Susan Moon, an American writer, editor, and teacher of Zen Buddhism. Her books include This Is Getting Old: Zen Thoughts on Aging with Humor and Dignity and Alive Until You’re Dead: Notes on the Home Stretch

“It annoys me when people say, ‘Even if you’re old, you can be young at heart!’ Hiding inside this well-meaning phrase is a deep cultural assumption that old is bad and young is good. What’s wrong with being old at heart, I’d like to know? Wouldn’t you like to be loved by people whose hearts have practiced loving for a long time?”