At twenty a man is a peacock, at thirty a lion, at forty a camel, at … — Baltasar Gracian

At twenty a man is a peacock, at thirty a lion, at forty a camel, at fifty a serpent, at sixty a dog, at seventy an ape, at eighty a nothing at all.

Baltasar GracianPhilosopher · Spanish · 1601 – 1658

More from Baltasar Gracian

When a man must force himself to be faithful in his love, this is hardly better than unfaithfulness. — Francois de La Rochefoucauld
The most happy man is he who knows how to bring into relation the end and beginning of his life. — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
There are other measures of self-respect for a man, than the number of clean shirts he puts on every day. — Ralph Waldo Emerson
Advice is sometimes transmitted more successfully through a joke than grave teaching. — Baltasar Gracian
Let him that hath no power of patience retire within himself, though even there he will have to put up with himself. — Baltasar Gracian
Even knowledge has to be in the fashion, and where it is not, it is wise to affect ignorance. — Baltasar Gracian