Life Begins at Forty by Walter Boughton Pitkin
"Life Begins at Forty" is a self-help book by American psychologist and philosopher Walter Boughton Pitkin, published in the 1920s. The book emerged as a reaction to the prevailing youth-centric culture of the time, which often idealized adolescence as the most vibrant and productive phase of life. Pitkin observed a rise in middle-aged depression and sought to challenge the notion that life’s vitality diminishes with age. He argued that individuals in their forties and beyond could lead fulfilling and meaningful lives, drawing inspiration from figures like Herbert Hoover and Henry David Thoreau, who exemplified wisdom and activity during these years.
Pitkin's central thesis posits that the benefits of an increasingly longer lifespan allow for a richer experience in one's forties and beyond, marked by health and well-being rather than decline. In popularizing the phrase "life begins at forty," Pitkin contributed to a cultural shift that acknowledged the vitality and potential of older Americans. His ideas resonated in broader media, influencing a film and a song that celebrated this renewed appreciation for the later stages of life. Ultimately, "Life Begins at Forty" invites readers to reconsider age and value, promoting a perspective that embraces the strengths of maturity.
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Life Begins at Forty by Walter Boughton Pitkin
Identification Self-help book
Author Walter Boughton Pitkin
Date Published in 1932
Although life expectancy for the average American during the 1930’s had greatly increased as the result of improvements in medicine and sanitation, individuals older than thirty were increasingly portrayed as “old-fashioned” and “dated,” an attitude that Walter Boughton Pitkin decided should be challenged.
An American psychologist and philosopher, Pitkin noticed a growing trend of depression in middle-aged Americans. During the 1920’s, a youth movement had begun in which a person’s adolescence was celebrated as the most productive and vibrant time of life. Liberated from parental control by the invention of the automobile and encouraged by a technology-driven mode of life to leave the family home in search of independence, the young were the new heroes and heroines of stage and screen.
In response, Pitkin published his self-help book Life Begins at Forty to question this youth-oriented perspective on life and living. In his opinion, American middle-aged citizens needed to redefine their age group as vibrant and their station in life as rewarding. Pitkin used Herbert Hoover and Henry David Thoreau as examples of the kind of wise, active men who lived their most vital years in their forties and beyond. Their lives were held up as examples of what mature Americans should strive to achieve. The most gratifying part of the increasingly long life that Americans enjoyed, Pitkin declared, was that living into one’s forties was no longer accompanied by a slow descent into feebleness. Rather, he declared, the wisdom of one’s middle years were accompanied by health and well-being. The United States was changing, Pitkin declared, and the American view of youth and age needed to change as well.
Impact
Although Pitkin has been attributed with coining the phrase “life begins at forty,” he simply popularized it. The phrase became the title of a film, directed by George Marshall in 1935, and a song written by Jack Yellen and Ted Shapiro, which was recorded by Sophie Tucker in 1937. It symbolized America’s increasing appreciation of the greater health and vitality of its older citizens as well as the awareness of the value of a long life well spent.
Bibliography
Henrickson, Wilma Wood. Detroit Perspectives: Crossroads and Turning Points. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1991.
Pitkin, Walter B. Life Begins at Forty. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1932.