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## <center>Centenarians are often asked what their secrets for living a long life are, and their answers typically tend to be quirky, varied, and in many ways a reflection of the unique mix of luck and genes that they have been blessed with.</center>

### <center>People in their seventies, eighties, and nineties, as well, when they are healthy and youthful, often develop interesting aphorisms and one-liners about how to live a long life.</center>

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When I lived in Saratoga Springs, a small artsy town three and a half hours north of New York City, there was a local figure, a black man in his seventies who moved and talked like a man in his twenties or thirties. He worked for himself as a carpenter and could often be found in front of a local convenience store in the center of town smoking cigarettes and drinking hot tea out of a paper cup. 

In his youth, he had been a musician, playing congas in the parks of New York City with the likes of Richie Havens, but, by his own account, a heroin habit ruined his chances of becoming a successful musician and drove him out of the city. It didn’t rob him of his talent, though. On nice nights throughout the spring, summer, and fall, he played congas with an assorted group of enthusiasts in a local park and sometimes on the sidewalks of the town’s main street. 

There he could often be heard saying when offered water, *Water?! No, no, no! I don’t drink none of that stuff, man. You see what that stuff do to metal? Imagine what that stuff be doing to your body, man. No, no, no. I don’t drink none of that.*

<center>And that was his two cents.</center>

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https://youtu.be/rynxqdNMry4

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**Image Sources:** [Image 1](http://www.bumc.bu.edu/centenarian/), and [Image 2](http://ww2.hdnux.com/photos/11/76/35/2615153/3/628x471.jpg)
**Video Source:** [Youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rynxqdNMry4)