"Nothing makes a man feel older than to hear a band coming up the street, and not to have the impulse to rush downstairs and out on to the sidewalk"
About this Quote
Benchley, a New Yorker writer and one of the great American deadpanners, specialized in turning private insecurities into public comedy. Here, he chooses a wholesome, almost Norman Rockwell image - the street band - and then lets it expose a darker truth: adulthood isn’t simply responsibility; it’s a gradual downgrade in curiosity. The band’s noise becomes a test you fail without trying. You don’t choose to be older; you discover that your body no longer votes for participation.
There’s also a class and city-life subtext. “Rush downstairs” implies the old apartment-house theater of urban community, where entertainment finds you. Not chasing it doesn’t just signal fatigue; it signals retreat from the sidewalk, from spontaneity, from the shared civic moment. Benchley makes that retreat funny, but the punchline stings because it’s recognizably real: aging is when even happiness requires planning.
Quote Details
| Topic | Aging |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Benchley, Robert. (2026, February 18). Nothing makes a man feel older than to hear a band coming up the street, and not to have the impulse to rush downstairs and out on to the sidewalk. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/nothing-makes-a-man-feel-older-than-to-hear-a-58153/
Chicago Style
Benchley, Robert. "Nothing makes a man feel older than to hear a band coming up the street, and not to have the impulse to rush downstairs and out on to the sidewalk." FixQuotes. February 18, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/nothing-makes-a-man-feel-older-than-to-hear-a-58153/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Nothing makes a man feel older than to hear a band coming up the street, and not to have the impulse to rush downstairs and out on to the sidewalk." FixQuotes, 18 Feb. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/nothing-makes-a-man-feel-older-than-to-hear-a-58153/. Accessed 22 Feb. 2026.
