My Brother in Law, Martin, is 40 tomorrow and I have sent him what I think is a most appropriate card. I love to write messages to my family and friends when their birthday comes up and usually I talk about what has happened between us and to them in the previous year since their last birthday. Sometimes quotes come to mind which make me think of them but more often than not the message is personal.
If you sometimes struggle to find the right quote or comment when you send birthday greetings, just take a look at the list below for some inspiration of what to say to someone about to pass the BIG FOUR-O!
Enjoy!
Life begins at 40 - but so do fallen arches, rheumatism, faulty eyesight, and the tendency to tell a story to the same person, three or four times.
Helen RowlandAt the age of 20, we don't care what the world thinks of us; at 30, we worry about what it is thinking of us; at 40, we discover that it wasn't thinking of us at all.
Author UnknownAge is opportunity no less than youth itself.
Henry Wadsworth LongfellowThis wine is forty years old. It certainly doesn't show its age.
Latin: Hoc vinum Falernum annorum quadragenta est. Bene aetatem fert.
Cicero
Every man over forty is a scoundrel.
George Bernard ShawThe first forty years of life give us the text: the next thirty supply the commentary.
Arthur SchopenhauerLife begins at forty.
W. B. PitkinAt twenty years of age, the will reigns; at thirty, the wit; and at forty, the judgement.
Benjamin FranklinAge is a matter of feeling, not of years.
George William CurtisForty is the old age of youth; fifty is the youth of old age.
Victor HugoThe I just woke up face of your 30's is the all day long face of your 40's.
Libby ReidWhat most persons consider as virtue, after the age of 40 is simply a loss of energy.
VoltaireAge is strictly a case of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.
Jack BennyWomen are most fascinating between the ages of 35 and 40 after they have won a few races and know how to pace themselves. Since few women ever pass 40, maximum fascination can continue indefinitely.
Christian DiorAge is a high price to pay for maturity.
Tom StoppardWomen deserve to have more than twelve years between the ages of twenty eight and forty
James ThurberThe lovely thing about being forty is that you can appreciate twenty-five-year-old men.
Colleen McCulloughWhen I passed forty I dropped pretense, 'cause men like women who got some sense.
Maya AngelouYou've heard of the three ages of man - youth, middle age, and 'you're looking wonderful'.
Francis Cardinal SpellmanMiddle age is when your age starts to show around your middle.
Bob HopeAt middle age the soul should be opening up like a rose, not closing up like a cabbage.
John Andrew HolmesMiddle age is when you still believe you'll feel better in the morning.
Bob HopeJust remember, once you're over the hill you begin to pick up speed.
Charles SchulzMiddle age is the time when a man is always thinking that in a week or two he will feel as good as ever
Don MarquisMiddle age is having a choice between two temptations and choosing the one that'll get you home earlier.
Dan BennettThe first sign of maturity is the discovery that the volume knob also turns to the left.
Jerry M. WrightThe best years of a woman's life - the ten years between 39 and 40.
Author Unknown35 is a very attractive age. London society is full of women of the very highest birth who have, of their own free choice, remained thirty-five for years.
Oscar WildeTo me, old age is always fifteen years older than I am.
Bernard M. BaruchTo be 70 years young is sometimes far more cheerful and hopeful than to be 40 years old.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.Be wise with speed; a fool at forty is a fool indeed.
Edward YoungAnd below is a message for my BIL - Have fun young man!!
