Demian for Adults
Hermann Hesse's "Aging Lessons"

The period after fifty requires more reflection and contemplation than any other stage of life.
My body isn't what it used to be, my memory is fading, my relationships are becoming more distant, and I'm experiencing a new level of fear about the future...
Growing old can be a bewildering experience for everyone, bringing about a different set of emotions: anxiety and worry, rather than anticipation and excitement.


This book is a collection of Hermann Hesse's writings on aging and old age.
Essays, poems, and aphorisms in elegant strokes blend together to create a beautiful symphony.
Hermann Hesse, the author of [Demian], a novel that sensitively captures the turning points of life, looks at the various phenomena that accompany aging with transparent intelligence.
The author's deep insight into the meaning of growing older, gained through living past the age of eighty, is presented in refreshing essays and poems.

Old people don't take young people very seriously.
Of course, passion is a beautiful thing, and young people are great.
But older people need humor.
It makes you smile a little, it's not serious, and it captures the changing world in one picture.
Moreover, such humor allows us to observe things as if we were watching the passing sunset. --- p.30~31

The decade between the ages of forty and fifty is always a difficult time for emotionally rich people and artists.
It is a time when you often feel dissatisfied because your mind is anxious and it is difficult to properly balance life and yourself.
But then comes a time of comfort.
I didn't just feel it in myself, I observed it in many other people too.
Just as youth, with its seething heartache and heartache, was beautiful, so too is there beauty and joy in growing older and maturing. --- p.65

As people reach the age of fifty, they gradually lose their childish habits.
He gradually shakes off the idea of ​​gaining fame and respect, and begins to look back on his past life without any passion.
You learn to wait, you learn to be silent, you learn to listen.
It is a great advantage to have such good things instead of becoming weak and feeble. --- p.68

Growing old doesn't just mean breaking down and withering.
It has its own value, as does every stage of life.
It has its own magic, its own unique wisdom, and its own unique sadness. --- p.102

Now, in the garden of old age, many flowers that we had not been able to cultivate before are blooming beautifully.
As the noble flower of patience blossoms, we will become more relaxed and generous. --- p.134

The best weapons to avoid living a mean life are courage, persistence, and perseverance.
Courage makes you strong, persistence makes you interesting, and patience gives you rest.
Unfortunately, people usually find out about it later in life.
Most people need it when they are battered by storms and when they are slowly approaching death. --- p.148

It is very difficult to grow old gracefully, to act in a way that befits our age, and to have wisdom.
In most cases, our souls tend to either precede or lag behind our bodies. --- p.151

In fact, there is no such thing as a completely new experience for older people.
These are all things I have already experienced in the past at a reasonable size.
The increasingly rare 'new' experiences are merely repetitions of experiences that have occurred many times before.
It's like painting new, light colors over dozens or hundreds of layers of old experiences on a canvas that appears to have been completed long ago.
Yet it is a new and authentic experience.
Although it is not primal, when considering various other aspects, it becomes an encounter with oneself and a test of oneself. --- p.237

Death is not accidental, meaningless, or cruel.
It's not that evil has taken the dead person, he has simply completed the task given to him in life.
And he goes back to get a new form and continue to influence.
The statement that “his life’s work is finished” does not mean that he could not continue to do valuable work for a long time, or that he was replaceable.
It means that the person himself has reached the deepest meaning in his life and has matured.

--- p.263