First Blog

Why did the chicken cross the road???  This is an old one, with a few new entries.   When my dad played this one on me, he delighted to say, "To get to the other side."  Ha, ha.  But leave it to the professionals to interpret.  In the compilation below, there are too many authors to attribute - indeed I don't know most of them.  My humble contributions are the last two, though I feel certain they are not original to me.   The pleasure of this piece is in the humor of extravagant interpretations in philosophy, politics, physics, mathematics, and sociology. Aristotle: To actualize its potential. Plato: For the greater good. Sir Isaac Newton: Chickens at rest tend to stay at rest. Chickens in motion tend to cross the road Sigmund Freud: The fact that you thought that the chicken crossed the road reveals your underlying sexual insecurity. Nietzsche: Because if you gaze too long across the Road, the Road gazes also across you. Martin Luther King: It had a dream

Humor is a near unique aspect of humans that leaves untouched just about every endeavor, every aspiration, and every desperation we have.   Not the least of these is aging.   While in Part I of this note on aging we reflected on the majesty and melancholy of aging, here we look at the humor.   Most speak to some aspect of youth when viewed from the lens of age.   Each speaks for itself, comments are not needed.    There are hundreds of published quotes online and in print.   Selected here are some of the very funny ones from notable people - all current graduates of that select club.         The older I get, the better I was. - Henry Louis Mencken     Do not regret growing old; many are denied the privilege. - Ogden Nash     Forty is the old age of youth; fifty is the youth of old age. - Victor Hugo       It's paradoxical that the idea of living a long life appeals to everyone, but the idea of getting old doesn't appeal to anyone. - Andy Rooney     You don't st