not Stop Playing Because They Grow Old; They Grow Old Because They Stop Playing”