People who refuse to rest honorably on their laurels when they reach retirement age seem very admirable to me.

Hayes praises a particular kind of late-life vitality: the choice to keep working, creating, or contributing rather than withdrawing simply because one has reached a socially defined “retirement age.” The phrase “rest on their laurels” invokes the classical image of honors already won; by calling continued effort “admirable,” she reframes aging not as a cue for disappearance but as a stage in which purpose and discipline can persist. The adverb “honorably” is pointed: it concedes that retirement can be dignified, yet suggests that ongoing engagement—especially after acclaim—signals character, curiosity, and commitment beyond mere ambition.