I’ve gotten crankier in my old age.

In this wry, self-deprecating remark, MacLaine frames aging not as serene wisdom but as an accumulation of impatience and sharper boundaries. The line plays on a familiar cultural trope—the “cranky” elder—yet, coming from a performer known for candor and strong opinions, it can also be read as a refusal to soften herself for public comfort. The humor lies in its plainness: it punctures idealized narratives of graceful aging and instead normalizes emotional complexity over time. As a quotation, it functions less as a maxim than as a personality-revealing aside, inviting audiences to accept aging as a process that can intensify temperament as much as it deepens insight.