You should not allow yourself the luxuries of discouragement of despair. Bounce back immediately, and welcome the adversity because it produces harder thinking and harder drive to get to the objective.
Ralph NaderRead
We have the most prolonged adolescence in the history of mankind. There is no other society that requires so many years to pass before people are grown up ... Adolescence is nurtured and prolonged by educational processes and by industry that has found a bonanza in embracing the adolescent population and fortifying 'adolescent values.' This prolongation of adolescence robs the country of the population group having the most risk takers, and the highest ideals.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects on the extended period of adolescence in modern society and how it impacts personal growth and societal values.
Ralph Nader's quote highlights the unique phenomenon of prolonged adolescence in contemporary society, suggesting that our educational systems and industries have fostered an environment where young people remain in a state of dependency and immaturity longer than ever before. He argues that this delay in maturation deprives society of the energy and idealism of its youth, as these individuals, who are often the most willing to take risks and pursue lofty goals, are stymied by a system that nurtures their adolescent traits rather than encouraging them to transition into adulthood.
Themes
AdolescenceSocietyEducationMaturityValues
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the role of education in shaping young adults, this quote by Ralph Nader can emphasize the importance of fostering maturity.
More from Ralph Nader
All quotes →I once said to my father, when I was a boy, 'Dad we need a third political party.' He said to me, 'I'll settle for a second.'
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Power concedes nothing without a demand. The struggle for justice must never be adjourned. The forces of injustice do not take vacations.
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The corporate lobby in Washington is basically designed to stifle all legislative activity on behalf of consumers.
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Moral courage is the highest expression of humanity.
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By the time you rise through the ranks, the culture of homogenization has bred the spirit and imagination out of you.
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Since the beginning of time, children have not liked to study. They would much rather play, and if you have their interests at heart, you will let them learn while they play; they will find that what they have mastered is child's play.
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It takes a great deal of living to get a little deal of learning.
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The old lessons (work, self-discipline, sacrifice, teamwork, fighting to achieve) aren't being taught by many people other than football coaches these days. The football coach has a captive audience and can teach these lessons because the communication lines between himself and his players are more wide open than between kids and parents. We better teach these lessons or else the country's future population will be made up of a majority of crooks, drug addicts, or people on relief.
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Having enough to eat, being able to educate your children, have reasonably stable employment, and being able to live in a society which isn't collapsing around you-all of these things have been generally eroded.
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Woe to him who teaches men faster than they can learn.
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I do not write for this generation. I am writing for other ages. If this could read me, they would burn my books, the work of my whole life. On the other hand, the generation which interprets these writings will be an educated generation; they will understand me and say: 'Not all were asleep in the nighttime of our grandparents.'
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