--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When you're that age, you sometimes have…" description: "\"“When you're that age, you sometimes have a great enthusiasm that is very deep and very narrow, and that is something that has always intrigued me-- th..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f78/alan-bradley-1571_enthusiasm_when-you-re-that-age-you-sometimes-have_2303018.jpg" --- # When you're that age, you sometimes have a great… ![“When you're that age, you sometimes have a great enthusiasm that is very deep and very narrow, and that is something that has always intrigued me-- that world of the eleven-year-old that is so quickly lost.” quote by Alan Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f78/alan-bradley-1571_enthusiasm_when-you-re-that-age-you-sometimes-have_2303018.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f78/alan-bradley-1571_enthusiasm_when-you-re-that-age-you-sometimes-have_2303018.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f78/alan-bradley-1571_enthusiasm_when-you-re-that-age-you-sometimes-have_2303018.jpg) > ““When you're that age, you sometimes have a great enthusiasm that is very deep and very narrow, and that is something that has always intrigued me-- that world of the eleven-year-old that is so quickly lost.”” [Alan Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bradley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Youthful enthusiasm is intense yet narrow, and it disappears quickly as we age, leaving a lasting intrigue. **In simple terms:** Teen passion is deep but short‑lived. Key Takeaway Value and nurture youthful passions. Themes youth enthusiasm growth nostalgia Mood nostalgic inspired Type reflective motivational When to use this quote - school projects - first jobs - creative hobbies Key Concepts psychology developmental stages identity formation Questions to Reflect On - What youthful passion still inspires you? - How can you broaden that focus? A Different Perspective Passion can become too narrow, limiting broader growth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Enthusiasm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enthusiasm/) [Youth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/youth/) ## Related quotes > [Discrimination due to age is one of the great tragedies of modern life. The desire to work and be useful is what makes life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnny-ball/discrimination-due-to-age-is-one-of-the-great-tragedies-of-modern/) [Johnny Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnny-ball/) > [“Perhaps I'd been a slow developer, but I was well into my forties before I realized that you don't have to comply with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/perhaps-i-d-been-a-slow-developer-but-i-was-well-into-my-forties/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [ Hoc age \['do this'\] is the great rule, whether you are serious or merry; whether ... learning science or duty from a folio, or… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/hoc-age-do-this-is-the-great-rule-whether-you-are-serious-or-merry/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Old age, especially an honoured old age, has so great authority, that this is of more value than all the pleasures of youth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/old-age-especially-an-honoured-old-age-has-so-great-authority-that/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [Old age has a great sense of calm and freedom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/old-age-has-a-great-sense-of-calm-and-freedom/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [Great is Youth--equally great is Old Age--great are Day and Night. Great is Wealth--great is Poverty--great is Expression-great is Silence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/great-is-youth-equally-great-is-old-age-great-are-day-and-night-great/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [Ours must be the first age whose great goal, on a nonmaterial plane, is not fulfillment but adjustment; and perhaps just such a goal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-kronenberger/ours-must-be-the-first-age-whose-great-goal-on-a-nonmaterial-plane-is/) [Louis Kronenberger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-kronenberger/) > [Count your age by great life experiences, not years. Measure your life by laughter, not tears.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bakare/count-your-age-by-great-life-experiences-not-years-measure-your-life/) [Bakare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bakare/) > [No matter what your age you can be great.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kishore-bansal/no-matter-what-your-age-you-can-be-great/) [Kishore Bansal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kishore-bansal/) > [I believe that there was a great age, a great epoch when man did not make war: previous to 2000 B.C. Then the self…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/i-believe-that-there-was-a-great-age-a-great-epoch-when-man-did-not/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [Why do people talk of the horrors of old age? It's great. I feel like a fine old car with the parts gradually wearing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-gellhorn/why-do-people-talk-of-the-horrors-of-old-age-it-s-great-i-feel-like-a/) [Martha Gellhorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-gellhorn/) > [I really believe great actors, even with disease and age, can be great.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivier-martinez/i-really-believe-great-actors-even-with-disease-and-age-can-be-great/) [Olivier Martinez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivier-martinez/) > [“Bah. What does it matter now? There are no certainties let in the world. That was the age of great men, doing what was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-abercrombie/bah-what-does-it-matter-now-there-are-no-certainties-let-in-the-world/) [Joe Abercrombie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-abercrombie/) > [Old age has a great sense of calm and freedom. When the passions have relaxed their hold and have escaped, not from one master,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/old-age-has-a-great-sense-of-calm-and-freedom-when-the-passions-have/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [“The age of great men, when a single mind of intelligence and vision might change the destiny of the world, was long gone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-simonson/the-age-of-great-men-when-a-single-mind-of-intelligence-and-vision/) [Helen Simonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-simonson/) ## More by Alan Bradley > [“…it is a well-known fact that more than two men shut up together in an enclosed space for more than an hour constitute a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bradley/it-is-a-well-known-fact-that-more-than-two-men-shut-up-together-in-an/) [Alan Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bradley/) > [“You see, Flavia, silence is sometimes the most costly of commodities.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bradley/you-see-flavia-silence-is-sometimes-the-most-costly-of-commodities/) [Alan Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bradley/) > [“If there is a thing I truly despise, it is being addressed as "dearie." When I write my magnum opus, A Treatise Upon All…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bradley/if-there-is-a-thing-i-truly-despise-it-is-being-addressed-as-dearie/) [Alan Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bradley/) > [“The sweater didn't fit me, of course. Even with the sleeves rolled up I looked like a baggy monkey picking bananas. But to my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bradley/the-sweater-didn-t-fit-me-of-course-even-with-the-sleeves-rolled-up-i/) [Alan Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bradley/) > [“If there is anything more delicious than a sausage roasted over an open Bunsen burner, I can't image what it might be--Porcelain and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bradley/if-there-is-anything-more-delicious-than-a-sausage-roasted-over-an/) [Alan Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bradley/) > [“No point in wasting time with false vanity when you possess the real thing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bradley/no-point-in-wasting-time-with-false-vanity-when-you-possess-the-real/) [Alan Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bradley/) > [“Die, witch," I managed, making a cross of my forefingers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bradley/die-witch-i-managed-making-a-cross-of-my-forefingers/) [Alan Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bradley/) > [“There was no way out; not, at least, in this direction. I was like a hamster that had climbed to the top of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bradley/there-was-no-way-out-not-at-least-in-this-direction-i-was-like-a/) [Alan Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bradley/) > [I am often thought of as being remarkably bright, and yet my brains, more often than not, are busily devising new and interesting ways…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bradley/i-am-often-thought-of-as-being-remarkably-bright-and-yet-my-brains/) [Alan Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bradley/) > [“To my mind, if Nature had wanted us to have bright red fingertips, She would have caused us to be born with our blood…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bradley/to-my-mind-if-nature-had-wanted-us-to-have-bright-red-fingertips-she/) [Alan Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bradley/) > [“Had I been too cruel to that horror, Miss Mountjoy? Too vindictive? Wasn't she, after all, just a harmless and lonely old spinster? Would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bradley/had-i-been-too-cruel-to-that-horror-miss-mountjoy-too-vindictive-wasn/) [Alan Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bradley/) > [“This was an interesting thought; it had never occurred to me that one's name could be a compass.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bradley/this-was-an-interesting-thought-it-had-never-occurred-to-me-that-one/) [Alan Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bradley/) > [“While you've been gadding about the countryside, we've held a meeting, and we've all of us decided that you must go.' In short, we've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bradley/while-you-ve-been-gadding-about-the-countryside-we-ve-held-a-meeting/) [Alan Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bradley/) > [“For all practical purposes, Feely's enthusiasms stopped where her skin ended.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bradley/for-all-practical-purposes-feely-s-enthusiasms-stopped-where-her-skin/) [Alan Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bradley/) > [“Then I remembered that silence can sometimes do more damage than words.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bradley/then-i-remembered-that-silence-can-sometimes-do-more-damage-than-words/) [Alan Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bradley/) [Explore all 226 Alan Bradley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bradley/) ## More Enthusiasm quotes > [But I think that of all the literature that I studied, the book that did more than any other to fire my enthusiasm was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kwame-nkrumah/but-i-think-that-of-all-the-literature-that-i-studied-the-book-that/) [Kwame Nkrumah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kwame-nkrumah/) > [“Great things can be accomplish with passionate enthusiasm.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/great-things-can-be-accomplish-with-passionate-enthusiasm/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [Enthusiasm is the yeast that makes your hopes shine to the stars. Enthusiasm is the sparkle in your eyes, the swing in your gait.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ford/enthusiasm-is-the-yeast-that-makes-your-hopes-shine-to-the-stars/) [Henry Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ford/) > [I'm fascinated by political enthusiasm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/i-m-fascinated-by-political-enthusiasm/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-wright/depression-is-merely-anger-without-enthusiasm/) [Steven Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-wright/) > [Nothing cools so fast as undue enthusiasm. Water that has boiled freezes sooner than any other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-iles/nothing-cools-so-fast-as-undue-enthusiasm-water-that-has-boiled/) [George Iles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-iles/) > [When you've got enough enthusiasm, and don't overthink, things turn out well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-trezeguet/when-you-ve-got-enough-enthusiasm-and-don-t-overthink-things-turn-out/) [David Trezeguet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-trezeguet/) > [The figure of the enthusiast who has just discovered jogging or a new way to fix tofu can be said to stand or, more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-h-lapham/the-figure-of-the-enthusiast-who-has-just-discovered-jogging-or-a-new/) [Lewis H. Lapham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-h-lapham/) > [Attempt to be creative for the joy it brings… Select something like music, dance, sculpture, or poetry. Being creative will help you enjoy life.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-g-scott/attempt-to-be-creative-for-the-joy-it-brings-select-something-like/) [Richard G. Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-g-scott/) > [The sectaries of a persecuted religion, depressed by fear, animated with resentment, and perhaps heated by enthusiasm, are seldom in a proper temper of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/the-sectaries-of-a-persecuted-religion-depressed-by-fear-animated/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [Good churches are not built by bad men; at least, there must be probity and enthusiasm somewhere in the society. These minsters were neither…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/good-churches-are-not-built-by-bad-men-at-least-there-must-be-probity/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Enthusiasm is by far the highest paid quality on earth, probably because it is one of the rarest; yet it is one of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-bettger/enthusiasm-is-by-far-the-highest-paid-quality-on-earth-probably/) [Frank Bettger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-bettger/) > [The book it reminded me of most is Henry Miller’s The Books in My Life. Like Miller, Shields manages to convey his affection for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-alexis/the-book-it-reminded-me-of-most-is-henry-miller-s-the-books-in-my/) [Andre Alexis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-alexis/) > [I wanted to do a talk show that reminded me of the old school ones I loved as a kid, without all the fake…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-norton/i-wanted-to-do-a-talk-show-that-reminded-me-of-the-old-school-ones-i/) [Jim Norton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-norton/) > [ As we have seen after every other \[Donald\] Trump controversy, this one only increased their enthusiasm for him. His supporters thought the idea of… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-inskeep/as-we-have-seen-after-every-other-donald-trump-controversy-this-one/) [Steve Inskeep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-inskeep/) [Browse all 1,846 Enthusiasm quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enthusiasm/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“When you're that age, you sometimes have a great enthusiasm that is very deep and very narrow, and that is something that has always intrigued me-- that world of the eleven-year-old that is so quickly lost.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alan Bradley" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bradley/when-you-re-that-age-you-sometimes-have-a-great-enthusiasm-that-is/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Enthusiasm" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bradley/when-you-re-that-age-you-sometimes-have-a-great-enthusiasm-that-is/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f78/alan-bradley-1571_enthusiasm_when-you-re-that-age-you-sometimes-have_2303018.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f78/alan-bradley-1571_enthusiasm_when-you-re-that-age-you-sometimes-have_2303018.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f78/alan-bradley-1571_enthusiasm_when-you-re-that-age-you-sometimes-have_2303018.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When you're that age, you sometimes have a great enthusiasm that is very deep and very narrow, and that is…” — Alan Bradley", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "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": "Alan Bradley", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bradley/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“When you're that age, you sometimes...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bradley/when-you-re-that-age-you-sometimes-have-a-great-enthusiasm-that-is/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bradley/when-you-re-that-age-you-sometimes-have-a-great-enthusiasm-that-is/#breadcrumb" }, { "@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 } } ] } ```