second half of life, n.Definitions

The Second half of life (n.) brought ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠Jung not one patient whose deepest trouble was anything but finding a religious outlook on life.

The Second half of life (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠when the illusions projected on the world come home jaded and way-worn, and their energy falls back to wake what we neglected.

The Second half of life (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠an afternoon as full of meaning as the morning — only the meaning and the purpose have changed.

The Second half of life (n.) reverses ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the first: the descent towards life's afternoon demands not expansion but simplification, limitation and intensification — and not a few are wrecked in the transition.

The Second half of life (n.) no ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠longer needs to educate the will but to experience its own inner being — and an inwardly stable person turns out more socially useful than one at odds with his unconscious.

The Second half of life (n.) cannot ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠follow the plan of life's morning: what was great at dawn will be small by evening, and the morning's truth will by evening have turned into a lie.

The Second half of life (n.) needs ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠its own psychology: the young neurotic is afraid of life, the old one shrinks back from death, clinging to a youthful attitude now out of season.

The Second half of life (n.) has ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠no college for forty-year-olds — no school prepares us for it as schools prepare the young; our religions once were such schools.