To retire is the beginning of death.
Interpretation
Retirement signifies a loss of purpose, akin to the end of life.
Pablo Casals' quote suggests that retirement is not merely a break from work, but rather a transition that can lead to a decline in one's vitality and sense of purpose. The phrase implies that without the engagement and activity that work provides, one may metaphorically experience a sense of death, highlighting the importance of remaining active and involved in life even after one has left their formal career.
In practice
During a speech about the importance of staying active after retirement, one might use this quote.
Bach is the supreme genius of music... This man, who knows everything and feels everything, cannot write one note, however unimportant it may appear, which is anything but transcendent. He has reached the heart of every noble thought, and has done it in the most perfect way.
In music, in the sea, in a flower, in a leaf, in an act of kindness... I see what people call God in all these things.
The love of one's country is a splendid thing. But why should love stop at the border?
The child must know that he is a miracle, that since the beginning of the world there hasn't been, and until the end of the world there will not be, another child like him.
I am an old man but in many senses a very young man. And this is what I want you to be, young, young all your life.
To the whole world you might be just one person, but to one person you might just be the whole world.
I began graduate school in the late 1980s, and my goal was to understand how morality varied across cultures and nations. I did some research comparing moral judgment in India and the U.S.A.
The permanent temptation of life is to confuse dreams with reality. The permanent defeat of life comes when dreams are surrendered to reality.
There is no substitute for virtue. Keep your thoughts virtuous. Rise above the filth that's all around you in this world and stand tall in strength and virtue. You can do this and you will be happier for it for as long as you live. God bless you in cherishing, developing and holding on to this great gift, the quality of personal virtue.
How great, therefore, the wickedness of human nature is! How many girls there are who prevent conception and kill and expel tender fetuses, although procreation is the work of God.
Let no one delay the study of philosophy while young nor weary of it when old.
Making fake biography, false history, concocting a half-imaginary existence out of the actual drama of my life is my life.
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