Old Age

Quick now, here, now, always—
A condition of complete simplicity
(Costing not less than everything)
—T. S. Eliot (Little Gidding)

In this classic text on aging wisely, the renowned Jungian analyst Helen M. Luke reflects on the final journeys described in Homer’s Odyssey, Shakespeare’s King Lear, and T. S. Eliot’s Little Gidding, as well as devoting attention to suffering.

In examining some of the great masterpieces of literature produced by writers at the end of their lives, she elucidates the difference between growing old and disintegrating, encouraging the reader to grow emotionally and mentally during the culminating stage of life.