Everyone who is alive will age and die. The reality of aging and death is a simple fact of our existence and is beyond dispute. However, particularly in the West, many people are extremely reluctant to accept the reality of aging and death. This is so much the case that to even make the observation that someone is old is perceived to be unkind. Yet if we look at the attitudes of different societies, say, for example, of Tibetan society, the very same phenomena—aging and death—are seen in a radically different light. Advanced age is perceived to be a basis for greater respect. Thus, what from one cultural perspective is seen as negative is, from another, quite positive—but the phenomenon of aging itself has no intrinsic qualities in this regard.
---His Holiness the Dalai Lama---
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