--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Boys do not grow up gradually. They move…" description: "\"Boys do not grow up gradually. They move forward in spurts like the hands of clocks in railway stations.\" — Cyril Connolly" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53c/cyril-connolly-1829_boys_boys-do-not-grow-up-gradually-they-move_2417462.png" --- # Boys do not grow up gradually. They move forward in spurts… ![“Boys do not grow up gradually. They move forward in spurts like the hands of clocks in railway stations.” quote by Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53c/cyril-connolly-1829_boys_boys-do-not-grow-up-gradually-they-move_2417462.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53c/cyril-connolly-1829_boys_boys-do-not-grow-up-gradually-they-move_2417462.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53c/cyril-connolly-1829_boys_boys-do-not-grow-up-gradually-they-move_2417462.png) > “Boys do not grow up gradually. They move forward in spurts like the hands of clocks in railway stations.” [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Youth matures in sudden bursts rather than steady progression. **In simple terms:** Growth occurs in spurts. Key Takeaway Accept unpredictable personal development. Themes youth growth time sudden change Mood contemplative observational Type essay philosophical When to use this quote - adolescence - career shifts - skill acquisition - personal transformation Key Concepts psychology developmental theory life stages Questions to Reflect On - What triggers these growth spurts? - How can one nurture steady progress? A Different Perspective May overlook gradual, subtle development. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Boys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boys/) [Boys Grow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boys-grow-616501/) [Clock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clock/) [Forward Spurts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forward-spurts-6106571/) [Gradually Forward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gradually-forward-6106570/) [Grow Gradually](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grow-gradually-2176308/) [Growing up](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/growing-up/) [Grows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grows/) [Hands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hands/) [Little boys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/little-boys/) [Move forward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/move-forward/) [Moving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moving/) [Moving forward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moving-forward/) [Railway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/railway/) [Railway station](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/railway-station/) [Son](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/son/) [Stations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stations/) ## Related quotes > [When people grow gradually rich their requirements and standard of living expand in proportion, while their present-giving instincts often remain in the undeveloped condition…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hector-hugh-munro/when-people-grow-gradually-rich-their-requirements-and-standard-of/) [Hector Hugh Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hector-hugh-munro/) > [I want my career to grow gradually. 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It can beat people, but it can't prevent the poor from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/in-india-the-poverty-is-so-vast-that-the-state-cannot-control-it-it/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [So, you can set up an orchestra down this end of the railway station playing one particular area, and simultaneously at the other end…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-fripp/so-you-can-set-up-an-orchestra-down-this-end-of-the-railway-station/) [Robert Fripp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-fripp/) > [He has the vocal modulation of a railway-station announcer, the expressive power of a fence-post and the charisma of a week-old head of lettuce.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fintan-o-toole/he-has-the-vocal-modulation-of-a-railway-station-announcer-the/) [Fintan O'Toole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fintan-o-toole/) > [Solely in the world of languages is the amateur of value. Well-intentioned sentences full of mistakes can still build bridges between people. Asking in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kat-lomb/solely-in-the-world-of-languages-is-the-amateur-of-value-well/) [Kató Lomb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kat-lomb/) > [I lived at home and I cycled every morning to the railway station to travel by train to Johannesburg followed by a walk to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sydney-brenner/i-lived-at-home-and-i-cycled-every-morning-to-the-railway-station-to/) [Sydney Brenner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sydney-brenner/) ## More by Cyril Connolly > [Literature is the art of writing something that will be read twice; journalism what will be read once.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/literature-is-the-art-of-writing-something-that-will-be-read-twice/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [There is no fury like a woman searching for a new lover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/there-is-no-fury-like-a-woman-searching-for-a-new-lover/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [Beautiful women must think about their beauty as capitalists think about their investments or politicians about their majorities; it is all they have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/beautiful-women-must-think-about-their-beauty-as-capitalists-think/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [We cannot be happy until we can love ourselves without egotism and our friends without tyranny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/we-cannot-be-happy-until-we-can-love-ourselves-without-egotism-and/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [What grape to keep its place in the sun, taught our ancestors to make wine?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/what-grape-to-keep-its-place-in-the-sun-taught-our-ancestors-to-make/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [“Literature is the art of writing something that will be read twice.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/literature-is-the-art-of-writing-something-that-will-be-read-twice-2/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [“Our memories are card-indexes consulted and then put back in disorder by authorities whom we do not control.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/our-memories-are-card-indexes-consulted-and-then-put-back-in-disorder/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [Were I to deduce any system from my feelings on leaving Eton, it might be called The Theory of Permanent Adolescence. It is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/were-i-to-deduce-any-system-from-my-feelings-on-leaving-eton-it-might/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [Failure on the other hand is infectious. 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