--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There is this way that I felt when I was…" description: "\"There is this way that I felt when I was younger that we were beyond history and we were all citizens of the world that now seems so naive.\" — Elif Bat..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3dd/elif-batuman-2172_history_there-is-this-way-that-i-felt-when-i-was_1895705.png" --- # There is this way that I felt when I was younger that we… ![“There is this way that I felt when I was younger that we were beyond history and we were all citizens of the world that now seems so naive.” quote by Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3dd/elif-batuman-2172_history_there-is-this-way-that-i-felt-when-i-was_1895705.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3dd/elif-batuman-2172_history_there-is-this-way-that-i-felt-when-i-was_1895705.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3dd/elif-batuman-2172_history_there-is-this-way-that-i-felt-when-i-was_1895705.png) > “There is this way that I felt when I was younger that we were beyond history and we were all citizens of the world that now seems so naive.” [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) ## 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 recalls a youthful feeling of global citizenship that now seems naive. **In simple terms:** Remembering a naive belief in universal belonging. Key Takeaway Revisit youthful idealism. Themes identity globalism nostalgia Mood thoughtful nostalgic Type philosophical personal When to use this quote - travel - education - community service - dialogue Key Concepts philosophical reflection personal growth Questions to Reflect On - How has your view of global citizenship evolved? - What can you do to foster inclusive perspectives? A Different Perspective May ignore current complexities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Felt Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/felt-younger-773949/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [History Citizens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history-citizens-2069803/) [Naive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/naive/) [Now](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/now/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) [World Naive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world-naive-2765816/) [Younger History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/younger-history-2765817/) ## Related quotes > [New Jersey has faced its own history of citizens demanding change and federal engagement in programs to address the needs of our community. 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Surrounded by so many young dancers, I, too, became a dancer again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prabhu-deva/when-i-went-to-the-sets-of-abcd-i-felt-younger-surrounded-by-so-many/) [Prabhu Deva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/prabhu-deva/) > [Every bit of me is devoted to love and art. And I aspire to try to be a teacher to my young fans who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lady-gaga/every-bit-of-me-is-devoted-to-love-and-art-and-i-aspire-to-try-to-be/) [Lady Gaga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lady-gaga/) > [“The most racking pangs succeeded: a grinding in the bones, deadly nausea, and a horror of the spirit that cannot be exceeded at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-louis-stevenson/the-most-racking-pangs-succeeded-a-grinding-in-the-bones-deadly/) [Robert Louis Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-louis-stevenson/) > [Naive optimism and pervasive pessimism are both to be avoided, therefore. 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Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-a-maxwell/) > [My parents are naive in their morality of things, and so, without realising it, I landed up being ethical and having strong opinions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonali-bendre/my-parents-are-naive-in-their-morality-of-things-and-so-without/) [Sonali Bendre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonali-bendre/) > [Too many people get lost in the game of having a good time and being naive about things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-brown/too-many-people-get-lost-in-the-game-of-having-a-good-time-and-being/) [Steve Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-brown/) > [Another lesson about a naive fool who came to Babylon, and found out that the pie don't taste so sweet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-yoakam/another-lesson-about-a-naive-fool-who-came-to-babylon-and-found-out/) [Dwight Yoakam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-yoakam/) > [While we welcome people of all faiths in America we cannot be so naive as to expect all countries to do the same. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-huffington/while-we-welcome-people-of-all-faiths-in-america-we-cannot-be-so/) [Michael Huffington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-huffington/) > [There has been sort of, if you will, a moral interventionism on the part of the United States trying to reshape countries in our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-buchanan/there-has-been-sort-of-if-you-will-a-moral-interventionism-on-the/) [Pat Buchanan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-buchanan/) > [I have to declare in all candor that no one interested in being published in our time can afford to be so naive as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-curtis/i-have-to-declare-in-all-candor-that-no-one-interested-in-being/) [Richard Curtis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-curtis/) > [Songwriters might write cynical, world-wise lyrics and constantly talk about money, but most of us are downright naive when it comes to business.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willie-nelson/songwriters-might-write-cynical-world-wise-lyrics-and-constantly-talk/) [Willie Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willie-nelson/) > [When you fall in love for the first time, you're naive to every feeling that you're feeling, and you're almost obsessed with or addicted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-pettyfer/when-you-fall-in-love-for-the-first-time-you-re-naive-to-every/) [Alex Pettyfer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-pettyfer/) ## More by Elif Batuman > [My parents were born into a secular country. They met in Turkey's top medical school, moved to America in the nineteen-seventies, and became researchers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/my-parents-were-born-into-a-secular-country-they-met-in-turkey-s-top/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [“I leafed through the phrase book. If a Martian read it, the Martian would probably decide to avoid Hungary.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/i-leafed-through-the-phrase-book-if-a-martian-read-it-the-martian/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [You can't invent something you have no epistemological access to. In a way, it's all recombination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/you-can-t-invent-something-you-have-no-epistemological-access-to-in-a/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [Poetry is another space, like love, where we extend that extra credit to the writer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/poetry-is-another-space-like-love-where-we-extend-that-extra-credit/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [“Svetlana said that she identified with that Madonna more than with any other woman in any other painting. 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The next morning the cage was all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/dracula-visited-the-wolf-department-at-the-zoological-gardens-these/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [I like to think that I know a lot of words, but I definitely don't know all of them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/i-like-to-think-that-i-know-a-lot-of-words-but-i-definitely-don-t/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [“I don't know if I ended up siding with the academics just because I happened to end up in graduate school, or if I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/i-don-t-know-if-i-ended-up-siding-with-the-academics-just-because-i/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [People don't become writers because they love having spontaneous, real-world interactions with living people as bodies with clothes in time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/people-don-t-become-writers-because-they-love-having-spontaneous-real/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [“Each work of criticism is supposed to build on the body of work, to increase the total sum of human understanding. It's not like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/each-work-of-criticism-is-supposed-to-build-on-the-body-of-work-to/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [Humor is really important to me. All my favorite writers are writers I consider to be funny, including Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, even though that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/humor-is-really-important-to-me-all-my-favorite-writers-are-writers-i/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [Every time a meteor comes close to the earth, we all think about the end of the world - but our internal soundtrack doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/every-time-a-meteor-comes-close-to-the-earth-we-all-think-about-the/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [I felt grateful to Ataturk that my parents were so well educated, that they weren't held back by superstition or religion, that they were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/i-felt-grateful-to-ataturk-that-my-parents-were-so-well-educated-that/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [“For a moment it felt like we weren’t in the Danube at all but in the river of time, and everyone was at a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/for-a-moment-it-felt-like-we-weren-t-in-the-danube-at-all-but-in-the/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) [Explore all 182 Elif Batuman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) ## More History quotes > [Histories never conclude; they just pause their prose. 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The basic plot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-fahrenthold/things-live-and-die-and-then-someone-processes-them-into-edible/) [David Fahrenthold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-fahrenthold/) > [History is a certain way, but you just change the point of view a little bit, and you discover a whole new side of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allison-schroeder/history-is-a-certain-way-but-you-just-change-the-point-of-view-a/) [Allison Schroeder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allison-schroeder/) > [We're at a point in history were we have to become a part of the neighborhood of inhabited planets, like a neighborhood of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-mitchell/we-re-at-a-point-in-history-were-we-have-to-become-a-part-of-the/) [Edgar Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-mitchell/) > [Today is a reality, tomorrow's a promise, and yesterday's history!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-blanks/today-is-a-reality-tomorrow-s-a-promise-and-yesterday-s-history/) [Billy Blanks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-blanks/) > [Truth be told from compulsive liars with a history/Everything must change 2nd chances are a mystery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-dash/truth-be-told-from-compulsive-liars-with-a-history-everything-must/) [C-DASH](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-dash/) > [Every army in the history of the world has always had some deserters, usually much greater than we have today, because once again every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-hilferty/every-army-in-the-history-of-the-world-has-always-had-some-deserters/) [Bryan Hilferty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-hilferty/) > [“To those great geniuses now in petticoats, who shall write novels for the beloved reader's children, these men and things will be as much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-makepeace-thackeray/to-those-great-geniuses-now-in-petticoats-who-shall-write-novels-for/) [William Makepeace Thackeray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-makepeace-thackeray/) [Browse all 27,263 History quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There is this way that I felt when I was younger that we were beyond history and we were all citizens of the world that now seems so naive.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Elif Batuman" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/there-is-this-way-that-i-felt-when-i-was-younger-that-we-were-beyond/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "History" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/there-is-this-way-that-i-felt-when-i-was-younger-that-we-were-beyond/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3dd/elif-batuman-2172_history_there-is-this-way-that-i-felt-when-i-was_1895705.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3dd/elif-batuman-2172_history_there-is-this-way-that-i-felt-when-i-was_1895705.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3dd/elif-batuman-2172_history_there-is-this-way-that-i-felt-when-i-was_1895705.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There is this way that I felt when I was younger that we were beyond history and we were all citizens of the…” — Elif Batuman", "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": "Elif Batuman", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "There is this way that I...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/there-is-this-way-that-i-felt-when-i-was-younger-that-we-were-beyond/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/there-is-this-way-that-i-felt-when-i-was-younger-that-we-were-beyond/#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 } } ] } ```