QuoteProject
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.
Ralph Nader
ShareWTF𝕏

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

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
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.'
Ralph NaderRead
Power concedes nothing without a demand. The struggle for justice must never be adjourned. The forces of injustice do not take vacations.
Ralph NaderRead
The corporate lobby in Washington is basically designed to stifle all legislative activity on behalf of consumers.
Ralph NaderRead
Moral courage is the highest expression of humanity.
Ralph NaderRead
By the time you rise through the ranks, the culture of homogenization has bred the spirit and imagination out of you.
Ralph NaderRead

Similar quotes

Of all the intellectual faculties, judgment is the last to mature. A child under the age of fifteen should confine its attention either to subjects like mathematics, in which errors of judgment are impossible, or to subjects in which they are not very dangerous, like languages, natural science, history, etc.
Arthur SchopenhauerRead
People are beginning to realize that education is power, that education is money, that education is an opportunity.
Azim PremjiRead
As always, a lot of bad books will be published. Some good books will be published, and you have to seek them out.
Colson WhiteheadRead
I have sometimes dreamt ... that when the Day of Judgment dawns and the great conquerors and lawyers and statesmen come to receive their rewards -- their crowns, their laurels, their names carved indelibly upon imperishable marble -- the Almighty will turn to Peter and will say, not without a certain envy when He sees us coming with our books under our arms, "Look, these need no reward. We have nothing to give them here. They have loved reading.
Virginia WoolfRead
This applies to many film jobs, not just editing: half the job is doing the job, and the other half is finding ways to get along with people and tuning yourself in to the delicacy of the situation.
Walter MurchRead
What we want... is for students to get more interested in things, more involved in them, more engaged in wanting to know; to have projects that they can get excited about and work on over long periods of time, to be stimulated to find things out on their own.
Howard GardnerRead

A little wisdom, now and then

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