--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The problem is that I am in the wrong…" description: "\"The problem is that I am in the wrong century to burn things. I am the wrong generation to let it go.\" — Edmund de Waal" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c1a/edmund-de-waal-26190_century_the-problem-is-that-i-am-in-the-wrong-ce_1751950.jpg" --- # The problem is that I am in the wrong century to burn… ![“The problem is that I am in the wrong century to burn things. I am the wrong generation to let it go.” quote by Edmund de Waal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c1a/edmund-de-waal-26190_century_the-problem-is-that-i-am-in-the-wrong-ce_1751950.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c1a/edmund-de-waal-26190_century_the-problem-is-that-i-am-in-the-wrong-ce_1751950.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c1a/edmund-de-waal-26190_century_the-problem-is-that-i-am-in-the-wrong-ce_1751950.jpg) > “The problem is that I am in the wrong century to burn things. I am the wrong generation to let it go.” [Edmund de Waal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-de-waal/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He feels out of sync with his era, yearning to act passionately but believing his generation is too restrained. **In simple terms:** He feels misaligned with his time, wanting to act but feeling constrained. Key Takeaway Seek ways to channel passion within contemporary limits. Themes generational discontent creativity frustration Mood thoughtful determined Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - career planning - activism - creative projects Key Concepts modernity environmental activism artistic expression Questions to Reflect On - What small actions can you take now? - How can you align your values with current possibilities? A Different Perspective His view may ignore opportunities for change within his generation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Generations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generations/) [Problem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/problem/) ## Related quotes > [“What the hell’s wrong with this generation?” ​“Participation trophies,” Mercy said. “And Adderall.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-gilley/what-the-hell-s-wrong-with-this-generation-participation-trophies/) [Lauren Gilley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-gilley/) > [Pay no heed to the passing religious vogue. Go back to the grass roots. Open your hearts and search the Scriptures. Bear your cross,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/pay-no-heed-to-the-passing-religious-vogue-go-back-to-the-grass-roots/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [“those times i burned my guitar it was like a sacrifice. we all burn things we love. i love my guitar”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimi-hendrix/those-times-i-burned-my-guitar-it-was-like-a-sacrifice-we-all-burn/) [Jimi Hendrix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimi-hendrix/) > [That's where I saw the Leprchaun. He tells me to burn things!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-wiggum/that-s-where-i-saw-the-leprchaun-he-tells-me-to-burn-things/) [Ralph Wiggum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-wiggum/) > [Don't listen to the cynics. They were wrong about my generation and they were wrong about yours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-biden/don-t-listen-to-the-cynics-they-were-wrong-about-my-generation-and/) [Joe Biden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-biden/) > [“I am full of madness, i can't hide my fire I burn for the things i love, my soul will never retire.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikki-rowe/i-am-full-of-madness-i-can-t-hide-my-fire-i-burn-for-the-things-i/) [Nikki Rowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikki-rowe/) > [I'm concerned that the world is a mess. That's why when I wrote my last book, Let's Face It, I dedicated it to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kirk-douglas/i-m-concerned-that-the-world-is-a-mess-that-s-why-when-i-wrote-my/) [Kirk Douglas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kirk-douglas/) > [Sometimes it falls upon a generation to be great. You can be that great generation. Let your greatness blossom. Of course the task will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nelson-mandela/sometimes-it-falls-upon-a-generation-to-be-great-you-can-be-that/) [Nelson Mandela](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nelson-mandela/) > [I got faith in our generation, let's stick together and futurize our attitudes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/styx/i-got-faith-in-our-generation-let-s-stick-together-and-futurize-our/) [Styx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/styx/) > [Here's my thinking: Since tax reform only occurs once a generation, let's not tweak what we have and call it a day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-brady/here-s-my-thinking-since-tax-reform-only-occurs-once-a-generation-let/) [Kevin Brady](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-brady/) > [I'd been born in the wrong century, and I felt cheated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ransom-riggs/i-d-been-born-in-the-wrong-century-and-i-felt-cheated/) [Ransom Riggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ransom-riggs/) > [So one day my mother sat me down and explained that I couldn’t become an explorer because everything in the world had already been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ransom-riggs/so-one-day-my-mother-sat-me-down-and-explained-that-i-couldn-t-become/) [Ransom Riggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ransom-riggs/) > [“There is something wrong with this world." She stood like she was making a speech. "Something very wrong when it's the twenty-first century and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-flinn/there-is-something-wrong-with-this-world-she-stood-like-she-was/) [Alex Flinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-flinn/) > [Perhaps the methods I needed to complete the proof would not be invented for a hundred years. So even if I was on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-wiles/perhaps-the-methods-i-needed-to-complete-the-proof-would-not-be/) [Andrew Wiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-wiles/) > [Anybody looking for a quiet life has picked the wrong century to born in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/anybody-looking-for-a-quiet-life-has-picked-the-wrong-century-to-born/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Edmund de Waal > [“I do not know where Viktor and Rudolf were taken. I cannot find the records. I never Elisabeth or Iggie. It is possible that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-de-waal/i-do-not-know-where-viktor-and-rudolf-were-taken-i-cannot-find-the/) [Edmund de Waal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-de-waal/) > [“And I'm not entitled to nostalgia about all that lost wealth and glamour from a century ago. And I am not interested in thin.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-de-waal/and-i-m-not-entitled-to-nostalgia-about-all-that-lost-wealth-and/) [Edmund de Waal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-de-waal/) > [“And someone turns out the lights in the library, as if being in the dark will make them invisible, but the noise reaches into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-de-waal/and-someone-turns-out-the-lights-in-the-library-as-if-being-in-the/) [Edmund de Waal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-de-waal/) > [“Does assimilation mean that they never came up against naked prejudice? Does it mean that you understood where the limits of your social world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-de-waal/does-assimilation-mean-that-they-never-came-up-against-naked/) [Edmund de Waal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-de-waal/) > [“The house wasn't theirs anymore. It was full of people, some in uniforms and some in suits. People counting rooms, making lists of objects…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-de-waal/the-house-wasn-t-theirs-anymore-it-was-full-of-people-some-in/) [Edmund de Waal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-de-waal/) > [“It makes me wonder what belonging to a place means. Charles died a Russian in Paris. Viktor called it wrong and was a Russian…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-de-waal/it-makes-me-wonder-what-belonging-to-a-place-means-charles-died-a/) [Edmund de Waal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-de-waal/) > [“There is something about that burning of all those letters that gives me pause: why should everything be made clear and be brought into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-de-waal/there-is-something-about-that-burning-of-all-those-letters-that-gives/) [Edmund de Waal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-de-waal/) > [“He stands with his hands in his pockets, well-dressed and self-assured, with his life before him and a plush armchair behind him.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-de-waal/he-stands-with-his-hands-in-his-pockets-well-dressed-and-self-assured/) [Edmund de Waal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-de-waal/) > [“You just hope, if you make things as I do, that they can make their way in the world and have some longevity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-de-waal/you-just-hope-if-you-make-things-as-i-do-that-they-can-make-their-way/) [Edmund de Waal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-de-waal/) > [“Stories and objects share something, a patina...Perhaps patina is a process of rubbing back so that the essential is revealed...But it also seems additive,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-de-waal/stories-and-objects-share-something-a-patina-perhaps-patina-is-a/) [Edmund de Waal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-de-waal/) > [“Kövecses radiated the sense of self-sufficiency that comes about when there are lots of children in a big house.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-de-waal/k-vecses-radiated-the-sense-of-self-sufficiency-that-comes-about-when/) [Edmund de Waal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-de-waal/) > [“The vitrines exist so that you can see objects, but not touch them: they frame things, suspend them, tantalise through distance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-de-waal/the-vitrines-exist-so-that-you-can-see-objects-but-not-touch-them/) [Edmund de Waal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-de-waal/) > [“How objects are handed on is all about story-telling. I am giving you this because I love you. Or because it was given to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-de-waal/how-objects-are-handed-on-is-all-about-story-telling-i-am-giving-you/) [Edmund de Waal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-de-waal/) > [“Japanese things - laquers, netsuke, prints - conjure a picture of a place where sensations are always new, where art pours out of daily…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-de-waal/japanese-things-laquers-netsuke-prints-conjure-a-picture-of-a-place/) [Edmund de Waal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-de-waal/) > [“House-watching is an art. You have to develop a way of seeing how a building sits in its landscape or streetscape. You have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-de-waal/house-watching-is-an-art-you-have-to-develop-a-way-of-seeing-how-a/) [Edmund de Waal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-de-waal/) [Explore all 22 Edmund de Waal quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-de-waal/) ## More Century quotes > [I know always that I am an outsider; a stranger in this century and among those who are still men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-know-always-that-i-am-an-outsider-a-stranger-in-this-century-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [ \[The Dalai Lama\] told me some years ago, "I've made every concession to China, and I've been as open and tolerant as I could,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pico-iyer/the-dalai-lama-told-me-some-years-ago-i-ve-made-every-concession-to/) [Pico Iyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pico-iyer/) > [Anybody looking for a quiet life has picked the wrong century to born in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/anybody-looking-for-a-quiet-life-has-picked-the-wrong-century-to-born/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The poetry from the eighteenth century was prose; the prose from the seventeenth century was poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hare/the-poetry-from-the-eighteenth-century-was-prose-the-prose-from-the/) [David Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hare/) > [In the nineteenth century some parts of the world were unexplored, but there was almost no restriction on travel.:; Up to 1914 you did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-the-nineteenth-century-some-parts-of-the-world-were-unexplored-but/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Talented people can predict with great accuracy what's about to happen just a tiny bit ahead of their competitors. It might be two seconds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-maney/talented-people-can-predict-with-great-accuracy-what-s-about-to/) [Kevin Maney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-maney/) > [The world's history is a divine poem, of which the history of every nation is a canto, and every man a word. Its strains…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-garfield/the-world-s-history-is-a-divine-poem-of-which-the-history-of-every/) [James A. Garfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-garfield/) > [The nineteenth century lynching mob cuts off ears, toes, and fingers, strips off flesh, and distributes portions of the body as souvenirs among the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ida-b-wells/the-nineteenth-century-lynching-mob-cuts-off-ears-toes-and-fingers/) [Ida B. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ida-b-wells/) > [At no time in the past century has public distrust of the government been so broadly distributed across the political spectrum, as it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-zimmermann/at-no-time-in-the-past-century-has-public-distrust-of-the-government/) [Phil Zimmermann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-zimmermann/) > [While husbands and lovers in the stories are of all kinds, ranging from sympathetic to disgusting, women are invariably deceivers: inconstant, unscrupulous, quarrelsome, querulous,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-tuchman/while-husbands-and-lovers-in-the-stories-are-of-all-kinds-ranging/) [Barbara Tuchman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-tuchman/) > [The young people today are the 21st century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-scorsese/the-young-people-today-are-the-21st-century/) [Martin Scorsese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-scorsese/) > [The wisdom of our actions in the first three years of peace will determine the course of world history for half a century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-a-wallace/the-wisdom-of-our-actions-in-the-first-three-years-of-peace-will/) [Henry A. Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-a-wallace/) > [For me, the melancholy of the late XXth Century is walking late at night by the Mont Blanc pen store and seeing these things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/for-me-the-melancholy-of-the-late-xxth-century-is-walking-late-at/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [In a general way, the literature of the twentieth century is essentially psychological; and psychology consists of describing states of the soul by displaying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-weil/in-a-general-way-the-literature-of-the-twentieth-century-is/) [Simone Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-weil/) > [Consequently, citizen legislators, rotating back to their communities after a short period of public service—considered an indispensable and routine characteristic and design of representative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/consequently-citizen-legislators-rotating-back-to-their-communities/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) Browse all 5,406 Century quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The problem is that I am in the wrong century to burn things. 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