He hated it when adults told him he only felt the way he did because he was young. As if being young was like being insane or drunk, like the convictions he held were hallucinations caused by a mental illness that could only be cured by waiting five years.
Interpretation
This quote expresses frustration with the dismissive attitudes of adults towards the beliefs and feelings of youth.
Cory Doctorow highlights the often patronizing perception that young people's thoughts and feelings are invalid or irrational simply because of their age. He argues against the notion that maturity necessarily brings clarity, suggesting instead that youthful convictions have merit and should not be dismissed as mere folly or temporary insanity.
In practice
In discussions about generational differences, this quote could be used to highlight the importance of valuing youth perspectives.
Content isn't king. If I sent you to a desert island and gave you the choice of taking your friends or your movies, you'd choose your friends -- if you chose the movies, we'd call you a sociopath. Conversation is king. Content is just something to talk about.
... the Kindle is a "roach motel" device: its license terms and DRM ensure that books can check in, but they can't check out.
Right, and you point out something important which is that people who don’t want to pay, people who are pirates, don’t get bothered by the DRM, they go out and buy the cracked books or download the cracked books for free. It’s only people who are foolish enough to pay for them that get locked into these platforms.
The heart becomes sick, as the body becomes sick, and its remedy is al-Tawbah (repentance) and protection [from transgression]. It becomes rusty as a mirror becomes rusty, and its clarity is obtained by remembrance. It becomes naked as the body becomes naked, and its beautification is al-Taqwa. It becomes hungry and thirsty as the body becomes hungry, and its food and drink are knowledge, love, dependence, repentance and servitude.
Meditation is the only way to overcome fear. There is no other way. Why does meditation help us overcome fear? In meditation we identify ourselves with the vast, with the Absolute. When we are afraid of someone or something, it is because we do not feel that particular person or thing is a part of us. When we have established conscious oneness with the Absolute, with the Infinite Vast, the everything there is part of us. And how can we be afraid of ourselves?
I couldn't care less what anybody says about me. I live my life, especially my personal life, strictly for myself... Whatever you do, you're going to be criticized. I feel the one sensible thing you can do is try to live in a way that pleases you.
All I can say is that it's amazing what you can accomplish when you're young and foolish.
Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking.
Abuse if you slight it, will gradually die away; but if you show yourself irritated, you will be thought to have deserved it.
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