It is a shame for a man to grow old without seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable.

The saying urges self-knowledge and self-cultivation in a specifically physical register: one should not let life pass without discovering what one’s body can do at its best. Framed as “a shame,” it treats neglect of bodily capacity as a moral failure, not merely a missed hobby—echoing a classical Greek ideal in which education (paideia) included training of both mind and body. In modern use it often functions as a motivational maxim about fitness and discipline, but its deeper point is about unrealized human potential: aging without ever testing one’s strength and resilience means never fully knowing oneself.