Indeed, if it has in store any of what I may call the food of study and philosophy, nothing can be pleasanter than an old age of leisure.
 Marcus Tullius Cicero, On Friendship (44 BC). copy citation

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Author Marcus Tullius Cicero
Source On Friendship
Topic philosophy age
Date 44 BC
Language English
Reference
Note Translated by E. S. Shuckburgh
Weblink http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2808/2808-h/2808-h.htm

Context

“Why, what blessings are these—that the soul, having served its time, so to speak, in the campaigns of desire and ambition, rivalry and hatred, and all the passions, should live in its own thoughts, and, as the expression goes, should dwell apart! Indeed, if it has in store any of what I may call the food of study and philosophy, nothing can be pleasanter than an old age of leisure. We were witnesses to C. Gallus—a friend of your father's, Scipio—intent to the day of his death on mapping out the sky and land. How often did the light surprise him while still working out a problem begun during the night!” source