--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In the 1960s, I was convinced that the…" description: "\"In the 1960s, I was convinced that the world was extremely mentally ill.\" — Donovan" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/245/donovan-5358_1960s_in-the-1960s-i-was-convinced-that-the-wo_1458601.jpg" --- # In the 1960s, I was convinced that the world was extremely… ![“In the 1960s, I was convinced that the world was extremely mentally ill.” quote by Donovan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/245/donovan-5358_1960s_in-the-1960s-i-was-convinced-that-the-wo_1458601.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/245/donovan-5358_1960s_in-the-1960s-i-was-convinced-that-the-wo_1458601.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/245/donovan-5358_1960s_in-the-1960s-i-was-convinced-that-the-wo_1458601.jpg) > “In the 1960s, I was convinced that the world was extremely mentally ill.” [Donovan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donovan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker perceives widespread societal mental instability during that era. **In simple terms:** Society seemed mentally unstable in the 1960s. Key Takeaway Question societal health and its causes. Themes mental health societal critique historical perspective Mood reflective critical Type opinion historical When to use this quote - public discourse - mental health policy - historical analysis Key Concepts collective anxiety cultural upheaval psychological strain Questions to Reflect On - What factors contributed to perceived mental illness? - How do we avoid sweeping generalizations? A Different Perspective The view may overgeneralize and ignore resilient individuals. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ill/) [Mentally ill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mentally-ill/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [I’m convinced that a world in which girls are educated is a safer, more stable, more prosperous place.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/i-m-convinced-that-a-world-in-which-girls-are-educated-is-a-safer/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [There was a time when a man was so convinced that the world was round that he was determined to prove it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-holmes/there-was-a-time-when-a-man-was-so-convinced-that-the-world-was-round/) [Ernest Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-holmes/) > [“Creativity is a matter of receptiveness and recognition. This cannot happen if you’re convinced the world revolves around you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-holiday/creativity-is-a-matter-of-receptiveness-and-recognition-this-cannot/) [Ryan Holiday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-holiday/) > [I was convinced that the world was in the departure and paging.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-bichsel/i-was-convinced-that-the-world-was-in-the-departure-and-paging/) [Peter Bichsel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-bichsel/) > [Every kindness I received, small or big, convinced me that there could never be enough of it in the world. Kindness, can change the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aung-san-suu-kyi/every-kindness-i-received-small-or-big-convinced-me-that-there-could/) [Aung San Suu Kyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aung-san-suu-kyi/) > [And since we are people of expectation, we are so convinced that another world is coming that we start living as if it were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shane-claiborne/and-since-we-are-people-of-expectation-we-are-so-convinced-that/) [Shane Claiborne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shane-claiborne/) > [“Once upon a time really smart people were completely convinced the world was flat. Then they learned that it wasn’t. But they were still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/once-upon-a-time-really-smart-people-were-completely-convinced-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“This book is not for the delicate or for people who are convinced the world is fine just the way it is.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendy-hoffman/this-book-is-not-for-the-delicate-or-for-people-who-are-convinced-the/) [Wendy Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendy-hoffman/) > [I'm not convinced that the world is in any worse shape than it ever was. It's just that in this age of almost instantaneous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-vaughan/i-m-not-convinced-that-the-world-is-in-any-worse-shape-than-it-ever/) [Bill Vaughan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-vaughan/) > [I'm wary when legislators say the solution to school shootings is mental health care, because it suggests that people who are mentally ill are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tina-smith/i-m-wary-when-legislators-say-the-solution-to-school-shootings-is/) [Tina Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tina-smith/) > [“Now whenever Franny or Jim spoke to someone who kept a car in Manhattan, they reacted with quiet horror, like people who’d been subjected…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-straub/now-whenever-franny-or-jim-spoke-to-someone-who-kept-a-car-in/) [Emma Straub](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-straub/) > [Trying to prove you’re not a psychopath is even harder than trying to prove you’re not mentally ill,’ said Tony.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-ronson/trying-to-prove-you-re-not-a-psychopath-is-even-harder-than-trying-to/) [Jon Ronson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-ronson/) > [Being a housewife, makes women sick.It may therefore be that married women say they are happy because they are sick.To be happy in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessie-bernard/being-a-housewife-makes-women-sick-it-may-therefore-be-that-married/) Jessie Bernard > [“The fear of not living is a deep, abiding dread of watching your own potential decompose into irredeemable disappointment when “should be” gets crushed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-shusterman/the-fear-of-not-living-is-a-deep-abiding-dread-of-watching-your-own/) [Neal Shusterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-shusterman/) > [Dead kids are put on pedestals, but mentally ill kids get hidden under the rug.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-shusterman/dead-kids-are-put-on-pedestals-but-mentally-ill-kids-get-hidden-under/) [Neal Shusterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-shusterman/) ## More by Donovan > [Most people think that I heard Bob Dylan first and got a cap and harmonica. Really, it was Woody Guthrie. He was so influential.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donovan/most-people-think-that-i-heard-bob-dylan-first-and-got-a-cap-and/) [Donovan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donovan/) > [I have always just experimented, and I come from a very ancient, acoustic root. It was very hard to put a finger on me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donovan/i-have-always-just-experimented-and-i-come-from-a-very-ancient/) [Donovan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donovan/) > [I found in Rick Rubin a kindred soul. When I visited his home and looked in his library, I saw he was reading the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donovan/i-found-in-rick-rubin-a-kindred-soul-when-i-visited-his-home-and/) [Donovan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donovan/) > [I have amassed an enormous amount of songs about every particular condition of humankind - children's songs, marriage songs, death songs, love songs, epic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donovan/i-have-amassed-an-enormous-amount-of-songs-about-every-particular/) [Donovan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donovan/) > [In 1968, I bought a 114-foot yacht, built in 1946, and lived on the Greek islands for a while. We had an extraordinary time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donovan/in-1968-i-bought-a-114-foot-yacht-built-in-1946-and-lived-on-the/) [Donovan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donovan/) > [I can't help it: when something strikes me, I write it down.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donovan/i-can-t-help-it-when-something-strikes-me-i-write-it-down/) [Donovan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donovan/) > [My particular space has always been quite unique in popular music. I have a background in R&B and hard rock and straight pop, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donovan/my-particular-space-has-always-been-quite-unique-in-popular-music-i/) [Donovan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donovan/) > [Celebrities can suffer a horrible loneliness even though they have millions of fans. I started doing meditations because I realized that a spiritual path…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donovan/celebrities-can-suffer-a-horrible-loneliness-even-though-they-have/) [Donovan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donovan/) > [The Faces are my old chums. We used to hang out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donovan/the-faces-are-my-old-chums-we-used-to-hang-out/) [Donovan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donovan/) > [I am so highly skilled that when I pick up a phrase and then pick up my guitar, a form comes out almost immediately…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donovan/i-am-so-highly-skilled-that-when-i-pick-up-a-phrase-and-then-pick-up/) [Donovan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donovan/) > [The songs I write are about searching, and they're ambiguous - always to be understood in different ways.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donovan/the-songs-i-write-are-about-searching-and-they-re-ambiguous-always-to/) [Donovan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donovan/) > [I'm in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Jimmy Page gave me the MOJO Maverick award. I got…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donovan/i-m-in-the-rock-and-roll-hall-of-fame-the-songwriters-hall-of-fame/) [Donovan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donovan/) > ['Superman' had nothing to do with the superhero or physical power. It's a reference to the book 'Thus Spoke Zarathustra,' by Friedrich Nietzsche, who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donovan/superman-had-nothing-to-do-with-the-superhero-or-physical-power-it-s/) [Donovan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donovan/) > [Publishers and record companies love a broken heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donovan/publishers-and-record-companies-love-a-broken-heart/) [Donovan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donovan/) > [There's only one thing, in the end, and that's singing truth in a pleasant way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donovan/there-s-only-one-thing-in-the-end-and-that-s-singing-truth-in-a/) [Donovan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donovan/) [Explore all 101 Donovan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donovan/) ## More 1960s quotes > [We do need different types of propulsion to get to Mars. I wrote one of the first Ph.D. theses on that in the 1960s.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-mitchell/we-do-need-different-types-of-propulsion-to-get-to-mars-i-wrote-one/) [Edgar Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-mitchell/) > [Each year more than 100,000 high school graduates, with proved ability, do not enter college because they cannot afford it. And if we cannot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/each-year-more-than-100-000-high-school-graduates-with-proved-ability/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [Nearly all the writing of our time is likely to disappear in a hundred years. Certainly most readers - and nearly all critics -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-dirda/nearly-all-the-writing-of-our-time-is-likely-to-disappear-in-a/) [Michael Dirda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-dirda/) > [Sometimes a party must sail against the wind. We cannot heed the call of those who say it is time to furl the sail.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-kennedy/sometimes-a-party-must-sail-against-the-wind-we-cannot-heed-the-call/) [Edward Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-kennedy/) > [ \[In the 1960s\]...you could take LSD but you couldn't wear a pantsuit. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsey-johnson/in-the-1960s-you-could-take-lsd-but-you-couldn-t-wear-a-pantsuit/) [Betsey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsey-johnson/) > [Is it a coincidence that stories from the private life became more popular just as the grand hope for public redemption through revolution was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-griffin/is-it-a-coincidence-that-stories-from-the-private-life-became-more/) [Susan Griffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-griffin/) > [I think the general anxiety of the 1960s - '70s spawned our interest in the living dead. When people worry about the end of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-brooks/i-think-the-general-anxiety-of-the-1960s-70s-spawned-our-interest-in/) [Max Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-brooks/) > [“A friend once told me a story about a former Black Panther leader in a Midwest community who in the 1960s had his phone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luis-j-rodr-guez/a-friend-once-told-me-a-story-about-a-former-black-panther-leader-in/) [Luis J. Rodríguez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luis-j-rodr-guez/) > [I was never bothered about my position in the industry. If I had believed in it, I wouldn't have allowed anyone to get ahead…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dharmendra/i-was-never-bothered-about-my-position-in-the-industry-if-i-had/) [Dharmendra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dharmendra/) > [Under the system that we now have to nominate presidential candidates, for instance, I would prefer that we have a system that is closer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-beschloss/under-the-system-that-we-now-have-to-nominate-presidential-candidates/) [Michael Beschloss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-beschloss/) > [My son Bill, who came to me in 1960-he was 14 then, quoted the old parable to me: "It is not by their words,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madalyn-murray-o-hair/my-son-bill-who-came-to-me-in-1960-he-was-14-then-quoted-the-old/) [Madalyn Murray O'Hair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madalyn-murray-o-hair/) > [There is a book called San Francisco Tape Music Centre:1960s Counterculture and the Avant-Garde and this book describes everything that you want to know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pauline-oliveros/there-is-a-book-called-san-francisco-tape-music-centre-1960s/) [Pauline Oliveros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pauline-oliveros/) > [Much of the art of the 1960s, from body art to video and direct performance, was concerned with similar issues. And then there was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valie-export/much-of-the-art-of-the-1960s-from-body-art-to-video-and-direct/) [Valie Export](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/valie-export/) > [I went through college in the 1960s without having any idea that I was going to have to make a living. When I graduated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francine-prose/i-went-through-college-in-the-1960s-without-having-any-idea-that-i/) [Francine Prose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francine-prose/) > [“At the beginning of a decade when everything was beginning to seem possible, nothing seemed impossible.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margot-lee-shetterly/at-the-beginning-of-a-decade-when-everything-was-beginning-to-seem/) [Margot Lee Shetterly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margot-lee-shetterly/) Browse all 486 1960s quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In the 1960s, I was convinced that the world was extremely mentally ill.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Donovan" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donovan/in-the-1960s-i-was-convinced-that-the-world-was-extremely-mentally-ill/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "1960s" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donovan/in-the-1960s-i-was-convinced-that-the-world-was-extremely-mentally-ill/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/245/donovan-5358_1960s_in-the-1960s-i-was-convinced-that-the-wo_1458601.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/245/donovan-5358_1960s_in-the-1960s-i-was-convinced-that-the-wo_1458601.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/245/donovan-5358_1960s_in-the-1960s-i-was-convinced-that-the-wo_1458601.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In the 1960s, I was convinced that the world was extremely mentally ill.” — Donovan", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Donovan", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donovan/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "In the 1960s, I was convinced...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donovan/in-the-1960s-i-was-convinced-that-the-world-was-extremely-mentally-ill/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donovan/in-the-1960s-i-was-convinced-that-the-world-was-extremely-mentally-ill/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```