Quote Of The Day By David Bowie: 'As You Get Older, The Questions Come Down To About Two Or Three...'

David Bowie was an artistic chameleon who changed the face not only of rock 'n' roll, but also popular culture, thanks to his ability to creatively transform himself while remaining true to his own vision. Born David Robert Jones in Brixton, England, in January 1947, he was drawn to music early, but his first attempts as a singer-songwriter led nowhere. Then, in 1969, he had his first taste of success with "Space Oddity," and by the early '70s he was an international star as he morphed from one persona and sound to the next, with each of Bowie's famous looks having its own singular style and meaning.

Over the decades, he explored glam rock, soul, jazz, and post-punk, among other genres. He also acted in films, produced albums for other acts such as Iggy Pop and Lou Reed, and collaborated with Queen, Mick Jagger, and Trent Reznor, stretching his reach further.

As he got older, he began to reflect on spirituality and his own life on albums such as 1997's "Earthling" and 2002's "Heathen," with the latter album referencing some of his earlier work. Then, in 2014, Bowie was diagnosed with liver cancer and quietly worked on his 25th and final album, "Blackstar," which focused on mortality and transcendence. The album came out on his 69th birthday, and he died two days later. Certainly, Bowie gave us all plenty to think about, and that's why he's our quote of the day.

"As you get older, the questions come down to about two or three. How long? And what do I do with the time I've got left?"

David Bowie told The New York Times this in a June 2002 interview just after his album "Heathen" came out. This was 12 years before his cancer diagnosis, but it eerily presages his demise and the release of "Blackstar," his final artistic statement on mortality.

The quote is particularly important coming from an artist who spent his life looking forward, always exploring, always changing, even to the very end of his life.

David Bowie's quote gets to the heart of what living is all about. Everyone is going to die and, in most cases, we don't know when that will happen. Because of this, we need to decide how best to spend our time with this knowledge hanging over our heads as the hours, days, weeks, months, and years roll on.

Bowie spent his life on a journey of discovery and, while not all his musical forays were as warmly received as others, such as his late '80s to early '90s band Tin Machine, his last album "Blackstar" was a final gift to his fans and a summing up of all the questions he asked as an artist.

We, like Bowie, have the ability to follow our passions and seek out our own paths if we're willing to. The clock is ticking, so stop doomscrolling on social media or binge-watching TV and go do something memorable today.

• "Maybe we have to exist and live on the idea that we have one day at a time. If we could do that, we may be serving some really great thing.

• "I don't know where I'm going from here, but I promise it won't be boring."

• There's a term that the Gnostics use, which is called the God beyond God, and I think that there's a sense of one's trying to find ... some merit in the chaos that we perceive as our existence.

• "I've now decided that my death should be very precious. I really want to use it. I'd like my death to be as interesting as my life has been and will be."

• "Questioning my spiritual life has always been germane to what I was writing. Always. It's because I'm not quite an atheist and it worries me."

• "As I get older my questions are fewer, but I ask them more. I bark them, rather than ask them ... You must realise, though, ageing doesn't faze me at all [sic]. It's the death part that's really a drag."