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Monday, October 31, 2005
Tacio: Age doesn't matter
By Henrylito D. Tacio
Regarding Henry
FRITZ Kreisler complains: "Between twenty-five and thirty-five, you're too young to do anything well; after thirty-five you're too old."
But then, you don't have to become old to be famous and rich. Age has nothing to do with success. Consider the following:
* Canada's Avril Lavigne started singing at two, performing at 10 and writing songs at 14. By the grand old age of 16, she had dropped out of school and moved to New York and signed a recording contract with Arista Records.
* Tatum O'Neal was only 9 when she received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in "Paper Moon" (1973).
* When Jimmy Boyd was 12, his recording of "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" sold 2-million-plus records within sixty days of its release.
* When she was 16, Ethel Waters got a job performing at the Lincoln Theatre in Baltimore. (She added four years to her age to appear more mature.)
* William Pitt at 21 was Chancellor of the Exchequer in Great Britain, and prime minister at the age of 24.
* Isaac Newton was 25 when he discovered the most universal of all laws --gravitation.
* Galileo Galilei was also 25 when he published his essay on hydrostatic balance.
* At 26, Napoleon Bonaparte crossed the Alps on his Italian campaign and outgeneraled and defeated one after another the veteran marshals of Austria.
* At 27, John Calvin published his "Institutes," the document having the most powerful influence during the Reformation.
* Charlemagne was 30 when he became master of France and Germany.
* At 32, James Watt invented the condensing steam engine, and revolutionized the transportation of the world.
* At 32, Robert Clive established British power over India.
"Forty is the old age of youth; fifty the youth of old age," Victor Hugo once wrote. H.H. Munro ("Saki") added: "The young have aspirations that never come to pass, the old have reminiscences of what never happened."
Ah, to be old. "Old age is when you first realize other people's faults are no worse than your own," Edgar A. Shoaff averred. Lady Astor exclaimed: "I refuse to admit I'm more than fifty-two even if that does make my sons illegitimate."
When do you consider yourself old? Leo Rosenberg replied: "First you forget names, then you forget faces, then you forget to pull your zipper up, then you forget to pull your zipper down."
But to some people, retirement is not in their vocabulary. Consider the following:
* Leo Tolstoy learned to ride a bike at 67.
* Auguste Rodin, the sculptor, did some of his finest works after 70.
* Katharine Hepburn was 72 when she won her fourth Oscar award for her electrifying performance in "On Golden Pond" (1981).
* George Burns received his Oscar for his supporting role in "The Sunshine
Boys" (1975).
* Guiseppe Verdi composed the opera "Othello" at 75 and "Falstaff" at 80.
* Leftist journalist I.F. Stone published "The Trial of Socrates," which became a best seller at 81.
* Thomas Edison produced the telephone at 84.
* Mary Baker Eddy founded the "Christian Science Monitor" at 87.
* Frank Wright designed a civic center at 88.
* Albert Schweitzer was operating his hospital in Africa at 89.
* Peter Mark Roget was updating his thesaurus at 90.
* George Bernard Shaw was writing plays at 91.
* Actress Dame Judith Anderson gave a one-hour benefit performance at 93.
* Leopold Stokowski signed a six-year recording contract at 94.
* Titian painted the "Battle of Lepato" at 98.
* Mieczyslaw Horszowki, the classical pianist, recorded a new album at 99.
Yes, age doesn't matter when it comes to achieving one's goal in life.
Henry David Thoreau said: "If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet a success unexpected in common hours."
For comments, write me at tasyo2002@yahoo.com
(October 31, 2005 issue)
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