--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To cease to admire is a proof of…" description: "\"To cease to admire is a proof of deterioration.\" — Charles Horton Cooley" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dab/charles-horton-cooley-8362_admiration_to-cease-to-admire-is-a-proof-of-deterio_1851890.png" --- # To cease to admire is a proof of deterioration. ![“To cease to admire is a proof of deterioration.” quote by Charles Horton Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dab/charles-horton-cooley-8362_admiration_to-cease-to-admire-is-a-proof-of-deterio_1851890.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dab/charles-horton-cooley-8362_admiration_to-cease-to-admire-is-a-proof-of-deterio_1851890.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dab/charles-horton-cooley-8362_admiration_to-cease-to-admire-is-a-proof-of-deterio_1851890.png) > “To cease to admire is a proof of deterioration.” [Charles Horton Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-horton-cooley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Admiring others reflects health; losing that admiration signals personal decline. **In simple terms:** Losing admiration shows personal decline. Key Takeaway Preserve curiosity and appreciation. Themes selfesteem reflection relationships Mood reflective concerned Type philosophical observational When to use this quote - personal growth - relationships - mental health Key Concepts social psychology self perception Questions to Reflect On - How do you maintain admiration without losing self? - What does admiration reveal about you? A Different Perspective Admiration can be superficial and not always healthy. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Admiration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/admiration/) [Admire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/admire/) [Admire Proof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/admire-proof-2434540/) [Cease](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cease/) [Cease Admire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cease-admire-2313399/) [Deterioration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deterioration/) [Proof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/proof/) [Proof Deterioration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/proof-deterioration-2434539/) ## Related quotes > [Cease to admire the smoke, wealth, and noise of prosperous Rome.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/cease-to-admire-the-smoke-wealth-and-noise-of-prosperous-rome/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [Contemplate the extent and stability of the heavens, and then at last cease to admire worthless things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boethius/contemplate-the-extent-and-stability-of-the-heavens-and-then-at-last/) [Boethius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boethius/) > [. . . for beauty stands In the admiration only of weak minds Led captive. Cease to admire, and all her plumes Fall flat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/for-beauty-stands-in-the-admiration-only-of-weak-minds-led-captive/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [To be human is to have one's little modicum of romance secreted away in one's composition. One never ceases to make a hero of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/to-be-human-is-to-have-one-s-little-modicum-of-romance-secreted-away/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [ It was a strange season coaching under that new \[Alderson\] regime. I felt like I was watching the deterioration of the Mets organization. They… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mookie-wilson/it-was-a-strange-season-coaching-under-that-new-alderson-regime-i/) [Mookie Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mookie-wilson/) > [I must pack my short lifer full of interesting events and creative activity. Philosophy and aesthetic contemplation are not enough. 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Even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jawaharlal-nehru/if-the-world-suffers-from-mental-deterioration-or-from-moral/) [Jawaharlal Nehru](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jawaharlal-nehru/) > [“Time erodes us all.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-rosoff/time-erodes-us-all/) [Meg Rosoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-rosoff/) ## More by Charles Horton Cooley > [So far as discipline is concerned, freedom means not its absence but the use of higher and more rational forms as contrasted with those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-horton-cooley/so-far-as-discipline-is-concerned-freedom-means-not-its-absence-but/) [Charles Horton Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-horton-cooley/) > [To retire to the monastery, or the woods, or the sea, is to escape from the sharp suggestions that spur on ambition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-horton-cooley/to-retire-to-the-monastery-or-the-woods-or-the-sea-is-to-escape-from/) [Charles Horton Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-horton-cooley/) > [Each man must have his I; it is more necessary to him than bread; and if he does not find scope for it within…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-horton-cooley/each-man-must-have-his-i-it-is-more-necessary-to-him-than-bread-and/) [Charles Horton Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-horton-cooley/) > [I is a militant social tendency, working to hold and enlarge its place in the general current of tendencies. So far as it can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-horton-cooley/i-is-a-militant-social-tendency-working-to-hold-and-enlarge-its-place/) [Charles Horton Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-horton-cooley/) > [“I am not what I think I am, and I am not what you think I am. I am what I think you think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-horton-cooley/i-am-not-what-i-think-i-am-and-i-am-not-what-you-think-i-am-i-am-what/) [Charles Horton Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-horton-cooley/) > [One should never criticize his own work except in a fresh and hopeful mood. The self-criticism of a tired mind is suicide.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-horton-cooley/one-should-never-criticize-his-own-work-except-in-a-fresh-and-hopeful/) [Charles Horton Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-horton-cooley/) > [It happens from time to time in every complex and active society, that certain persons feel the complexity and insistence as a tangle, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-horton-cooley/it-happens-from-time-to-time-in-every-complex-and-active-society-that/) [Charles Horton Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-horton-cooley/) > [Since freedom is not a fixed thing that can be grasped and held once for all, but a growth, any particular society, such as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-horton-cooley/since-freedom-is-not-a-fixed-thing-that-can-be-grasped-and-held-once/) [Charles Horton Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-horton-cooley/) > [If we divine a discrepancy between a man's words and his character, the whole impression of him becomes broken and painful; he revolts the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-horton-cooley/if-we-divine-a-discrepancy-between-a-man-s-words-and-his-character/) [Charles Horton Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-horton-cooley/) > [To get away from one's working environment is, in a sense, to get away from one's self; and this is often the chief advantage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-horton-cooley/to-get-away-from-one-s-working-environment-is-in-a-sense-to-get-away/) [Charles Horton Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-horton-cooley/) > [In the days of witchcraft it used to be believed that if one person secretly made a waxen image of another and stuck pins…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-horton-cooley/in-the-days-of-witchcraft-it-used-to-be-believed-that-if-one-person/) [Charles Horton Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-horton-cooley/) > [To persuade is more trouble than to dominate, and the powerful seldom take this trouble if they can avoid it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-horton-cooley/to-persuade-is-more-trouble-than-to-dominate-and-the-powerful-seldom/) [Charles Horton Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-horton-cooley/) > [The social self is simply any idea, or system of ideas, drawn from the communicative life, that the mind cherishes as its own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-horton-cooley/the-social-self-is-simply-any-idea-or-system-of-ideas-drawn-from-the/) [Charles Horton Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-horton-cooley/) > [Form the habit of making decisions when your spirit is fresh...to let dark moods lead is like choosing cowards to command armies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-horton-cooley/form-the-habit-of-making-decisions-when-your-spirit-is-fresh-to-let/) [Charles Horton Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-horton-cooley/) > [The idea of freedom is quite in accord with a general, though vague, sentiment among us; it is an idea of fair play, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-horton-cooley/the-idea-of-freedom-is-quite-in-accord-with-a-general-though-vague/) [Charles Horton Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-horton-cooley/) [Explore all 81 Charles Horton Cooley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-horton-cooley/) ## More Admiration quotes > [I have tremendous admiration for companies with the kind of pioneering spirit and innovation eBay has demonstrated from day one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonnie-hammer/i-have-tremendous-admiration-for-companies-with-the-kind-of/) [Bonnie Hammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bonnie-hammer/) > [The older you've gotten, the more respect and admiration you've received.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jupp-heynckes/the-older-you-ve-gotten-the-more-respect-and-admiration-you-ve/) [Jupp Heynckes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jupp-heynckes/) > [I still don't feel I know Hitchcock at all. I find that the more one looks, the more elusive he becomes. But my admiration…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toby-jones/i-still-don-t-feel-i-know-hitchcock-at-all-i-find-that-the-more-one/) [Toby Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toby-jones/) > [“There have been those among us who have been so dazzled by the might and technological wizardy of Europe that they have been rather…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ahdaf-soueif/there-have-been-those-among-us-who-have-been-so-dazzled-by-the-might/) [Ahdaf Soueif](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ahdaf-soueif/) > [I want to thank the Greek people publicly for their humanitarian response to the crisis of so many migrants and refugees seeking safety in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/i-want-to-thank-the-greek-people-publicly-for-their-humanitarian/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [Humor is the opposite of all self-admiration and self-praise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-barth/humor-is-the-opposite-of-all-self-admiration-and-self-praise/) [Karl Barth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-barth/) > [“A warm, trustworthy person who is also strong elicits admiration, but only after you’ve established trust does your strength become a gift rather than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-cuddy/a-warm-trustworthy-person-who-is-also-strong-elicits-admiration-but/) [Amy Cuddy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-cuddy/) > [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/) > [... we need to interrogate "reverence," for idolization can be another way one is objectified and not really taken seriously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bell-hooks/we-need-to-interrogate-reverence-for-idolization-can-be-another-way/) [Bell Hooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bell-hooks/) > [It may be important to great thinkers to examine the world, to explain and despise it. But I think it is only important to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/it-may-be-important-to-great-thinkers-to-examine-the-world-to-explain/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [“There must be a reason to smile, Miss François. Will you supply one?" It was Daisy's turn to stare. 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