Aging & Wisdom Quote by Ben Folds

Ben Folds turns a coming-of-age cliche into something pricklier: not just that growing up hurts, but that we keep trying to refuse the terms of adulthood long after the bruises are familiar. The ellipsis is doing real work here. It mimics a sigh, a pause where you can hear the speaker deciding whether to admit the embarrassing truth: the fight isn’t over, and it may never end.

The line’s intent is less inspirational than diagnostic. “Everybody knows” frames the pain as common knowledge, which lets the speaker dodge self-pity while still claiming legitimacy. It’s the rhetorical move of someone who’s learned to be ironic about their feelings because earnestness can feel like giving the world leverage. Then comes the twist: “we’re still fighting it.” Growing up isn’t a completed milestone; it’s an ongoing negotiation with responsibility, regret, and the slow erosion of your imagined self.

Context matters because Folds’ whole musical persona lives in that tension: piano-pop that sounds bright enough to be breezy, lyrics that keep poking at insecurity, ambition, and social theater. He’s always been good at writing adult characters who feel like they’re performing adulthood, which makes “still” the knife in the sentence. It suggests that even success, even competence, doesn’t cancel the adolescent impulse to push back.

The subtext is a kind of solidarity for late bloomers and overthinkers: if you’re still wrestling with who you’re supposed to be, you’re not broken. You’re just human, mid-fight.