When a man becomes crooked from age it is no good telling him to be straight.
 Anthony Trollope, Phineas Redux (1874). copy citation

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Author Anthony Trollope
Source Phineas Redux
Topic age good
Date 1874
Language English
Reference
Note
Weblink http://www.gutenberg.org/files/18640/18640-h/18640-h.htm

Context

“"Do not suppose that I am angry with him. I owe him a great deal too much for that. He is one of the few friends I have who are entitled to say to me just what they please. But I think he mistakes the matter. When a man becomes crooked from age it is no good telling him to be straight. He'd be straight if he could. A man can't eat his dinner with a diseased liver as he could when he was well." "But he may follow advice as to getting his liver in order again." "And so am I following advice.” source