Growing, ripening, aging, dying — the passing of time is predestined, inevitable. There is only one solution if old age is not to be an absurd parody of our former life, and that is to go on pursuing ends that give our existence a meaning — devotion to individuals, to groups or to causes, social, political, intellectual or creative work. In old age we should wish still to have passions strong enough to prevent us turning in on ourselves. One’s life has value so long as one attributes value to the life of others, by means of love, friendship, indignation, compassion. 生長、成熟、衰老——時間的流逝是命中注定的，不可避免的。 如果不想讓老年成為我們以前生活的荒謬模仿，只有一個解決方案，那就是繼續(xù)追求賦予我們存在意義的目標——對個人、群體或事業(yè)、社會、政治、知識或創(chuàng)造性工作的奉獻。在老年時，我們應該仍然希望擁有足夠強烈的激情，以防止我們自我封閉。 一個人的生命要有價值，要通過愛、友誼、憤慨、同情等方式將價值賦予他人的生命。