---
title: "3 Cycles Quotes By Erik Erikson"
description: "3 Cycles quotes by Erik Erikson. Plus more from Erik Erikson and more Cycles sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e7/erik-erikson-12932_being-strong_if-there-is-any-responsibility-in-the-cy_1029504.jpg"
---

> [If there is any responsibility in the cycle of life it must be that one generation owes to the next that strength…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-erikson/if-there-is-any-responsibility-in-the-cycle-of-life-it-must-be-that/)

[Erik Erikson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-erikson/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e7/erik-erikson-12932_being-strong_if-there-is-any-responsibility-in-the-cy_1029504.jpg)

> [When we looked at the life cycle in our 40s, we looked to old people for wisdom. At 80, though, we look…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-erikson/when-we-looked-at-the-life-cycle-in-our-40s-we-looked-to-old-people/)

[Erik Erikson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-erikson/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/866/erik-erikson-12932_age_when-we-looked-at-the-life-cycle-in-our_1692674.jpg)

> [These same experiences make of the sequence of life cycles a generational cycle, irrevocably binding each generation to those that gave it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-erikson/these-same-experiences-make-of-the-sequence-of-life-cycles-a/)

[Erik Erikson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-erikson/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/270/erik-erikson-12932_active_these-same-experiences-make-of-the-seque_2315943.jpg)

## Other authors on Cycles

- [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b010/author-frederick-lenz-36205.jpg) Frederick Lenz 26 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cycles/frederick-lenz/)
- [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b005/author-barack-obama-16275.jpg) Barack Obama 7 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cycles/barack-obama/)
- [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b015/author-lance-armstrong-58455.jpg) Lance Armstrong 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cycles/lance-armstrong/)
- [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b010/author-gautama-buddha-37107.jpg) Gautama Buddha 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cycles/gautama-buddha/)

## More by Erik Erikson

> [You see a child play, and it is so close to seeing an artist paint, for in play a child says things without uttering…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-erikson/you-see-a-child-play-and-it-is-so-close-to-seeing-an-artist-paint-for/)

[Erik Erikson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-erikson/)

> [Mans true taproots are nourished in the sequence of generations, and he loses his taproots in disrupted developmental time, not in abandoned localities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-erikson/mans-true-taproots-are-nourished-in-the-sequence-of-generations-and/)

[Erik Erikson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-erikson/)

> [The growing child must derive a vitalizing sense of reality from the awareness that his individual way of mastering experience (his ego synthesis) is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-erikson/the-growing-child-must-derive-a-vitalizing-sense-of-reality-from-the/)

[Erik Erikson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-erikson/)

> [Do not mistake a child for his symptom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-erikson/do-not-mistake-a-child-for-his-symptom/)

[Erik Erikson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-erikson/)

> [Doubt is the brother of shame.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-erikson/doubt-is-the-brother-of-shame/)

[Erik Erikson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-erikson/)

> [The psychoanalytic method is essentially a historical method.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-erikson/the-psychoanalytic-method-is-essentially-a-historical-method/)

[Erik Erikson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-erikson/)

> [We cannot leave history entirely to nonclinical observers and to professional historians.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-erikson/we-cannot-leave-history-entirely-to-nonclinical-observers-and-to/)

[Erik Erikson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-erikson/)

> [“The richest and fullest lives attempt to achieve an inner balance between three realms: work, love and play.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-erikson/the-richest-and-fullest-lives-attempt-to-achieve-an-inner-balance/)

[Erik Erikson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-erikson/)

> [“It's a long haul bringing up our children to be good; you have to keep doing that — bring them up — and that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-erikson/it-s-a-long-haul-bringing-up-our-children-to-be-good-you-have-to-keep/)

[Erik Erikson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-erikson/)

> [I am what survives of me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-erikson/i-am-what-survives-of-me/)

[Erik Erikson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-erikson/)

> [Let us face it: 'deep down' nobody in his right mind can visualize his own existence without assuming that he has always lived and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-erikson/let-us-face-it-deep-down-nobody-in-his-right-mind-can-visualize-his/)

[Erik Erikson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-erikson/)

> [Will, therefore, is the unbroken determination to exercise free choice as well as self-restraint, in spite of the unavoidable experience of shame and doubt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-erikson/will-therefore-is-the-unbroken-determination-to-exercise-free-choice/)

[Erik Erikson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-erikson/)

> [Men have always shown a dim knowledge of their better potentialities by paying homage to those purest leaders who taught the simplest and most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-erikson/men-have-always-shown-a-dim-knowledge-of-their-better-potentialities/)

[Erik Erikson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-erikson/)

> [Personality, too, is destiny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-erikson/personality-too-is-destiny/)

[Erik Erikson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-erikson/)

> [He who is ashamed would like to force the world not to look at him, not to notice his exposure. He would like to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-erikson/he-who-is-ashamed-would-like-to-force-the-world-not-to-look-at-him/)

[Erik Erikson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-erikson/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "ItemList",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cycles/erik-erikson/#itemlist",
            "name": "3 Cycles Quotes By Erik Erikson",
            "numberOfItems": 3,
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "If there is any responsibility in the cycle of life it must be that one generation owes to the next that strength by which it can come to face ultimate concerns in its own way.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Erik Erikson"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-erikson/if-there-is-any-responsibility-in-the-cycle-of-life-it-must-be-that/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e7/erik-erikson-12932_being-strong_if-there-is-any-responsibility-in-the-cy_1029504.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e7/erik-erikson-12932_being-strong_if-there-is-any-responsibility-in-the-cy_1029504.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e7/erik-erikson-12932_being-strong_if-there-is-any-responsibility-in-the-cy_1029504.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“If there is any responsibility in the cycle of life it must be that one generation owes to the next that…” — Erik Erikson",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "When we looked at the life cycle in our 40s, we looked to old people for wisdom. At 80, though, we look at other 80-year-olds to see who got wise and who not. Lots of old people don't get wise, but you don't get wise unless you age.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Erik Erikson"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-erikson/when-we-looked-at-the-life-cycle-in-our-40s-we-looked-to-old-people/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/866/erik-erikson-12932_age_when-we-looked-at-the-life-cycle-in-our_1692674.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/866/erik-erikson-12932_age_when-we-looked-at-the-life-cycle-in-our_1692674.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/866/erik-erikson-12932_age_when-we-looked-at-the-life-cycle-in-our_1692674.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“When we looked at the life cycle in our 40s, we looked to old people for wisdom. At 80, though, we look at…” — Erik Erikson",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "These same experiences make of the sequence of life cycles a generational cycle, irrevocably binding each generation to those that gave it life and to those for whose life it is responsible. Thus, reconciling lifelong generativity and stagnation involves the elder in a review of his or her own years of active responsibility for nurturing the next generations, and also in an integration of earlier-life experiences of caring and of self-concern in relation to previous generations.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Erik Erikson"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-erikson/these-same-experiences-make-of-the-sequence-of-life-cycles-a/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/270/erik-erikson-12932_active_these-same-experiences-make-of-the-seque_2315943.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/270/erik-erikson-12932_active_these-same-experiences-make-of-the-seque_2315943.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/270/erik-erikson-12932_active_these-same-experiences-make-of-the-seque_2315943.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“These same experiences make of the sequence of life cycles a generational cycle, irrevocably binding each…” — Erik Erikson",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "CollectionPage",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cycles/erik-erikson/#webpage",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cycles/erik-erikson/",
            "name": "Cycles Quotes by Erik Erikson",
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "mainEntity": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cycles/erik-erikson/#itemlist"
            },
            "primaryImageOfPage": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e7/erik-erikson-12932_being-strong_if-there-is-any-responsibility-in-the-cy_1029504.jpg"
            },
            "description": "3 Cycles quotes by Erik Erikson. Plus more from Erik Erikson and more Cycles sayings from other authors.",
            "breadcrumb": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cycles/erik-erikson/#breadcrumb"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cycles/erik-erikson/#breadcrumb",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Topics",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/categories/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Cycles",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cycles/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 5,
                    "name": "Erik Erikson",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cycles/erik-erikson/"
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
