It's the quality and barakah of life that truly matters. Subhan Allah, a lot of the elders of the ummah didn't live so long, and yet the effect they continue having on lives is phenomenal. There is none amongst the kuffaar's past celebrities who continues to "live" amongst them, the same way our pious elders live right amongst us. We talk about Imam-e-A'azdham, Imam Nawawi, Imam Ghazali, Ghawth-e-A'azdham and others as if they are right in our midst. As far as I know Imam Nawawi passed away at the age of 40 while al-Ghazali was a mere 55. Our own Imam-e-A'azdham was 70 (roughly). Not everyone can properly correlate the impact of Imam Nawawi on the lives of Muslims over ages and how his fayd continues untill today, with his short life span. There's a hadith of the Prophet, 3alaihis salam, too that his ummah shall not have long life spans but will contain more barakah.
an interesting article from the guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/theobserver/2010/aug/08/alex-horne-longevity-centenarian-oldest-man-world-record the first few paragraphs sound innocuous; but if you persist a little more, you will get to the interesting stuff. ----- for a muslim, the pursuit of knowledge and interest in dhikr, starting from a young age, is an insurance for later lonely times. one can do dhikr, recite qur'an, teach qur'an, listen to the qur'an. and if one learns to enjoy reading - they will never feel lonely and a 100 years do not seem sufficient for reading all that they want to.
