Cao Cao 曹操
AD 207 · end of the Later Han, China · At fifty-three
An old steed lies in the stable, but his heart is set on a thousand miles. A man of purpose in his last years: his bold heart does not stop.
老驥伏櫪，志在千里。
烈士暮年，壯心不已。"Though the Tortoise Lives Long"
In the same thread
Confucius 孔子
5th century BC · Lu, Spring and Autumn China
"At fifteen I set my heart on learning. At thirty I stood firm. At forty I had no doubts. At fifty I knew the will of heaven. At sixty my ear was attuned. At seventy I could follow what my heart desired without overstepping the line."
子曰：「吾十有五而志于學，三十而立，四十而不惑，五十而知天命，六十而耳順，七十而從心所欲，不踰矩。」Analects, book 2 (Weizheng)
Ambapali Ambapālī
c. 5th century BC · Vesali, India
Black as the colour of bees, curled at the tips, was the hair of my head. With age it has become like hemp bark. The words of the Speaker of Truth do not prove false.
Kāḷakā bhamaravaṇṇasādisā, Vellitaggā mama muddhajā ahuṁ; Te jarāya sāṇavākasādisā, Saccavādivacanaṁ anaññathā.
Therigatha (Verses of the Elder Nuns) 13.1, the song of Ambapali
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