Special Occasions & Events: Retirement Quotes

Celebrate life's next chapter with a curated collection of retirement quotes that honor years of dedication and the promise of more time for passions, family, and rest. Find sentiments that fit farewell cards, speeches, and toasts. From warm gratitude and encouragement to light humor and inspiration, these lines help you craft thoughtful messages for coworkers, friends, and loved ones. Mark the milestone with words that recognize achievements, close a career with grace, and look ahead to new adventures.

Similar topics:Anniversary Birthday Congratulations Graduation Thank You

"The trouble with retirement is that you never get a day off"

Abe Lemons, Coach

Small: Abe Lemons

"You won't have Nixon to kick around anymore, because, gentlemen, this is my last press conference"

Richard M. Nixon, President

Small: Richard M. Nixon

"Don't simply retire from something; have something to retire to"

Harry Emerson Fosdick, Clergyman

"When I retire I'm going to spend my evenings by the fireplace going through those boxes. There are things in there that ought to be burned"

Richard M. Nixon, President

Small: Richard M. Nixon

"I'm 78, I'm on my pension in Ireland, and all that good stuff"

Anne McCaffrey, Author

Small: Anne McCaffrey

"After a lifetime of working, raising families, and contributing to the success of this nation in countless other ways, senior citizens deserve to retire with dignity"

Charlie Gonzalez, Politician

"I've got too many of my friends that retired and went home and got on a rocking chair, and about a year and a half later, I'm always going to the cemetery"

Red Adair, Celebrity

Small: Red Adair

"To retire is to die"

Pablo Casals, Musician

"Social Security is not just the foundation of America's retirement dignity and security, it ensures the economic stability and strength of our families and our state's economy"

Debbie Stabenow, Politician

"Privatizing Social Security doesn't make sense, and it's out of step with the fundamental value of ensuring that after a life spent working hard and contributing to the greatness of our nation, every American should have a secure retirement"

Debbie Stabenow, Politician

"Retiring for good wasn't difficult. I knew at the time it was right. I was no longer capable of achieving the standards I'd set myself and there was no light at the end of the tunnel"

Ian Botham, Athlete

"I think it was the right time for me to retire because nowadays tennis is too incredibly fast and you can say that my style tennis went out of fashion"

Jana Novotna, Athlete

"Like the old soldier of the ballad, I now close my military career and just fade away, an old soldier who tried to do his duty as God gave him the light to see that duty. Goodbye"

Douglas MacArthur, Soldier

Small: Douglas MacArthur

"I will not retire while I've still got my legs and my make-up box"

Bette Davis, Actress

Small: Bette Davis

"I don't want to spend the rest of my life giving speeches"

Colin Powell, Statesman

Small: Colin Powell

"I will never do another TV series. It couldn't top I Love Lucy, and I'd be foolish to try. In this business, you have to know when to get off"

Lucille Ball, Comedian

"My own mentality is that I've retired. They send me these scripts and if I absolutely have to do it, then I go to work"

Michael Caine, Actor

"Retirement may be looked upon either as a prolonged holiday or as a rejection, a being thrown on to the scrap-heap"

Simone de Beauvoir, Writer

"I have absolutely no plans and no expectations of ever being a candidate again"

Al Gore, Vice President

Small: Al Gore

"I started beach football in Monte Carlo when I retired from football in 1997. I liked the game very much"

Eric Cantona, Athlete

"I'm not in retirement. I just don't want to work so much, and I don't get that many offers any more"

Max von Sydow, Actor

"I don't intend to retire"

Bobby Knight, Coach

"To retire is to begin to die"

Pablo Casals, Musician

"Retiring is just practicing up to be dead. That doesn't take any practice"

Paul Harvey, Journalist

"No press conference announcing a last film. I'd just steal away. Best way because, if by chance after two or three years something interesting comes up, I would not - like Sinatra - have to say: "Well, I've thought it over and decided to come back.""

Sophia Loren, Actress

"Am I still in uniform? Then I ain't retired"

Pete Rose, Athlete

Small: Pete Rose

"People do not retire. They are retired by others"

Duke Ellington, Musician

Small: Duke Ellington

"I want to say that probably 24 hours after I told CBS that I was stepping down at my 65th birthday, I was already regretting it. And I regretted it every day since"

Walter Cronkite, Journalist

"I don't know why people thought I was retiring"

Billy Joel, Musician

"I've been on the tour for many, many years. It's time for me to go now, before it's too late"

Stefan Edberg, Athlete

"Before deciding to retire, stay home for a week and watch the daytime TV shows"

Bill Copeland, Athlete

"I feel really good right now. It will really be a tough decision. It's so hard to give up what you love doing. Hanging up the boots will not be an easy thing to do"

Hulk Hogan, Celebrity

Small: Hulk Hogan

"There was no last animal I treated. When young farm lads started to help me over the gate into a field or a pigpen, to make sure the old fellow wouldn't fall, I started to consider retiring"

James Herriot, Writer

"I always had the old-school model that I'm going to work for as long as I'm relevant and focus on for-profit activities and someday when I retire I'm going to learn about philanthropy"

Marc Andreessen, Businessman

"I always said that when it was time to retire, I would know it, and I would just tip my hat to the crowds"

Willie Stargell, Athlete

"People who refuse to rest honorably on their laurels when they reach retirement age seem very admirable to me"

Helen Hayes, Actress

"I guess I'll retire someday if I live that long"

Bobby Bowden, Coach

"I very much enjoyed my career in science. I didn't leave science because I was disillusioned, but felt I'd done my bit for it after about twenty-five years"

John Polkinghorne, Physicist

Small: John Polkinghorne

"I planned to stop in 2002 after the Salt Lake City Olympics. I felt able to remain competitive another four years, and I wanted to stop while I'm still at the top"

Hermann Maier, Athlete

"There are some who start their retirement long before they stop working"

Robert Half, Businessman

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