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# On the idea that Europeans have a long old age rather than a long life
- URL: https://theparnassian.com/en/akademik-mechnikov-v-etiudakh-optimizma-napisal/
- Published: 2025-02-16T12:05:29.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-02T18:40:38.000Z
- Author: Alexandr Radayev
- Tags: Books, Observations, Science

Academician Mechnikov wrote in "Essays on Optimism":.

> Europeans do not have a long life, only a long old age.

When you are no longer fit for anything, and yet still alive