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Aging & Wisdom Quote by Ed Wynn

"I've found a formula for avoiding these exaggerated fears of age; you take care of every day - let the calendar take care of the years"

About this Quote

Wynn’s line is vaudeville wisdom with a stealthy edge: it sells reassurance, but it also smuggles in a work ethic. “Exaggerated fears of age” frames anxiety as a kind of melodrama, something we perform for ourselves the way an entertainer performs for a crowd. He’s not denying the reality of aging; he’s mocking the panic around it, the runaway imagination that turns a number into a verdict.

The “formula” matters. It’s comic framing - tidy, almost like a magic trick - and that’s the point. As an entertainer who made a living by turning jitters into laughter, Wynn understands that fear is often just unprocessed attention. So he redirects attention to the only unit you can actually manage: “every day.” The calendar, in this setup, becomes a neutral clerk, an indifferent record-keeper. Let it do its job. Stop negotiating with it.

There’s subtext here about control and consent. Aging is inevitable; dread is optional. “Take care” is wonderfully elastic: it can mean discipline (sleep, health, money), emotional maintenance (relationships, curiosity), even craft (show up, practice, keep the act sharp). Coming from a performer in an industry obsessed with youth and novelty, the line reads less like a Hallmark comfort and more like a survival strategy: don’t stare at the cliff edge, build a steady routine that keeps you useful, present, and maybe even playful.

It’s a joke that doubles as a boundary: you don’t beat time by arguing with it. You beat it by refusing to let it eat today.

Quote Details

TopicAging
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Citation Formats

APA Style (7th ed.)
Wynn, Ed. (2026, January 15). I've found a formula for avoiding these exaggerated fears of age; you take care of every day - let the calendar take care of the years. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/ive-found-a-formula-for-avoiding-these-169931/

Chicago Style
Wynn, Ed. "I've found a formula for avoiding these exaggerated fears of age; you take care of every day - let the calendar take care of the years." FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/ive-found-a-formula-for-avoiding-these-169931/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I've found a formula for avoiding these exaggerated fears of age; you take care of every day - let the calendar take care of the years." FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/ive-found-a-formula-for-avoiding-these-169931/. Accessed 11 Feb. 2026.

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Care for the Day: Ed Wynn on Aging
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About the Author

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Ed Wynn (November 9, 1886 - June 19, 1966) was a Entertainer from USA.

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