A straw sunhat on a small pile of gold coins beside a folded teal blanket.

Original artwork, not a still

City Aphorisms, Fourteenth Selection, New York ‧ 1994

Mason Cooley

In retirement, only money and symptoms are consequential.

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

A wry aphorism about later life: once work ends, only two things seem to matter, finances and physical ailments. It's a dry, slightly gloomy shorthand for how attention narrows, with money worries on one side and bodily complaints on the other filling the days.

Context reviewed

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