''Life Begins at Forty'' is a 1932 American

self-help book A self-help book is one that is written with the intention to instruct its readers on solving personal problems. The books take their name from '' Self-Help'', an 1859 best-seller by Samuel Smiles, but are also known and classified under "self- ...

by Walter B. Pitkin. Written during a time of rapid increase in

life expectancy Life expectancy is a statistical measure of the average time an organism is expected to live, based on the year of its birth, current age, and other demographic factors like sex. The most commonly used measure is life expectancy at birth ...

(at the time of its publication American life expectancy at birth was around 60 and climbing fast, from being only ''at'' age 40 fifty years before), it was very popular and influential. It was the #1 bestselling non-fiction book in the United States in 1933, and #2 in 1934, according to ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...

''. Although Pitkin did not necessarily coin the phrase "life begins at forty", the success of his book entered it into general circulation, such that after 1932 it became an American

catchphrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...

for the remainder of the twentieth century and into the twenty-first (it is the title of a 1935 Will Rogers movie, a 1937 song sung by

Sophie Tucker Sophie Tucker (born Sofia Kalish; January 13, 1886 – February 9, 1966) was an American singer, comedian, actress, and radio personality. Known for her powerful delivery of comical and risqué songs, she was one of the most popular entertaine ...

, a 1980 John Lennon song, two television series (in 1978 in Britain and 2003 in Hong Kong), and several novels and other books). More an extended essay and exhortation than a detailed self-help book in the modern sense, the general thrust of the book is that, given the current conditions of the world, one could look forward to many years of fulfilling and happy existence after age 40, provided that one maintained the proper positive attitude.

References

1932 non-fiction books Non-fiction books adapted into films Self-help books {{self-book-stub