How to Grow Old: Ancient Wisdom for the Second Half of Life

Marcus Tullius Cicero

Aug 2018 · Highbridge Audio · Narrated by Roger Clark

About this audiobook

Worried that old age will inevitably mean losing your libido, your health, and possibly your marbles too? Well, Cicero has some good news for you. In How to Grow Old, the great Roman orator and statesman eloquently describes how you can make the second half of life the best part of all-and why you might discover that reading and gardening are actually far more pleasurable than sex ever was. Filled with timeless wisdom and practical guidance, Cicero's brief, charming classic-written in 44 BC and originally titled On Old Age-has delighted and inspired readers, from Saint Augustine to Thomas Jefferson, for more than two thousand years. Presented here in a lively new translation with an informative new introduction and the original Latin on facing pages, the book directly addresses the greatest fears of growing older and persuasively argues why these worries are greatly exaggerated-or altogether mistaken. Montaigne said Cicero's book "gives one an appetite for growing old." The American founding father John Adams read it repeatedly in his later years. And today its lessons are more relevant than ever in a world obsessed with the futile pursuit of youth.

About the author

Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) was a Roman statesman and philosopher whose lifetime coincided with the decline and fall of the Roman republic. His best-known works include On the Republic, On Duties, and Treatises on Friendship and Old Age.

Roger Clark is a professional actor and voice-over artist who lives in New York City. He has performed in over forty-five countries.

Philip Freeman is the author of more than twenty books on the ancient world, including the Cicero translations How to Be a Friend, How to Grow Old, and How to Run a Country. He holds the Fletcher Jones Chair as a Professor of Humanities at Pepperdine University and lives in Malibu, California.