--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: No matter how much a young man likes to…" description: "\"No matter how much a young man likes to think for himself, he is always trying to model himself on some abstract pattern largely derived from the examp..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53a/cesare-pavese-1924_abstract_no-matter-how-much-a-young-man-likes-to_1440945.jpg" --- # No matter how much a young man likes to think for himself… ![“No matter how much a young man likes to think for himself, he is always trying to model himself on some abstract pattern largely derived from the example of the world around him. And a man, no matter how conservative, shows his own worth by his personal deviation from that pattern.” quote by Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53a/cesare-pavese-1924_abstract_no-matter-how-much-a-young-man-likes-to_1440945.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53a/cesare-pavese-1924_abstract_no-matter-how-much-a-young-man-likes-to_1440945.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53a/cesare-pavese-1924_abstract_no-matter-how-much-a-young-man-likes-to_1440945.jpg) > “No matter how much a young man likes to think for himself, he is always trying to model himself on some abstract pattern largely derived from the example of the world around him. And a man, no matter how conservative, shows his own worth by his personal deviation from that pattern.” [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People model themselves on societal patterns, but true individuality shows when one deviates from those norms. **In simple terms:** Conformity vs. personal deviation. Key Takeaway Balance learning from others with authentic self‑expression. Themes individuality conformity modeling Mood thoughtful analytical Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - career choices - fashion trends - political affiliation Key Concepts philosophy of self social influence Questions to Reflect On - What patterns do you follow unconsciously? - How can deviation be constructive? A Different Perspective Blind rebellion can ignore valuable lessons. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abstract](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstract/) [Always trying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/always-trying/) [Conservative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conservative/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Patterns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/patterns/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [Fuck it, we're young. We have no idea what we're doing. We don't care about anything. But why should we? Our job isn't caring.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelsey-april-june/fuck-it-we-re-young-we-have-no-idea-what-we-re-doing-we-don-t-care/) Kelsey April June > [No matter how young you are, you're too old for SXSW.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kara-swisher/no-matter-how-young-you-are-you-re-too-old-for-sxsw/) [Kara Swisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kara-swisher/) > [“It doesn't matter if we're young. If you love someone, and it's right...We can make it the whole way, Crick.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deb-caletti/it-doesn-t-matter-if-we-re-young-if-you-love-someone-and-it-s-right/) [Deb Caletti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deb-caletti/) > [Being male is a matter of birth, being a man is a matter of age, but being a gentlemen is a matter of choice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/being-male-is-a-matter-of-birth-being-a-man-is-a-matter-of-age-but/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The greatest inventions are those inquiries which tend to increase the power of man over matter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/the-greatest-inventions-are-those-inquiries-which-tend-to-increase/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [Man is the matter of the cosmos, contemplating itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/man-is-the-matter-of-the-cosmos-contemplating-itself/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [No matter how much work a man can do, no matter how engaging his personality may be, he will not advance far in business…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-craig/no-matter-how-much-work-a-man-can-do-no-matter-how-engaging-his/) John Craig > [Man was matter, that was Snowden's secret. Drop him out a window, and he'll fall. Set fire to him and he'll burn. Bury him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-heller/man-was-matter-that-was-snowden-s-secret-drop-him-out-a-window-and-he/) [Joseph Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-heller/) > [Being a male is the matter of birth, being a man is the matter of age, But being a gentleman is the matter of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/being-a-male-is-the-matter-of-birth-being-a-man-is-the-matter-of-age/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Being a male is a matter of birth. Being a man is a matter of choice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-louis-cole/being-a-male-is-a-matter-of-birth-being-a-man-is-a-matter-of-choice/) [Edwin Louis Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-louis-cole/) > [A man has to BE something; he has to matter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hunter-s-thompson/a-man-has-to-be-something-he-has-to-matter/) [Hunter S. Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hunter-s-thompson/) > [Being a 'male' is a matter of gender...being a man is a matter of choice, discipline, habit, and maturity. Age doesn't make you a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/being-a-male-is-a-matter-of-gender-being-a-man-is-a-matter-of-choice/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“There's only really two things about a man that matter: what he wants, and what he'll do to get it. Everythin' else we pretend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-woodring-stover/there-s-only-really-two-things-about-a-man-that-matter-what-he-wants/) [Matthew Woodring Stover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-woodring-stover/) > [“Man was matter. Drop him out of a window and he'll fall. Set fire to him and he'll burn. Bury him and he'll rot,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-heller/man-was-matter-drop-him-out-of-a-window-and-he-ll-fall-set-fire-to/) [Joseph Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-heller/) > [The bad man is the man who no matter how good he has been is beginning to deteriorate, to grow less good. The good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-bad-man-is-the-man-who-no-matter-how-good-he-has-been-is/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) ## More by Cesare Pavese > [Dawn's faint breath breathes with your mouth at the ends of empty streets. Gray light your eyes, sweet drops of dawn on dark hills.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/dawn-s-faint-breath-breathes-with-your-mouth-at-the-ends-of-empty/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [In the mental disturbance and effort of writing, what sustains you is the certainty that on every page there is something left unsaid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/in-the-mental-disturbance-and-effort-of-writing-what-sustains-you-is/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [Why does a man who is truly in love insist that this relationship must continue and be "lifelong"? Because life is pain and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/why-does-a-man-who-is-truly-in-love-insist-that-this-relationship/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [I thought of how many places there are in the world that belong in this way to someone, who has it in his blood…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/i-thought-of-how-many-places-there-are-in-the-world-that-belong-in/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [Now that I've seen what war is, what civil war is, I know that everybody, if one day it should end, ought to ask…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/now-that-i-ve-seen-what-war-is-what-civil-war-is-i-know-that/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [It had to happen to you, to concentrate your whole life on one point, and then discover that you can do anything except live…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/it-had-to-happen-to-you-to-concentrate-your-whole-life-on-one-point/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [There is only one pleasure-that of being alive. All the rest is misery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/there-is-only-one-pleasure-that-of-being-alive-all-the-rest-is-misery/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [But here's the worst part: the trick to life lies in hiding from those we hold most dear how much they mean to is;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/but-here-s-the-worst-part-the-trick-to-life-lies-in-hiding-from-those/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/traveling-is-a-brutality-it-forces-you-to-trust-strangers-and-to-lose/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [“Meanwhile we arrived at our lane and the sight of the olive tree rubbed me the wrong way. I began to see that no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/meanwhile-we-arrived-at-our-lane-and-the-sight-of-the-olive-tree/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [Verrà la morte e avrà i tuoi occhi. (Death will come and it will have your eyes.)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/verr-la-morte-e-avr-i-tuoi-occhi-death-will-come-and-it-will-have/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [All our "most sacred affections " are merely prosaic habit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/all-our-most-sacred-affections-are-merely-prosaic-habit/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [There comes a day when, for someone who has persecuted us, we feel only indifference, a weariness at his stupidity. Then we forgive him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/there-comes-a-day-when-for-someone-who-has-persecuted-us-we-feel-only/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [A consoling thought: what matters is not what we do, but the spirit in which we do it. Others suffer too; so much so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/a-consoling-thought-what-matters-is-not-what-we-do-but-the-spirit-in/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [One does not kill oneself for love of a woman, but because love - any love - reveals us in our nakedness, our misery,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/one-does-not-kill-oneself-for-love-of-a-woman-but-because-love-any/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) [Explore all 171 Cesare Pavese quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) ## More Abstract quotes > [Love is like that, fragile and light. No wonder it rests upon our hearts in intangible moments, bids us follow fleeting thoughts and ideas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/love-is-like-that-fragile-and-light-no-wonder-it-rests-upon-our/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Wisdom is the abstract of the past, but beauty is the promise of the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/wisdom-is-the-abstract-of-the-past-but-beauty-is-the-promise-of-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Where human eyes have never seen, where human beings have never been, I build a world of abstract dreams, and I wait for you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-ra/where-human-eyes-have-never-seen-where-human-beings-have-never-been-i/) [Sun Ra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-ra/) > [A little too abstract, a little too wise, It is time for us to kiss the earth again, It is time to let the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robinson-jeffers/a-little-too-abstract-a-little-too-wise-it-is-time-for-us-to-kiss-the/) [Robinson Jeffers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robinson-jeffers/) > [“Happy is very abstract, you can't touch it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julius-veal/happy-is-very-abstract-you-can-t-touch-it/) [Julius Veal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julius-veal/) > [Abstract Expressionism was invented by New York drunks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joni-mitchell/abstract-expressionism-was-invented-by-new-york-drunks/) [Joni Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joni-mitchell/) > [The more horrible this world (as today, for instance), the more abstract our art, whereas a happy world brings forth an art of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-klee/the-more-horrible-this-world-as-today-for-instance-the-more-abstract/) [Paul Klee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-klee/) > [Describing comic sensibility is near impossible. It's sort of an abstract silliness, that sometimes the joke isn't the star.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dana-carvey/describing-comic-sensibility-is-near-impossible-it-s-sort-of-an/) [Dana Carvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dana-carvey/) > [For people of color - especially African Americans - the idea that racist cops might frame members of their community is no abstract notion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wise/for-people-of-color-especially-african-americans-the-idea-that-racist/) [Tim Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wise/) > [The word of the Lord never comes to us as an opinion, no attempt is made to support it by argument, it comes as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-w-ivins/the-word-of-the-lord-never-comes-to-us-as-an-opinion-no-attempt-is/) Anthony W. Ivins > [A mobile is an abstract sculpture made chiefly out of sheet metal, steel rods, wire and wood. Some or all of these elements move,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-calder/a-mobile-is-an-abstract-sculpture-made-chiefly-out-of-sheet-metal/) [Alexander Calder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-calder/) > [I'm this superphilosophical kind of person. Stuck in a prison of abstract ideas and overpowering emotions, I have this personality that makes it really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natsuo-kirino/i-m-this-superphilosophical-kind-of-person-stuck-in-a-prison-of/) [Natsuo Kirino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natsuo-kirino/) > [Future lawyers should be more aware that law is not a system of abstract logic, but the web of arrangements, rooted in history but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/future-lawyers-should-be-more-aware-that-law-is-not-a-system-of/) [Felix Frankfurter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-frankfurter/) > [The trouble is that when you read criticisms about the other films that I've made you get the impression that they're all about themes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-haneke/the-trouble-is-that-when-you-read-criticisms-about-the-other-films/) [Michael Haneke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-haneke/) > [Painting is... a richer language than words... Painting operates through signs which are not abstract and incorporeal like words. The signs of painting are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-dubuffet/painting-is-a-richer-language-than-words-painting-operates-through/) [Jean Dubuffet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-dubuffet/) [Browse all 1,403 Abstract quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstract/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "No matter how much a young man likes to think for himself, he is always trying to model himself on some abstract pattern largely derived from the example of the world around him. 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