Jerry Garcia
Musician
"Somebody has to do something, and it's just incredibly pathetic that it has to be us."
Retirement quotes
Retirement
803 quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.
Emily Dickinson
Poet
"If you take care of the small things, the big things take care of themselves. You can gain more control over your life by paying closer attention to the little things."
Dean Martin
Singer
"If you drink don't drive. Don't even putt."
Lauryn Hill
Singer, Songwriter
"Life is continued work. It's constant learning. The whole concept of retirement I don't even buy into. We should constantly be working. Maybe not physically working, but we could be spiritually, emotionally working toward bettering ourselves and bettering the lives of others around us."
Arthur Schopenhauer
Philosopher
"Every parting gives a foretaste of death, every reunion a hint of the resurrection."
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Browse quotes that often appear alongside retirement — connected by shared ideas and recurring themes.
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Retirement quotes (page 1 of 41)
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"When mothers talk about the depression of the empty nest, they're not mourning the passing of all those wet towels on the floor, or the music that numbs your teeth, or even the bottle of capless shampoo dribbling down the shower drain. They're upset because they've gone from supervisor of a child's life to a spectator. It's like being the vice president of the United States."
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"Your life is right now! It's not later! It's not in that time of retirement. It's not when the lover gets here. It's not when you've moved into the new house. It's not when you get the better job. Your life is right now. It will always be right now. You might as well decide to start enjoying your life right now, because it's not ever going to get better than right now-until it gets better right now!"
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"Exert your talents, and distinguish yourself, and don't think of retiring from the world, until the world will be sorry that you retire."
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"Age appears to be best in four things; old wood best to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust, and old authors to read."
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"I think on-stage nudity is disgusting, shameful and damaging to all things American. But if I were 22 with a great body, it would be artistic, tasteful, patriotic and a progressive religious experience."
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"It was the labor movement that helped secure so much of what we take for granted today. The 40-hour work week, the minimum wage, family leave, health insurance, Social Security, Medicare, retirement plans. The cornerstones of the middle-class security all bear the union label."
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"Wisdom and penetration are the fruit of experience, not the lessons of retirement and leisure. Great necessities call out great virtues."
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"The doctrine of the Kingdom of Heaven, which was the main teaching of Jesus, is certainly one of the most revolutionary doctrines that ever stirred and changed human thought."
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"That people even in well paid jobs choose ever earlier retirement is a severe indictment of our organizations - not just business, but government service, the universities. These people don't find their jobs interesting."
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"When one door closes, another one opens."
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"Flexible working is not just for women with children. It is necessary at the other end of the scale. If people can move into part-time work, instead of retirement, then that will be a huge help. If people can fit their work around caring responsibilities for the elderly, the disabled, then again that's very positive."
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"Great necessities call out great virtues."
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"The keys of a fortress are always well worth the retirement of the garrison when it is resolved to yield only on those conditions. On this principle it is always wiser to grant an honorable capitulation to a garrison which has made a vigorous resistance than to risk an assault."
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"Such are the vicissitudes of the world, through all its parts, that day and night, labor and rest, hurry and retirement, endear each other; such are the changes that keep the mind in action: we desire, we pursue, we obtain, we are satiated; we desire something else and begin a new pursuit."
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"Don't you stay at home of evenings? Don't you love a cushioned seat in a corner, by the fireside, with your slippers on your feet?"
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"Teaching is the only major occupation of man for which we have not yet developed tools that make an average person capable of competence and performance. In teaching we rely on the 'naturals,' the ones who somehow know how to teach."
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"Idleness is fatal only to the mediocre."
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"But did the Founding Fathers ever intend for the federal government to involve itself in education, health care or retirement benefits? The answer, quite clearly, is no. The Constitution, in Article I, Section 8 - which contains the general welfare clause - seeks to restrain federal government, not expand it."
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"You have to pick what you're going to be worried about. Markets are volatile, but retirement is certain."
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"If you depend on your company to take care of your retirement, your future income will be divided by five. Take care of it yourself, and you can multiply your future income by five."
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