The older we get, the more we desire to reclaim our body at 25; we'll take our face at 35, the elasticity of our mind at its most powerful, to return ourselves somehow to our most vital moment of rigor and protean creation.

By living so long, the supercentenarian earns the prefixal 'super' and becomes a person suddenly freighted with power and meaning. He's Gandalf, Yoda, the Ancient Mariner, perhaps with some otherworldly insight. He's lived so long that, in fact, he's living the afterlife to his own initial life.

I'd read about Alexander Imich, a Polish-born 'psychic researcher,' in 'The New York Times' not long after he'd turned 111 and had been declared the oldest man on earth.

Michael Paterniti Quotes