--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Were I to deduce any system from my…" description: "\"Were I to deduce any system from my feelings on leaving Eton, it might be called The Theory of Permanent Adolescence. It is the theory that the experie..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/efe/cyril-connolly-1829_adolescence_were-i-to-deduce-any-system-from-my-feel_188614.jpg" --- # Were I to deduce any system from my feelings on leaving… ![“Were I to deduce any system from my feelings on leaving Eton, it might be called The Theory of Permanent Adolescence. It is the theory that the experiences undergone by boys at the great public schools, their glories and disappointments, are so intense as to dominate their lives and to arrest…” quote by Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/efe/cyril-connolly-1829_adolescence_were-i-to-deduce-any-system-from-my-feel_188614.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/efe/cyril-connolly-1829_adolescence_were-i-to-deduce-any-system-from-my-feel_188614.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/efe/cyril-connolly-1829_adolescence_were-i-to-deduce-any-system-from-my-feel_188614.jpg) > “Were I to deduce any system from my feelings on leaving Eton, it might be called The Theory of Permanent Adolescence. It is the theory that the experiences undergone by boys at the great public schools, their glories and disappointments, are so intense as to dominate their lives and to arrest their development. From these it results that the greater part of the ruling class remains adolescent, school-minded, self-conscious, cowardly, sentimental, and in the last analysis homosexual.” [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. Intense school experiences can freeze personal growth, leaving adults stuck in adolescent mindsets. **In simple terms:** School life can stunt adult development. Key Takeaway Recognize and move beyond adolescent patterns. Themes education psychology class identity Mood reflective critical Type analysis philosophical When to use this quote - career counseling - personal therapy - leadership training Key Concepts Permanent adolescence social conditioning elite culture Questions to Reflect On - What adolescent traits still affect you? - How can you foster mature self‑identity? A Different Perspective Some individuals overcome these patterns with deliberate effort. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Adolescence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adolescence/) [Adolescence Theory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adolescence-theory-1999593/) [Analysis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/analysis/) [Boys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boys/) [Class](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/class/) [Conscious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conscious/) [Cowardly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cowardly/) [Development](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/development/) [Disappointment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disappointment/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Eton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eton/) [Eton Called](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eton-called-1999595/) [Feelings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feelings/) [Glory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/glory/) [Greater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greater/) [Homosexual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/homosexual/) [Intense](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intense/) [Lasts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lasts/) [Leaving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leaving/) [Leaving Eton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leaving-eton-1999594/) [Might](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/might/) [Permanent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/permanent/) [Permanent Adolescence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/permanent-adolescence-1999592/) [Public school](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/public-school/) [Public schools](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/public-schools/) [Remains](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/remains/) [Results](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/results/) [Ruling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ruling/) [School](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/school/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Self conscious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-conscious/) [Sentimental](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sentimental/) [Teenager](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teenager/) [Theory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theory/) [Theory Permanent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theory-permanent-1999596/) ## Related quotes > [“Even if the system is obsessed with adulthood, it does not raise "adults"; it rewards permanent adolescence. The intellect is numbed by memes. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sov8840/even-if-the-system-is-obsessed-with-adulthood-it-does-not-raise/) [Sov8840](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sov8840/) > [We all know by theory that there is no permanent happiness in this life: But the weight of the precept is not felt in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-richardson/we-all-know-by-theory-that-there-is-no-permanent-happiness-in-this/) [Samuel Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-richardson/) > [ My education \[takes place\] during the holidays from Eton. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osbert-sitwell/my-education-takes-place-during-the-holidays-from-eton/) [Osbert Sitwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osbert-sitwell/) > [“It started off very underprivileged, but got more affluent.' Amis suddenly smiles to himself, remembering a moment with his father. 'I remember saying –…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonella-gambotto-burke/it-started-off-very-underprivileged-but-got-more-affluent-amis/) [Antonella Gambotto-Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonella-gambotto-burke/) > [An unemployed electrician,whom I had been taunting with my reminder of how much richer I was, leaned forward and said:'What are your qualifications? I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/auberon-waugh/an-unemployed-electrician-whom-i-had-been-taunting-with-my-reminder/) [Auberon Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/auberon-waugh/) > [I went to prep school, Eton and Oxford. When people hear that, they think they know you, and you think: 'No, you don't.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-lloyd/i-went-to-prep-school-eton-and-oxford-when-people-hear-that-they/) [Harry Lloyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-lloyd/) > [It is essential to rear a generation at the very top of society that has all the qualities needed to lead and give the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-kuan-yew/it-is-essential-to-rear-a-generation-at-the-very-top-of-society-that/) [Lee Kuan Yew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-kuan-yew/) > [I taught principally German language and literature at Eton. But any master with private pupils must be prepared to teach anything they ask for.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-le-carre/i-taught-principally-german-language-and-literature-at-eton-but-any/) [John le Carre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-le-carre/) > [It's the weird thing Eton does - you're at school next to lords and earls and, in my case, Prince William, so you end…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eddie-redmayne/it-s-the-weird-thing-eton-does-you-re-at-school-next-to-lords-and/) [Eddie Redmayne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eddie-redmayne/) > [I'd like thousands of schools as good as the one I went to, Eton.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-johnson/i-d-like-thousands-of-schools-as-good-as-the-one-i-went-to-eton/) [Boris Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-johnson/) > [As far as the physical miseries go, I am sure I will cope. I lived at Eton in the 1950s and I know all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-aitken/as-far-as-the-physical-miseries-go-i-am-sure-i-will-cope-i-lived-at/) [Jonathan Aitken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-aitken/) > [It is contended that those who have been bred at Eton, Harrow, Rugby, and Westminster, that the public sentiment within each of those schools…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/it-is-contended-that-those-who-have-been-bred-at-eton-harrow-rugby/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [There is an old story about the boy at Eton who committed suicide. The other boys in his house were gathered together and asked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/auberon-waugh/there-is-an-old-story-about-the-boy-at-eton-who-committed-suicide-the/) [Auberon Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/auberon-waugh/) > [I am inclined to agree with the Head Master of Eton that pæderastic passions among schoolboys 'do no harm'; further, I think them the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleister-crowley/i-am-inclined-to-agree-with-the-head-master-of-eton-that-p-derastic/) [Aleister Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleister-crowley/) > [Free milk will be provided in Hoxton and Shoredith, in Eton and Harrow. What more social equality can you have than that?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-wilkinson/free-milk-will-be-provided-in-hoxton-and-shoredith-in-eton-and-harrow/) [Ellen Wilkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-wilkinson/) ## 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/) > [Failure on the other hand is infectious. The world is full of charming failures (for all charming people have something to conceal, usually their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/failure-on-the-other-hand-is-infectious-the-world-is-full-of-charming/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [The civilization of one epoch becomes the manure of the next.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/the-civilization-of-one-epoch-becomes-the-manure-of-the-next/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [There is no more somber enemy of good art than the pram in the hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/there-is-no-more-somber-enemy-of-good-art-than-the-pram-in-the-hall/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [The true function of a writer is to produce a masterpiece and no other task is of any consequence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/the-true-function-of-a-writer-is-to-produce-a-masterpiece-and-no/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [“We pay for vice by the knowledge that we are wicked; we pay for pleasure when we find out too late that we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/we-pay-for-vice-by-the-knowledge-that-we-are-wicked-we-pay-for/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [The books I haven't written are better than the books other people have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/the-books-i-haven-t-written-are-better-than-the-books-other-people/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [If Montaigne is a man in the prime of life sitting in his study on a warm morning and putting down the sum of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/if-montaigne-is-a-man-in-the-prime-of-life-sitting-in-his-study-on-a/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [Like water, we are truest to our nature in repose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/like-water-we-are-truest-to-our-nature-in-repose/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) [Explore all 204 Cyril Connolly quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) ## More Adolescence quotes > [They must move from a psychological state of victimization to a psychological state of accepting responsibility. The Palestinians must leave behind their revolutionary adolescence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ari-shavit/they-must-move-from-a-psychological-state-of-victimization-to-a/) [Ari Shavit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ari-shavit/) > [Having children truly ends adolescence. We are all either parents or children: responsibility-takers or those who demand from others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-shapiro/having-children-truly-ends-adolescence-we-are-all-either-parents-or/) [Ben Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-shapiro/) > [Teenage girls are extremists who see the world in black-and- white terms, missing shades of gray. Life is either marvelous or notworth living. School…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-pipher/teenage-girls-are-extremists-who-see-the-world-in-black-and-white/) [Mary Pipher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-pipher/) > [Teenagers complain there's nothing to do, then stay out all night doing it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-phillips/teenagers-complain-there-s-nothing-to-do-then-stay-out-all-night/) [Bob Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-phillips/) > [The idols of one's adolescence tend to endure - you never forget how you worshipped them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/molly-ivins/the-idols-of-one-s-adolescence-tend-to-endure-you-never-forget-how/) [Molly Ivins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/molly-ivins/) > [Being an adult is the ability to postpone a want for the sake of a family need.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hogan/being-an-adult-is-the-ability-to-postpone-a-want-for-the-sake-of-a/) [Chris Hogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hogan/) > [The donning of the ear buds marks the beginning of teen life, when children set off on their own for the passage through adolescence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amity-shlaes/the-donning-of-the-ear-buds-marks-the-beginning-of-teen-life-when/) [Amity Shlaes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amity-shlaes/) > [Adolescence is when the very worst and best impulses in the human soul struggle against each other for possession.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-stanley-hall/adolescence-is-when-the-very-worst-and-best-impulses-in-the-human/) [G. Stanley Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-stanley-hall/) > [Most adults would not dream of belittling, humiliating, or bullying (verbally or physically) another adult. But many of the same adults think nothing of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-steinberg/most-adults-would-not-dream-of-belittling-humiliating-or-bullying/) [Laurence Steinberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-steinberg/) > [If you can't count, they can cheat you. If you can't read, they can beat you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/if-you-can-t-count-they-can-cheat-you-if-you-can-t-read-they-can-beat/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“He'd possessed all the key elements of a school shooter: hormones, misery, ammunition. People wondered how something like Columbine could happen. Jude wondered why…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-hill/he-d-possessed-all-the-key-elements-of-a-school-shooter-hormones/) [Joe Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-hill/) > [ I remember realizing, when I did Little Women \[1994\], that that was the only time girls that age were being written about. It was… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winona-ryder/i-remember-realizing-when-i-did-little-women-1994-that-that-was-the/) [Winona Ryder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winona-ryder/) > [Content without style is propaganda or adolescence. Style without content is decadence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rita-mae-brown/content-without-style-is-propaganda-or-adolescence-style-without/) [Rita Mae Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rita-mae-brown/) > [Adolescence is interesting. I mean, all of life is interesting and all of life is transitionary. But I think there is an exponential growth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-henson/adolescence-is-interesting-i-mean-all-of-life-is-interesting-and-all/) [Bill Henson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-henson/) > [“Yet GenX'er teens didn't slow down--they were just as likely to drive, drink alcohol, and date as their Boomer peers and more likely to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-m-twenge/yet-genx-er-teens-didn-t-slow-down-they-were-just-as-likely-to-drive/) [Jean M. Twenge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-m-twenge/) [Browse all 787 Adolescence quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adolescence/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Were I to deduce any system from my feelings on leaving Eton, it might be called The Theory of Permanent Adolescence. 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