Kids today!

[andrewducker]

"I see no hope for the future of our people if they are dependent on frivolous youth of today, for certainly all youth are reckless beyond words... When I was young, we were taught to be discreet and respectful of elders, but the present youth are exceedingly [disrespectful] and impatient of restraint"
- Hesiod, 8th century BC

I keep seeing this quote and forgetting its origin.  Stuck here so I can use it next time someone complains about how society has gone downhill...

Comments

[missedith01.livejournal.com]

Sometimes when people complain to me about how society has gone downhill, they are so disgusted they threaten to Leave the Country. I always find that amusing.

Young people tho, they are awful, aren't they? ;-)

[blackmanxy.livejournal.com]

I have lost a similarly ancient quote about the degradation of the language. I will likely not have the foresight to bookmark or otherwise save it when I do find it again.

[andrewducker]

"The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary."

That's my favourite one. It's by james_nicoll in 1990 though, so not at all ancient :->

[blackmanxy.livejournal.com]

Yes, one of my favorites as well. I also hear there's a quote on the subject from Chaucer, but I haven't been able to verify its existence, much less track it down.

[blackmanxy.livejournal.com]

Also, I did not mean to reply to you specifically. This is what happens when I use the intertubes at night.

[missedith01.livejournal.com]

You mean, we're not engaged? ;-)

[andrewducker]

In the USA it seems that Democrats threaten to leave the country, while Republicans threaten to secede.

[blackmanxy.livejournal.com]

Some friends and I were talking about this over the weekend because one of them evidently had heard about Republicans threatening to leave the country. And I started to wonder... okay, Democrats threaten to go to Canada or Europe and that makes perfect sense. What conservative, evangelist utopia would Republicans flee to?

[andrewducker]

The seceded land of Texas, of course!

[girl-onthego.livejournal.com]

They could kick all the cool people out of Austin and take that over for themselves, that would have the added benefit of getting my brother out of Austin, which he seems to love, but I worry about him being in Texas all the time. :(