Aging

Ran across this stunning quotation today

I don't believe in aging. I believe in forever altering one's aspect to the sun. Hence my optimism.

Virginia Woolf (born on this date in 1882)

Earlier in the day I listened to a profile of Mark Furstenburg, occupied right now with opening his third bakery in Washington, DC, at the age of 75. I'm impressed that he recognizes he won't be able to sustain the effort it takes to run a business and plans to sell it to the staff so that the businss can keep operating. His attitude?

My strategy for trying to create something that is of value to the city over the long run is to sell it to the people who make it successful in the first place.

As his sister before him, his hope is to build and leave to the city an institution that it values. That strikes me as a pretty good orientation to life and aging, and it seems like a pretty good thing to leave in the city, too.