--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We hear the haunting presentiment of a…" description: "\"We hear the haunting presentiment of a dutiful middle age in the current reluctance of young people to select any option except the one they feel will ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/379/gail-sheehy-3031_age_we-hear-the-haunting-presentiment-of-a-d_1571969.png" --- # We hear the haunting presentiment of a dutiful middle age… ![“We hear the haunting presentiment of a dutiful middle age in the current reluctance of young people to select any option except the one they feel will impinge upon them the least.” quote by Gail Sheehy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/379/gail-sheehy-3031_age_we-hear-the-haunting-presentiment-of-a-d_1571969.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/379/gail-sheehy-3031_age_we-hear-the-haunting-presentiment-of-a-d_1571969.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/379/gail-sheehy-3031_age_we-hear-the-haunting-presentiment-of-a-d_1571969.png) > “We hear the haunting presentiment of a dutiful middle age in the current reluctance of young people to select any option except the one they feel will impinge upon them the least.” [Gail Sheehy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-sheehy/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Young people avoid choices that might limit them, reflecting a broader societal hesitation toward commitment. **In simple terms:** Youth shy away from commitments. Key Takeaway Encourage thoughtful decision‑making. Themes commitment generational anxiety choice Mood concerned analytical Type analytical critical When to use this quote - career counseling - family planning - policy making Key Concepts sociology psychology culture Questions to Reflect On - Why do we fear commitment? - How can societies support decisive choices? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on fear may ignore genuine preferences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age/) [Choice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/choice/) [Middle age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/middle-age/) [Reluctance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reluctance/) [Young people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/young-people/) ## Related quotes > [My mother had demonstrated that the best way to defeat the numbing ambivalence of middle age is to surprise yourself - by pulling off…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-sheehy/my-mother-had-demonstrated-that-the-best-way-to-defeat-the-numbing/) [Gail Sheehy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-sheehy/) > [The perceptions of middle age have their own luminosity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-sheehy/the-perceptions-of-middle-age-have-their-own-luminosity/) [Gail Sheehy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-sheehy/) > [What folly made young people, even those in middle age, think they were immortal? How much better, their lives, if they could remember the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rohinton-mistry/what-folly-made-young-people-even-those-in-middle-age-think-they-were/) [Rohinton Mistry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rohinton-mistry/) > [“No matter how you tell yourself It's what we all go through Those lines are pretty hard to take When they're staring back at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonnie-raitt/no-matter-how-you-tell-yourself-it-s-what-we-all-go-through-those/) [Bonnie Raitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bonnie-raitt/) > [“The other real forces urging young people into marriages generally sift down to one of the following: the need for safety, the need to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-sheehy/the-other-real-forces-urging-young-people-into-marriages-generally/) [Gail Sheehy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-sheehy/) > [There's a bit of a reluctance on my part to promote myself as any kind of hero because the things I've had to overcome…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/faith-salie/there-s-a-bit-of-a-reluctance-on-my-part-to-promote-myself-as-any/) [Faith Salie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/faith-salie/) > [I should probably confess that I get bored easily, which explains my reluctance to work with formula, tropes, whatever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kit-reed/i-should-probably-confess-that-i-get-bored-easily-which-explains-my/) [Kit Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kit-reed/) > [Our reluctance for conflict should not be misjudged as a failure of will.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/our-reluctance-for-conflict-should-not-be-misjudged-as-a-failure-of/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [There are so many things I'd like to change in the industry. Everything from the reliance of style over substance to their reluctance to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-mochrie/there-are-so-many-things-i-d-like-to-change-in-the-industry/) [Colin Mochrie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-mochrie/) > [I've always had a reluctance to meet my heroes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-van-zandt/i-ve-always-had-a-reluctance-to-meet-my-heroes/) [Steven Van Zandt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-van-zandt/) > [One of the inevitable aspects of debates about euthanasia is the reluctance on the part of advocates to confront the essence of what they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-keating/one-of-the-inevitable-aspects-of-debates-about-euthanasia-is-the/) [Paul Keating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-keating/) > [“the idea of money primes individualism: a reluctance to be involved with others, to depend on others, or to accept demands from others.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-kahneman/the-idea-of-money-primes-individualism-a-reluctance-to-be-involved/) [Daniel Kahneman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-kahneman/) > [ In the end, many of his more militant colleagues began to feel that \[Ho Chi Minh's\] tendency to compromise, and his reluctance to confront… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-duiker/in-the-end-many-of-his-more-militant-colleagues-began-to-feel-that-ho/) [William J. Duiker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-duiker/) > [What we're learning in our schools is not the wisdom of life. We're learning technologies, we're getting information. There's a curious reluctance on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/what-we-re-learning-in-our-schools-is-not-the-wisdom-of-life-we-re/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [J.K. Rowling said Bellatrix's role was going to be significant in the last one, when I showed some reluctance in playing a tiny bit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helena-bonham-carter/j-k-rowling-said-bellatrix-s-role-was-going-to-be-significant-in-the/) [Helena Bonham Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helena-bonham-carter/) ## More by Gail Sheehy > [I actually like getting out of my comfort zone. It shakes me up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-sheehy/i-actually-like-getting-out-of-my-comfort-zone-it-shakes-me-up/) [Gail Sheehy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-sheehy/) > [To be tested is good. The challenged life may be the best therapist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-sheehy/to-be-tested-is-good-the-challenged-life-may-be-the-best-therapist/) [Gail Sheehy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-sheehy/) > [No one can control the aging process or the trajectory of illness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-sheehy/no-one-can-control-the-aging-process-or-the-trajectory-of-illness/) [Gail Sheehy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-sheehy/) > [“Further discomfort from these new realities afflicts men who expected to reach a certain level by dint of their white maleness but who now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-sheehy/further-discomfort-from-these-new-realities-afflicts-men-who-expected/) [Gail Sheehy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-sheehy/) > [I dare to do things - that's how I survive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-sheehy/i-dare-to-do-things-that-s-how-i-survive/) [Gail Sheehy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-sheehy/) > [Spontaneity, the hallmark of childhood, is well worth cultivating to counteract the rigidity that may otherwise set in as we grow older.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-sheehy/spontaneity-the-hallmark-of-childhood-is-well-worth-cultivating-to/) [Gail Sheehy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-sheehy/) > [By listening, by caring, by playing you back to yourself, friends ratify your better instincts and endorse your unique worth. Friends validate you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-sheehy/by-listening-by-caring-by-playing-you-back-to-yourself-friends-ratify/) [Gail Sheehy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-sheehy/) > [The first thing one notices about Jill Abramson is her short stature. The second is her intensity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-sheehy/the-first-thing-one-notices-about-jill-abramson-is-her-short-stature/) [Gail Sheehy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-sheehy/) > [“Ignorant of our own and our mate’s inner life, we are ruled largely by external forces at this stage.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-sheehy/ignorant-of-our-own-and-our-mate-s-inner-life-we-are-ruled-largely-by/) [Gail Sheehy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-sheehy/) > [Family caregiving has become a predictable crisis. Americans are living longer and longer but dying slower and slower.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-sheehy/family-caregiving-has-become-a-predictable-crisis-americans-are/) [Gail Sheehy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-sheehy/) > [“The other real forces urging young people into marriages generally sift down to one of the following: the need for safety, the need to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-sheehy/the-other-real-forces-urging-young-people-into-marriages-generally/) [Gail Sheehy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-sheehy/) > [I'd visually have that idea. I'm diving off the end of the diving board. I'm not going to be worried about if I'm going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-sheehy/i-d-visually-have-that-idea-i-m-diving-off-the-end-of-the-diving/) [Gail Sheehy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-sheehy/) > [To hear how special and wonderful we are is endlessly enthralling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-sheehy/to-hear-how-special-and-wonderful-we-are-is-endlessly-enthralling/) [Gail Sheehy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-sheehy/) > [When men reach their sixties and retire, they go to pieces. Women go right on cooking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-sheehy/when-men-reach-their-sixties-and-retire-they-go-to-pieces-women-go/) [Gail Sheehy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-sheehy/) > [Journalism today is obviously in a major transition. Going to journalism school, learning how to write, working your way up in a little paper…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-sheehy/journalism-today-is-obviously-in-a-major-transition-going-to/) [Gail Sheehy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-sheehy/) [Explore all 142 Gail Sheehy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-sheehy/) ## More Age quotes > [I need a bath." He chuckled. "You smell of smoke, as do I." The duke turned, leaning heavily on his cane. "Jameson, open the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-hawkins/i-need-a-bath-he-chuckled-you-smell-of-smoke-as-do-i-the-duke-turned/) [Karen Hawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-hawkins/) > [While we've youth in our hearts, we can never grow old.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/while-we-ve-youth-in-our-hearts-we-can-never-grow-old/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/) > [It's easier to change a law than an age-old mentality. Deep down, many prejudices, many hostilities, many fears persist. But if we take a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dacia-maraini/it-s-easier-to-change-a-law-than-an-age-old-mentality-deep-down-many/) [Dacia Maraini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dacia-maraini/) > [When I first started writing, when I was 15, I would go to work with people and they would tell me my lyrics were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sabrina-claudio/when-i-first-started-writing-when-i-was-15-i-would-go-to-work-with/) [Sabrina Claudio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sabrina-claudio/) > [Real people speak in my books about the main events of the age, such as the war, the Chernobyl disaster, and the downfall of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/svetlana-alexievich/real-people-speak-in-my-books-about-the-main-events-of-the-age-such/) [Svetlana Alexievich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/svetlana-alexievich/) > [As a child I was very involved with sports and I knew at age 9 that I wanted to be an Olympic champion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marion-jones/as-a-child-i-was-very-involved-with-sports-and-i-knew-at-age-9-that-i/) [Marion Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marion-jones/) > [If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-there-is-any-period-one-would-desire-to-be-born-in-is-it-not-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [By making conscious choices in our behavior and where we focus our attention, we can transform our experience of our body, decrease our biological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/by-making-conscious-choices-in-our-behavior-and-where-we-focus-our/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [I am just enjoying the dream of being Milan coach at the age of 40.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gennaro-gattuso/i-am-just-enjoying-the-dream-of-being-milan-coach-at-the-age-of-40/) [Gennaro Gattuso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gennaro-gattuso/) > [Age is an accumulation of life and loss. Adulthood is a series of lines crossed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-goodman/age-is-an-accumulation-of-life-and-loss-adulthood-is-a-series-of/) [Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/) > [I calculated that if I live up to the age of 80, then I end up using 450 toothbrushes in my life. All that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dia-mirza/i-calculated-that-if-i-live-up-to-the-age-of-80-then-i-end-up-using/) [Dia Mirza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dia-mirza/) > [Why is wisdom so fair? Why is beauty so wise? Because all else is temporary, while beauty and wisdom are the only real and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-nazarian/why-is-wisdom-so-fair-why-is-beauty-so-wise-because-all-else-is/) [Vera Nazarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-nazarian/) > [It was only when I went to acting school that I was like, "You are absolutely such a pigheaded freak show that you thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giles-matthey/it-was-only-when-i-went-to-acting-school-that-i-was-like-you-are/) [Giles Matthey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giles-matthey/) > [That old man dies prematurely whose memory records no benefits conferred. They only have lived long who have lived virtuously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-brinsley-sheridan/that-old-man-dies-prematurely-whose-memory-records-no-benefits/) [Richard Brinsley Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-brinsley-sheridan/) > [We have started to make music at age seven. That was a hard work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-kaulitz/we-have-started-to-make-music-at-age-seven-that-was-a-hard-work/) [Bill Kaulitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-kaulitz/) [Browse all 18,948 Age quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We hear the haunting presentiment of a dutiful middle age in the current reluctance of young people to select any option except the one they feel will impinge upon them the least.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gail Sheehy" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-sheehy/we-hear-the-haunting-presentiment-of-a-dutiful-middle-age-in-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Age" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-sheehy/we-hear-the-haunting-presentiment-of-a-dutiful-middle-age-in-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/379/gail-sheehy-3031_age_we-hear-the-haunting-presentiment-of-a-d_1571969.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/379/gail-sheehy-3031_age_we-hear-the-haunting-presentiment-of-a-d_1571969.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/379/gail-sheehy-3031_age_we-hear-the-haunting-presentiment-of-a-d_1571969.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We hear the haunting presentiment of a dutiful middle age in the current reluctance of young people to…” — Gail Sheehy", "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": "Gail Sheehy", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-sheehy/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "We hear the haunting presentiment of...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-sheehy/we-hear-the-haunting-presentiment-of-a-dutiful-middle-age-in-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-sheehy/we-hear-the-haunting-presentiment-of-a-dutiful-middle-age-in-the/#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 } } ] } ```