--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Our culture is obsessed with youth…" description: "\"Our culture is obsessed with youth because we have lost the ancient knowledge that growth never stops. We are not transient, momentary mistakes in the ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76d/eben-alexander-18167_ancient_our-culture-is-obsessed-with-youth-becau_2305115.jpg" --- # Our culture is obsessed with youth because we have lost… ![“Our culture is obsessed with youth because we have lost the ancient knowledge that growth never stops. We are not transient, momentary mistakes in the cosmos- evolutionary curiosities that rise like mayflies, swarm for a day, and are gone. We are players who are here to stay, and the universe was…” quote by Eben Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76d/eben-alexander-18167_ancient_our-culture-is-obsessed-with-youth-becau_2305115.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76d/eben-alexander-18167_ancient_our-culture-is-obsessed-with-youth-becau_2305115.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76d/eben-alexander-18167_ancient_our-culture-is-obsessed-with-youth-becau_2305115.jpg) > “Our culture is obsessed with youth because we have lost the ancient knowledge that growth never stops. We are not transient, momentary mistakes in the cosmos- evolutionary curiosities that rise like mayflies, swarm for a day, and are gone. We are players who are here to stay, and the universe was built with us in mind. We reflect it, with our deepest loves and loftiest aspirations, just as it reflects us.” [Eben Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eben-alexander/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. We obsess over youth, forgetting that growth is continuous and we are enduring participants in the cosmos. **In simple terms:** Growth never stops; we are lasting beings. Key Takeaway Embrace lifelong growth. Themes growth eternity human purpose Mood reflective inspirational Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - career development - spiritual practice - creative projects Key Concepts evolution cosmic perspective meaning Questions to Reflect On - What does growth mean to you beyond age? - How can you honor your lasting role in the universe? A Different Perspective Youth obsession can limit long‑term vision. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ancient](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ancient/) [Aspiration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aspiration/) [Cosmos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cosmos/) [Culture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/culture/) [Curiosity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/curiosity/) [Deepest love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deepest-love/) [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Growth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/growth/) [Mayflies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mayflies/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Mistake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mistake/) [Universe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/universe/) [Youth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/youth/) ## Related quotes > [New Yorkers are obsessed with youth and eternal youth and then their careers and making money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-radziwill/new-yorkers-are-obsessed-with-youth-and-eternal-youth-and-then-their/) [Lee Radziwill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-radziwill/) > [They had created themselves together, and they always saw themselves, their youth, their love, their lost youth and lost love, their failures and memories,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-hardwick/they-had-created-themselves-together-and-they-always-saw-themselves/) [Elizabeth Hardwick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-hardwick/) > [As long as any adult thinks that he, like the parents and teachers of old, can become introspective, invoking his own youth to understand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/as-long-as-any-adult-thinks-that-he-like-the-parents-and-teachers-of/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [ It is quite clear to me that the religious paradise of youth, which \[I\] lost, was a first attempt to free myself from the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/it-is-quite-clear-to-me-that-the-religious-paradise-of-youth-which-i/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [Our culture is obsessed with real events because we experience hardly any,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-shields/our-culture-is-obsessed-with-real-events-because-we-experience-hardly/) [David Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-shields/) > [Our culture is obsessed with being busy, and I think it's crazy. I don't fill all my time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frazey-ford/our-culture-is-obsessed-with-being-busy-and-i-think-it-s-crazy-i-don/) [Frazey Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frazey-ford/) > [This culture seems to be so obsessed with sexuality, the good and the bad of it. Every advertisement, every preacher, everybody's concerned, one way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/this-culture-seems-to-be-so-obsessed-with-sexuality-the-good-and-the/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [I think we live a culture that's obsessed with people, you know, 'Celebrities are just like us!' Everything I do except my job is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-wentz/i-think-we-live-a-culture-that-s-obsessed-with-people-you-know/) [Pete Wentz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-wentz/) > [Growing up sucks, doesn't it? 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Yet we mayflies try to bend an ancient world to our purposes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/human-consciousness-arose-but-a-minute-before-midnight-on-the/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > ["Little magazines" are, for the most part, the mayflies of the literary world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-crews/little-magazines-are-for-the-most-part-the-mayflies-of-the-literary/) Frederick Crews > [Nature is one with rapine, a harm no preacher can heal; The Mayfly is torn by the swallow, the sparrow speared by the shrike,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-lord-tennyson/nature-is-one-with-rapine-a-harm-no-preacher-can-heal-the-mayfly-is/) [Alfred Lord Tennyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-lord-tennyson/) > [The lifetime of a human being is measured by decades, the lifetime of the Sun is a hundred million times longer. Compared to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/the-lifetime-of-a-human-being-is-measured-by-decades-the-lifetime-of/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) ## More by Eben Alexander > [My journey deep into coma, outside this lowly physical realm and into the loftiest dwelling place of the almighty Creator, revealed the indescribably immense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eben-alexander/my-journey-deep-into-coma-outside-this-lowly-physical-realm-and-into/) [Eben Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eben-alexander/) > [Communicating with God is the most extraordinary experience imaginable, yet at the same time it's the most natural one of all, because God is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eben-alexander/communicating-with-god-is-the-most-extraordinary-experience/) [Eben Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eben-alexander/) > [I understand what happens to the brain when people are near death, and I had always believed there were good scientific explanations for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eben-alexander/i-understand-what-happens-to-the-brain-when-people-are-near-death-and/) [Eben Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eben-alexander/) > [“My experience showed me that the death of the body and the brain are not the end of consciousness, that human experience continues beyond…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eben-alexander/my-experience-showed-me-that-the-death-of-the-body-and-the-brain-are/) [Eben Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eben-alexander/) > [“Death: It is the greatest adventure. 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I feel shrunken, as if there's a tiny ancient Oliver Tate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-dunthorne/i-don-t-know-if-i-ve-come-of-age-but-i-m-certainly-older-now-i-feel/) [Joe Dunthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-dunthorne/) > [Tentatively I stood a great lump of wood on the chopping block and bought the axe down on it. It flew into two perfect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/tentatively-i-stood-a-great-lump-of-wood-on-the-chopping-block-and/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) > [Men must speak English who can write Sanskrit; they must speak a modern language who write, perchance, an ancient and universal one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/men-must-speak-english-who-can-write-sanskrit-they-must-speak-a/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [The Tao is the center of the universe, the good man's treasure, the bad man's refuge. 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