Men are like wine, some turn to vinegar, but the best improve with age.

The saying uses a familiar metaphor of wine’s aging to comment on human character over time. As people grow older, experience and habit can have opposite effects: some become “vinegar,” soured by resentment, rigidity, or disappointment; others “improve with age,” gaining patience, wisdom, and charity. The contrast implies that aging itself is not a guarantee of maturity—what matters is how a person responds to life’s pressures and opportunities for moral growth. Attributed to Pope John XXIII, the line is often read as a gentle, pastoral encouragement to cultivate humility and openness so that later years deepen rather than harden one’s spirit.