Source identified1
Read & copy
“Regrets are the natural property of grey hairs; and I enjoy, in common with all other men, at least my share of such inheritance.”
Meaning & context
Old Martin treats regret as an almost ordinary inheritance of age: living long enough produces memories of choices, estrangements and missed opportunities that cannot all be revisited without hindsight.
Source details
Martin Chuzzlewit, Chapter X, Project Gutenberg #968. Old Martin Chuzzlewit says that regrets are the natural property of grey hairs while speaking to Pecksniff during a deliberately strategic performance. The maxim remains fictional character speech shaped by manipulation and family conflict rather than direct Dickens autobiography or a clinical claim about aging.
