Los años no vienen solos
I am looking for the English equivalent of this expression. "Los años no vienen solos" means that growing old rarely is free from a lot of ailments and inconveniences that start to show and pile up as time goes by. It's pronounced with ironic resignation.
I'm not looking for a translation but a similar phrase in the English speaking culture which says the same, or any other mouthful about the same situation.
Thanks in advance.
10 Answers
There are a number of variations on this theme:
Slightly off topic I thought you would like the poem When I am old I will wear purple.
It was written by the British poet Jenny Jacobs
Here she reads it
And here are the words plus a link to a translation in Spanish
Though she is now in her eighties, she actually wrote the poem when she was in her late twenties.
A simple one, not too specific but still applicable:
Time waits for no man - or - Time and tide wait for no man.
I'm not choosing best answer because there are too many good answers here. Thank you all, my friends.
The usual Spanish version of some:
La vejez no es para cobardes (coarser versions of "cobardes" can be used 
)
El tiempo pasa para todos por igual.
No es linda la vejez, pero más fea es la alternativa.
El otoño de la vida es más bien invierno.
I read the thread title and immediately understood it. The literal translation sounds quite poetic but makes perfect sense even though I've never actually heard it before. The context that you gave was very clear so it sounds good to me.
I did some searching and have found that something like this exists in Scottish and Greek humor as well. So feel free to say in English: "Old age does not come alone."
I'd rather say * Golden Years of Attitude. "
Prefiero decir * los años de oro de la actitud. "
Estoy tentada de decirte lo que oí alguna vez.
La juventud es una enfermedad que se cura con los años.
Old age isn't fun, but the alternative is worse.
Growing old is better than the alternative. My husband says that all the time.
