Most women are indulgent of themselves. This is a mistake. It

Anna Held, a star of the stage whose life dazzled with glamour, once declared: “Most women are indulgent of themselves. This is a mistake. It should be only the reward of old age.” In these words lies a stern yet affectionate counsel. She warns that indulgence, taken too early, weakens the spirit and distracts from the struggles and duties that shape true character. For her, self-reward should be the crown of endurance, not the pastime of youth.

The essence of her wisdom is that discipline and perseverance are the foundations of strength. To live in ease too soon is to rob oneself of the fire that trial and effort can create. In Held’s vision, the proper time for indulgence is after the battles have been fought, when the body and soul, weathered by years, may finally taste rest without guilt. Old age becomes not a decline, but a harvest, where the fruits of restraint may be enjoyed in peace.

History bears witness to this truth. Consider the Roman matron Cornelia, mother of the Gracchi brothers. She lived not for luxury, but for her children and their education, famously declaring that they were her only jewels. Her refusal of indulgence in youth gave rise to a legacy that shaped the politics of Rome itself. Her life became a monument to the teaching that sacrifice and self-restraint in one’s prime yield honor and strength in later years.

Held’s words also rebuke a culture often eager to prize comfort above effort. She reminds us that youth is the season of striving, of building, of pouring strength into the foundations of life. To consume one’s treasures too early is to leave nothing for the future. By contrast, those who endure hardship with dignity, and who labor faithfully, find their final years rich not only in memory but in the quiet joy of well-earned reward.

Let this wisdom endure for generations: do not waste the fire of youth on endless indulgence, but use it to forge strength, to create, to serve, and to endure. For when the twilight of life arrives, it is then, and only then, that indulgence becomes sweet and sacred, the just reward of old age. Anna Held’s words, born of observation and experience, stand as a teaching: strength before pleasure, sacrifice before comfort, and only in the fullness of years may one rest in the luxuries one has truly earned.