Summary of Marcus Tullius Cicero's How to Grow Old

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

Book Preview: #1 I have decided to write something about aging and the elderly.

I have always admired the way that Scipio and Laelius handled this subject.

They seemed to me to be examples of how a person should handle old age.#2 Senectus, according to Cato, is the art of living a life of virtue.

It is a difficult art, but one that can be mastered with time.

It is a pleasant thing to experience old age, and it is a great honor for old people to be respected and admired.#3 Ego Quinctius Maximum, qui Tarentum recepit, senem adulescens diligebam.

Anno meo post consule primum fueram natus, cumque eo quartum consule adulescentulus miles ad Capuam profectus sum quintoque anno post ad Tarentum.#4 The author explains that the main reason why senility is so sad is because it takes away from us the ability to work.

Other than that, it takes away from us our bodies, our voluptuousness, and our lives.