---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: All young people believed they were…"
description: "\"“All young people believed they were immortal, and he had personal experience of the methods they used to cull themselves - base-jumping, sky-diving, h..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/398/alison-fell-41195_personal-experience_all-young-people-believed-they-were-immo_2030427.jpg"
---

#  All young people believed they were immortal, and he had…

![“All young people believed they were immortal, and he had personal experience of the methods they used to cull themselves - base-jumping, sky-diving, hard drugs, alcohol. Over the years he'd come to see solid sense in the ways so-called savage peoples formalised their rituals of manhood; without…” quote by Alison Fell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/398/alison-fell-41195_personal-experience_all-young-people-believed-they-were-immo_2030427.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/398/alison-fell-41195_personal-experience_all-young-people-believed-they-were-immo_2030427.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/398/alison-fell-41195_personal-experience_all-young-people-believed-they-were-immo_2030427.jpg)

> ““All young people believed they were immortal, and he had personal experience of the methods they used to cull themselves - base-jumping, sky-diving, hard drugs, alcohol. Over the years he'd come to see solid sense in the ways so-called savage peoples formalised their rituals of manhood; without such regulation, young men seemed compelled to invent their own, even more lethal, rites of passage.””

[Alison Fell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-fell/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Young men often seek extreme experiences to prove themselves, but structured rites can channel that drive safely.

**In simple terms:** Extreme behavior seeks meaning; rituals provide safe outlets.

Key Takeaway

Channel youthful energy into constructive rituals.

Themes

identity ritual masculinity risk growth

Mood

reflective critical

Type

cultural philosophical motivational

When to use this quote

- adolescence
- extreme sports
- substance use
- cultural rites

Key Concepts

Rite of passage social regulation psychology

Questions to Reflect On

- How can societies create healthy rites of passage?
- What risks arise when rituals are absent?

A Different Perspective

Rituals may become oppressive if not inclusive.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Believed Immortal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believed-immortal-3726066/) [Manhood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/manhood/) [Men Compelled](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men-compelled-668682/) [People Believed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people-believed/) [Personal experience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/personal-experience/) [Rites-of-passage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rites-of-passage/) [Rituals Manhood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rituals-manhood-3726067/) [Young men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/young-men/) [Young people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/young-people/) [Youth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/youth/)

## Related quotes

> [War is never lenient but where it is wanton; where men are compelled to fight in self-defence, they must hate and avenge. This may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-b-macaulay/war-is-never-lenient-but-where-it-is-wanton-where-men-are-compelled/)

[Thomas B. Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-b-macaulay/)

> [Let men be compelled to wear our dress for awhile and we should soon hear them advocating a change.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amelia-bloomer/let-men-be-compelled-to-wear-our-dress-for-awhile-and-we-should-soon/)

[Amelia Bloomer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amelia-bloomer/)

> [If women would today would rise en masse and demand their emancipation, the men would be compelled to grant it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victoria-woodhull/if-women-would-today-would-rise-en-masse-and-demand-their/)

[Victoria Woodhull](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victoria-woodhull/)

> [“We live in an adolescent society, Neverland, where never growing up seems more the norm than the exception. Little boys wearing expensive suits and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-prokop/we-live-in-an-adolescent-society-neverland-where-never-growing-up/)

[Daniel Prokop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-prokop/)

> [“Rites and rituals open hearts and clear minds. They help us embody reverence and allow us to get in touch with our emotions and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ahriana-platten/rites-and-rituals-open-hearts-and-clear-minds-they-help-us-embody/)

[Ahriana Platten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ahriana-platten/)

> [“As we said before, initiation lies at the core of any genuine human life. And this is true for two reasons. The first is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mircea-eliade/as-we-said-before-initiation-lies-at-the-core-of-any-genuine-human/)

[Mircea Eliade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mircea-eliade/)

> [“The interest of initiation for an understanding of archaic mentality lies predominantly in its showing us that the true man-the spiritual man-is not given,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mircea-eliade/the-interest-of-initiation-for-an-understanding-of-archaic-mentality/)

[Mircea Eliade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mircea-eliade/)

> [“Men today cannot claim their identity via culture because they are obliged to find other uninitiated males as their models or succumb to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hollis/men-today-cannot-claim-their-identity-via-culture-because-they-are/)

[James Hollis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hollis/)

> [“Unfortunately the ‘warrior’ archetype accidentally dropped the soap in the shower and he has been getting boned senseless by the ‘soldier/lobbyist archetype’ ever since.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-prokop/unfortunately-the-warrior-archetype-accidentally-dropped-the-soap-in/)

[Daniel Prokop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-prokop/)

> [“Too many adults wish to 'protect' teenagers when they should be stimulating them to read of life as it is lived.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-a-edwards/too-many-adults-wish-to-protect-teenagers-when-they-should-be/)

[Margaret A. Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-a-edwards/)

> [“The two boys had come along and found the rabbit dying by the bank. The breeze was up a little and it was nice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynan-jones/the-two-boys-had-come-along-and-found-the-rabbit-dying-by-the-bank/)

[Cynan Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynan-jones/)

> [“In learning to learn again, we can learn of this wisdom and allow our children (and so ourselves) to become the free, whole individuals…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-chilton-pearce/in-learning-to-learn-again-we-can-learn-of-this-wisdom-and-allow-our/)

[Joseph Chilton Pearce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-chilton-pearce/)

> [“There are women who stay in the underworld through no fault of their own: it is a byproduct of a male-dominated society. It goes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-durham-wilson/there-are-women-who-stay-in-the-underworld-through-no-fault-of-their/)

[Sarah Durham Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-durham-wilson/)

> [“It must never be forgotten that initiatory death simultaneously signifies the end of the "natural," noncultural man, and passage to a new modality of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mircea-eliade/it-must-never-be-forgotten-that-initiatory-death-simultaneously/)

[Mircea Eliade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mircea-eliade/)

> [“Behind every preventable threat to the future of the human race lurks a boy in a man's body with both hands buried deep in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-prokop/behind-every-preventable-threat-to-the-future-of-the-human-race-lurks/)

[Daniel Prokop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-prokop/)

## More by Alison Fell

> [“Earlier, watching her apply mascara with ritual concentration, he'd wondered just how beautiful a woman had to be before she believed it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-fell/earlier-watching-her-apply-mascara-with-ritual-concentration-he-d/)

[Alison Fell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-fell/)

> [“According to Yiannis' sister Irini, who had trained as a hairdresser in London, the British spent their long winters in grey and black, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-fell/according-to-yiannis-sister-irini-who-had-trained-as-a-hairdresser-in/)

[Alison Fell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-fell/)

> [New York lesson 1 - never look lost. Lesson 2 - forget hallowed silences. It's the right of all Americans to talk at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-fell/new-york-lesson-1-never-look-lost-lesson-2-forget-hallowed-silences/)

[Alison Fell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-fell/)

> [“She remembers these as happy times - tomboy days, when she still glittered like quartz in her father's eye. Until puberty came along, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-fell/she-remembers-these-as-happy-times-tomboy-days-when-she-still/)

[Alison Fell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-fell/)

> [“Pericles, he reflected, was a sad case. He'd been a postman all his life, a solid, reliable worker, until one Christmas when he had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-fell/pericles-he-reflected-was-a-sad-case-he-d-been-a-postman-all-his-life/)

[Alison Fell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-fell/)

> [“Hairspray and blusher, eyelash curlers, eye-shadow palettes the size of tea-trays. Even before they left school it was as if they were already rehearsing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-fell/hairspray-and-blusher-eyelash-curlers-eye-shadow-palettes-the-size-of/)

[Alison Fell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-fell/)

> [“She'd been a hard taskmistress - How can you be a grown-up if you can't look after yourself? she'd challenged - but she had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-fell/she-d-been-a-hard-taskmistress-how-can-you-be-a-grown-up-if-you-can-t/)

[Alison Fell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-fell/)

> [The carved images on the early Minoan sealstones are tantalising, inscrutable. The Nature Goddess is yanked from the soil like a snake or a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-fell/the-carved-images-on-the-early-minoan-sealstones-are-tantalising/)

[Alison Fell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-fell/)

> [Give a bull grass, sweet water and a willing heifer and he is happy. But a man is never content. If no gadflies of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-fell/give-a-bull-grass-sweet-water-and-a-willing-heifer-and-he-is-happy/)

[Alison Fell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-fell/)

[Explore all 10 Alison Fell quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-fell/)

## More Manhood quotes

> [My days – the blossom of my youth and the flower of my manhood – have been darkened by the dreariness of servitude. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-o-connell/my-days-the-blossom-of-my-youth-and-the-flower-of-my-manhood-have/)

[Daniel O'Connell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-o-connell/)

> [“A man's life is about keeping rules, breaking them, and making new ones.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ogwo-david-emenike/a-man-s-life-is-about-keeping-rules-breaking-them-and-making-new-ones/)

[Ogwo David Emenike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ogwo-david-emenike/)

> [Poor human nature, what horrible crimes have been committed in thy name! All wars are wars among thieves who are too cowardly to fight…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/poor-human-nature-what-horrible-crimes-have-been-committed-in-thy/)

[Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/)

> [One thing about being a stand-up is it's a one-man show. You gotta do everything. You're the producer, writer, director, and the actor. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-cannon/one-thing-about-being-a-stand-up-is-it-s-a-one-man-show-you-gotta-do/)

[Nick Cannon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-cannon/)

> [Old age likes to dwell in the recollections of the past, and, mistaking, the speedy march of years, often is inclined to take the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lajos-kossuth/old-age-likes-to-dwell-in-the-recollections-of-the-past-and-mistaking/)

[Lajos Kossuth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lajos-kossuth/)

> [“I’m as manly and macho as the next guy. And I know that shedding a tear about something does not make or break my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/curtis-bunn/i-m-as-manly-and-macho-as-the-next-guy-and-i-know-that-shedding-a/)

[Curtis Bunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/curtis-bunn/)

> [“She would make a man of me. She puts strength and courage into me as no one else can. She is unlike any girl…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/she-would-make-a-man-of-me-she-puts-strength-and-courage-into-me-as/)

[Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/)

> [If all boys could be made to know that with every breath of cigarette smoke they inhale imbecility and exhale manhood ... and that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hudson-maxim/if-all-boys-could-be-made-to-know-that-with-every-breath-of-cigarette/)

[Hudson Maxim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hudson-maxim/)

> [Something greater than wealth, grander even than fame — that manhood, character, stand for success, and that nothing else really does.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orison-swett-marden/something-greater-than-wealth-grander-even-than-fame-that-manhood/)

[Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/)

> [Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members. The virtue in most request is conformity. Self-reliance is its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/society-everywhere-is-in-conspiracy-against-the-manhood-of-every-one/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

> [Initiative is at the heart of manhood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-rainey/initiative-is-at-the-heart-of-manhood/)

[Dennis Rainey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-rainey/)

> [Men we shall have only as we make manhood the object of the work of the schools - intelligence, broad sympathy, knowledge of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-e-b-du-bois/men-we-shall-have-only-as-we-make-manhood-the-object-of-the-work-of/)

[W. E. B. Du Bois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-e-b-du-bois/)

> [“I understood intersectionality—the way that white supremacy props up patriarchy props up poverty props up environmental destruction props up white supremacy again—on a gut…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-tobia/i-understood-intersectionality-the-way-that-white-supremacy-props-up/)

[Jacob Tobia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-tobia/)

> [And gentlemen in England now-a-bed Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here, And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks That fought with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/and-gentlemen-in-england-now-a-bed-shall-think-themselves-accurs-d/)

[William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/)

> [The Indian is but a sketch in red crayon of a rudimental manhood. To the problem of his relation to the white race, there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-indian-is-but-a-sketch-in-red-crayon-of-a-rudimental-manhood-to/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

[Browse all 593 Manhood quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/manhood/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“All young people believed they were immortal, and he had personal experience of the methods they used to cull themselves - base-jumping, sky-diving, hard drugs, alcohol. Over the years he'd come to see solid sense in the ways so-called savage peoples formalised their rituals of manhood; without such regulation, young men seemed compelled to invent their own, even more lethal, rites of passage.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Alison Fell"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-fell/all-young-people-believed-they-were-immortal-and-he-had-personal/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Manhood"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-fell/all-young-people-believed-they-were-immortal-and-he-had-personal/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/398/alison-fell-41195_personal-experience_all-young-people-believed-they-were-immo_2030427.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/398/alison-fell-41195_personal-experience_all-young-people-believed-they-were-immo_2030427.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/398/alison-fell-41195_personal-experience_all-young-people-believed-they-were-immo_2030427.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“All young people believed they were immortal, and he had personal experience of the methods they used to…” — Alison Fell",
                "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": "Alison Fell",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-fell/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“All young people believed they were...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-fell/all-young-people-believed-they-were-immortal-and-he-had-personal/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-fell/all-young-people-believed-they-were-immortal-and-he-had-personal/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
