--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I think young children in the Western…" description: "\"I think young children in the Western middle classes are objects of incredible anxiety.\" — Anne Enright" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/981/anne-enright-5402_anxiety_i-think-young-children-in-the-western-mi_3232647.png" --- # I think young children in the Western middle classes are… ![“I think young children in the Western middle classes are objects of incredible anxiety.” quote by Anne Enright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/981/anne-enright-5402_anxiety_i-think-young-children-in-the-western-mi_3232647.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/981/anne-enright-5402_anxiety_i-think-young-children-in-the-western-mi_3232647.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/981/anne-enright-5402_anxiety_i-think-young-children-in-the-western-mi_3232647.png) > “I think young children in the Western middle classes are objects of incredible anxiety.” [Anne Enright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-enright/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Western middle‑class parents often feel intense worry about their children’s future and wellbeing. **In simple terms:** Parents feel strong anxiety about kids. Key Takeaway Recognize and address underlying fears. Themes parenting anxiety class childhood Mood concerned reflective Type observational social commentary When to use this quote - family gatherings - school meetings - parent‑teacher conferences Key Concepts social pressure expectations identity formation Questions to Reflect On - What triggers your anxiety about children? - How can you reduce pressure on them? A Different Perspective Anxiety may stem from broader societal pressures, not just individual children. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anxiety](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anxiety/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Class](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/class/) [Fear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear/) [Incredible Anxiety](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/incredible-anxiety-6121277/) [Incredibles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/incredibles/) [Middle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/middle/) [Middle class](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/middle-class/) [Middle Classes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/middle-classes/) [Objects](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/objects/) [Think Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think-young/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Western](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/western/) [Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/young/) [Young children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/young-children/) ## Related quotes > [If you read the 'Daily Mail,' you would imagine that the British middle classes lead lives of unremitting misery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-hoggart/if-you-read-the-daily-mail-you-would-imagine-that-the-british-middle/) [Simon Hoggart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-hoggart/) > [BRAZILIFICATION:The widening gulf between the rich and the poor and the accompanying disappearance of the middle classes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/brazilification-the-widening-gulf-between-the-rich-and-the-poor-and/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [It's not white versus black any more, it's haves versus have-nots. Unless the black middle-classes unite to promote the interests of the black underclass,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-louis-gates/it-s-not-white-versus-black-any-more-it-s-haves-versus-have-nots/) [Henry Louis Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-louis-gates/) > [The middle class is so funny, it's the class I know best, and it's the class where you find the most pretension, so that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-k-rowling-2/the-middle-class-is-so-funny-it-s-the-class-i-know-best-and-it-s-the/) [J. K. Rowling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-k-rowling-2/) > [“it is always the women who propose to us, and not we who propose to the women. Except, of course, in middle-class life. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/it-is-always-the-women-who-propose-to-us-and-not-we-who-propose-to/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Since the day Martin Luther King was killed, the black middle classes have almost quadrupled, but the percentage of black children living on or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-louis-gates/since-the-day-martin-luther-king-was-killed-the-black-middle-classes/) [Henry Louis Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-louis-gates/) > [“(Unlike many others around this time, Joyce felt no shame about using the term 'middle class'. In the Chalfen lexicon the middle classes were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/unlike-many-others-around-this-time-joyce-felt-no-shame-about-using/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [We have broken the shackles of conservative socialism. 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Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster-2/) > [Hundreds of millions of people around the world have been lifted out of poverty with the creation of robust middle classes in India and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-quayle/hundreds-of-millions-of-people-around-the-world-have-been-lifted-out/) [Dan Quayle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-quayle/) > [When we are not extracting wealth from nature, we are extracting it from the working and middle classes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anohni/when-we-are-not-extracting-wealth-from-nature-we-are-extracting-it/) [Anohni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anohni/) > [“But progress ought to feed the poor as well as entertain the middle classes, or what good is it?” Remy”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viola-carr/but-progress-ought-to-feed-the-poor-as-well-as-entertain-the-middle/) [Viola Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viola-carr/) > [I've made films about the middle classes because I know them best. Everyone talks about what he knows best.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelangelo-antonioni/i-ve-made-films-about-the-middle-classes-because-i-know-them-best/) [Michelangelo Antonioni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelangelo-antonioni/) > [I think for much of the middle classes, nothing could be more fantastic than to have a contact with fame. But once you have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-douglas/i-think-for-much-of-the-middle-classes-nothing-could-be-more/) [Lawrence Douglas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-douglas/) ## More by Anne Enright > [Story is about pulling the reader in and a plot is a more externalized mechanism of revelation. A plot is more antic, more performative,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-enright/story-is-about-pulling-the-reader-in-and-a-plot-is-a-more/) [Anne Enright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-enright/) > [I am interested in levels of brain discourse. How articulate are the voices in your head? You know, there's a different voice for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-enright/i-am-interested-in-levels-of-brain-discourse-how-articulate-are-the/) [Anne Enright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-enright/) > [I have a small room to write in. One wall is completely covered in books. And I face the window with the curtain closed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-enright/i-have-a-small-room-to-write-in-one-wall-is-completely-covered-in/) [Anne Enright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-enright/) > [I do not think we remember our family in any real sense. We live in them instead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-enright/i-do-not-think-we-remember-our-family-in-any-real-sense-we-live-in/) [Anne Enright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-enright/) > [I do not believe in evil- I believe that we are human and fallible, that we things and spoil them in an ordinary way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-enright/i-do-not-believe-in-evil-i-believe-that-we-are-human-and-fallible/) [Anne Enright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-enright/) > [“Val is a bachelor farmer in his seventies, so he should, by rights, be half mad.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-enright/val-is-a-bachelor-farmer-in-his-seventies-so-he-should-by-rights-be/) [Anne Enright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-enright/) > [Sometimes I will spend two or three days not speaking to anyone outside of the immediate family when they come home, and then I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-enright/sometimes-i-will-spend-two-or-three-days-not-speaking-to-anyone/) [Anne Enright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-enright/) > [God, I hate my family, these people I never chose to love, but love all the same.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-enright/god-i-hate-my-family-these-people-i-never-chose-to-love-but-love-all/) [Anne Enright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-enright/) > [I find being Irish quite a wearing thing. It takes so much work because it is a social construction. People think you are going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-enright/i-find-being-irish-quite-a-wearing-thing-it-takes-so-much-work/) [Anne Enright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-enright/) > [Writing is not my problem, it is my solution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-enright/writing-is-not-my-problem-it-is-my-solution/) [Anne Enright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-enright/) > [The writing day can be, in some ways, too short, but it's actually a long series of hours, for months at a time, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-enright/the-writing-day-can-be-in-some-ways-too-short-but-it-s-actually-a/) [Anne Enright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-enright/) > [People do not change, they are merely revealed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-enright/people-do-not-change-they-are-merely-revealed/) [Anne Enright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-enright/) > [My kids are supposed to live till they are one hundred. You don't have to have a perfect house or a perfect relationship with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-enright/my-kids-are-supposed-to-live-till-they-are-one-hundred-you-don-t-have/) [Anne Enright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-enright/) > [Cats, I always think, only jump into your lap to check if you are cold enough, yet, to eat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-enright/cats-i-always-think-only-jump-into-your-lap-to-check-if-you-are-cold/) [Anne Enright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-enright/) > [Description is hard. Remember that all description is an opinion about the world. Find a place to stand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-enright/description-is-hard-remember-that-all-description-is-an-opinion-about/) [Anne Enright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-enright/) [Explore all 101 Anne Enright quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-enright/) ## More Anxiety quotes > [“Anything that you find yourself worrying about regularly may find you suddenly wanting unrealistic changes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nagisa-tatsumi/anything-that-you-find-yourself-worrying-about-regularly-may-find-you/) [Nagisa Tatsumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nagisa-tatsumi/) > [Bein Crazy is the least of my worries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/bein-crazy-is-the-least-of-my-worries/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [The answer to deep anxiety is the deep adoration of God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-voskamp/the-answer-to-deep-anxiety-is-the-deep-adoration-of-god/) [Ann Voskamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-voskamp/) > [“Fear of seeing a police car pull into the drive. Fear of falling asleep at night. Fear of not falling asleep. Fear of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-carver/fear-of-seeing-a-police-car-pull-into-the-drive-fear-of-falling/) [Raymond Carver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-carver/) > [I get nervous when I don't get nervous. If I'm nervous I know I'm going to have a good show.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beyonce-knowles/i-get-nervous-when-i-don-t-get-nervous-if-i-m-nervous-i-know-i-m/) [Beyonce Knowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beyonce-knowles/) > [“Every invention comes through anxiousness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rakesh-wadhwani/every-invention-comes-through-anxiousness/) [Rakesh Wadhwani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rakesh-wadhwani/) > [“Do Not Be Anxious 25 e “Therefore I tell you,  f do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/do-not-be-anxious-25-e-therefore-i-tell-you-f-do-not-be-anxious-about/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Nothing happens on its own, you have to make things happen. If you really want to come out of your stressful situation than you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/subodh-gupta/nothing-happens-on-its-own-you-have-to-make-things-happen-if-you/) [Subodh Gupta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/subodh-gupta/) > [“I guess if we're talking about my anxiety, the even truthier truth is it started way before that.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerry-winfrey/i-guess-if-we-re-talking-about-my-anxiety-the-even-truthier-truth-is/) [Kerry Winfrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerry-winfrey/) > [I was a very good student. Procrastinating gives me anxiety, and getting a B really ticked me off. 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