(Newser)
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Walter Breuning credited his long life to working, eating only two meals a day, and having a willingness to embrace change—including death. "We're going to die. Some people are scared of dying. Never be afraid to die. Because you're born to die," said Breuning, who has died in Montana at the age of 114. The retired railroad worker was the world's oldest man and is believed to be the oldest American man to have ever lived.
Breuning, born in 1896, told AP in an interview last year that his earliest memory was of his grandfather's tales of killing southerners in the Civil War. He recalled President McKinley's assassination in 1901 as the day he got his first haircut, and, reflecting on the Great Depression, hailed the introduction of Social Security as America's greatest achievement. He got his first job in 1913 and managed the local Shriners chapter until he was 99. "Don't retire until you're darn sure that you can't work anymore. Keep on working as long as you can work and you'll find that it's good for you," he said.
