Old age is an excellent time for outrage. My goal is to say or do at least one outrageous thing every week. — Louis Kronenberger

Old age is an excellent time for outrage. My goal is to say or do at least one outrageous thing every week.

Author: Louis Kronenberger

Insight: There's something liberating about this idea that gets more true the older you get. When you're young, outrage often feels risky—it might damage your reputation, cost you a job, or alienate people you depend on. By the time you're older, you've usually figured out that most of those fears were overblown. You've survived enough mistakes and social missteps to know the world doesn't actually end when you upset someone. But Kronenberger isn't just talking about anger or complaint. He's talking about doing something genuinely outside the bounds of what's expected—refusing to play it safe, questioning assumptions everyone else accepts quietly, or simply refusing to perform respectability. It's the freedom to be a little weird, a little disruptive, a little honest in ways that younger people often can't afford to be. That weekly outrage might be speaking up at a dinner party, changing your mind publicly about something you've believed for decades, or just dressing differently than your peers expect. The non-obvious part? This isn't really about age at all. It's about what happens when you stop needing permission. Some people find that freedom at thirty; others never do. The real luxury isn't wrinkles or retirement—it's deciding that fitting in matters less than being yourself.