Eknath Easwaran's Commentary
Older people have much to contribute when they are able to draw on the wisdom gained from direct knowledge of life. It takes considerable experience of life to understand the fleeting nature of physical satisfactions and personal profit.
In the first half of life, we all have a wide margin for error, and youth often is a time of experimentation. It is usually in the second half of life that maturity comes – which means we have developed some mastery over personal, self-centered drives. With this spiritual maturity comes an increased capacity to feel for others as much as we feel for ourselves.
This is the great opportunity that we have in the second half of life: our hard-earned wisdom can enable us to bring about a quiet transformation of our society.