QuoteProject
No mariner ever enters upon a more uncharted sea than does the average human being born in the 20th century. Our ancestors know their way from birth through eternity; we are puzzled about the day after tomorrow.
Walter Lippmann
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote reflects on the uncertainty and complexity of modern life compared to the clear paths known by previous generations.

Walter Lippmann's quote suggests that individuals born in the 20th century face a unique and unpredictable journey through life. Unlike our ancestors, who had defined paths and expectations based on tradition and history, contemporary individuals grapple with uncertainty about the future, often feeling confused about immediate choices rather than the long-term journey of life.

Themes

UncertaintyFutureModern LifeJourneyPhilosophy

In practice

Example use cases

During a keynote speech about embracing change in the 21st century, this quote highlights our evolving challenges.

More from Walter Lippmann

Football strategy does not originate in a scrimmage: it is useless to expect solutions in a political campaign.
Walter LippmannRead
The simple opposition between the people and big business has disappeared because the people themselves have become so deeply involved in big business.
Walter LippmannRead
The news and the truth are not the same thing.
Walter LippmannRead
There is nothing so bad but it can masquerade as moral.
Walter LippmannRead
The tendency of the casual mind is to pick out or stumble upon a sample which supports or defies its prejudices, and then to make it the representative of a whole class.
Walter LippmannRead
The private citizen, beset by partisan appeals for the loan of his Public Opinion, will soon see, perhaps, that these appeals are not a compliment to his intelligence, but an imposition on his good nature and an insult to his sense of evidence.
Walter LippmannRead

Similar quotes

I think it is incumbent on anyone who can to lift human dignity to the highest possible levels, maintaining one's own and helping to raise that of others.
Henry RollinsRead
Doth the Reality of sensible things consist in being perceived? or, is it something distinct from their being perceived, and that bears no relation to the mind?
George BerkeleyRead
All emerge from that One Whose Being is ever present and Whose Life, robed in numberless forms, is manifest throughout all creation. Creation is the logical result of the out-push of Life into self-expression.
Ernest HolmesRead
You are not in the world...the world is in you," what did he mean? [That is, you are not in the world," that is, there is no "you" that is real or in any world. "The world is in you" means that the world is in your "mind" and is nothing more than a figment of your programming-and-conditioning-induced imaginings.]
Sri Nisargadatta MaharajRead
For me, being raised in a free America made all the difference.
Madeleine AlbrightRead
The Christian religion is only for one who needs infinite help, therefore only for one who feels an infinite need. The whole planet cannot be in greater anguish than a single soul. The Christian faith - as I view it - is the refuge in this ultimate anguish. To whom it is given in this anguish to open his heart, instead of contracting it, accepts the means of salvation in his heart.
Ludwig WittgensteinRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.

Quote by Walter Lippmann | QuoteProject