--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We talked about and that has always been…" description: "\"We talked about and that has always been a puzzle to me why American men think that success is everything when they know that eighty percent of them ar..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/063/gertrude-stein-667_aging_we-talked-about-and-that-has-always-been_1322844.jpg" --- # We talked about and that has always been a puzzle to me… ![“We talked about and that has always been a puzzle to me why American men think that success is everything when they know that eighty percent of them are not going to succeed more than to just keep going and why if they are not why do they not keep on being interested in the things that interested…” quote by Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/063/gertrude-stein-667_aging_we-talked-about-and-that-has-always-been_1322844.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/063/gertrude-stein-667_aging_we-talked-about-and-that-has-always-been_1322844.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/063/gertrude-stein-667_aging_we-talked-about-and-that-has-always-been_1322844.jpg) > “We talked about and that has always been a puzzle to me why American men think that success is everything when they know that eighty percent of them are not going to succeed more than to just keep going and why if they are not why do they not keep on being interested in the things that interested them when they were college men and why American men different from English men do not get more interesting as they get older.” [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Observes American men’s fixation on success, loss of youthful interests, and contrasts with English men’s evolving curiosity. **In simple terms:** American men often chase success, neglecting earlier passions, unlike English men who stay curious. Key Takeaway Reevaluate success metrics and retain curiosity. Themes success identity culture Mood critical analytical thoughtful Type cultural philosophical When to use this quote - career planning - personal development - education - midlife transitions Key Concepts masculinity societal pressure lifelong learning Questions to Reflect On - What personal values can you prioritize over societal success? - How can you maintain curiosity throughout life? A Different Perspective Cultural generalizations may overlook individual variance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Aging](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aging/) [America](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/america/) [College](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/college/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Puzzles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/puzzles/) [Success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/success/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [I think the Australian men and American men are quite different. 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Men will come across the room and cold-deck you if you hold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-prefontaine/i-know-places-you-better-speak-low-if-you-ve-been-to-college-men-will/) [Steve Prefontaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-prefontaine/) > [More women are graduating from college now than men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-mcconnell/more-women-are-graduating-from-college-now-than-men/) [Mitch McConnell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-mcconnell/) > [All men cannot go to college, but some men must; every isolated group or nation must have its yeast, must have, for the talented…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-e-b-du-bois/all-men-cannot-go-to-college-but-some-men-must-every-isolated-group/) [W. E. B. Du Bois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-e-b-du-bois/) > [College men from L.S.U., went in dumb, come out dumb, too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randy-newman/college-men-from-l-s-u-went-in-dumb-come-out-dumb-too/) [Randy Newman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randy-newman/) > [“Today American men may claim to be individuals, but most of us aren't. Our personalities muted by confusion and cultural strife, we dress like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/today-american-men-may-claim-to-be-individuals-but-most-of-us-aren-t/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I can say that American men and women in the Military are damn impressive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-rollins/i-can-say-that-american-men-and-women-in-the-military-are-damn/) [Henry Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-rollins/) > [Asian American men, Asian men have been basically eunuchs in American cinema and television.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cho/asian-american-men-asian-men-have-been-basically-eunuchs-in-american/) [John Cho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cho/) > [Golf is played by twenty million mature American men whose wives think they are out having fun.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-bishop/golf-is-played-by-twenty-million-mature-american-men-whose-wives/) [Jim Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-bishop/) > [The American dream would have been a nightmare for me, all American men lie so much whether they like male or female, I could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kyle-macdonald/the-american-dream-would-have-been-a-nightmare-for-me-all-american/) [Kyle MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kyle-macdonald/) > [“Brave young American men climbed the rugged slopes of Korean mountains and fought in homesickness and desperate weariness for the sake of a people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/brave-young-american-men-climbed-the-rugged-slopes-of-korean/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [If you're talking about intellectual and social equality for women, we're not much better off.America is still very much a male-dominated society. Most American…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madalyn-murray-o-hair/if-you-re-talking-about-intellectual-and-social-equality-for-women-we/) [Madalyn Murray O'Hair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madalyn-murray-o-hair/) > [Parisian men make love all day and have no time to work; American men work all day and have no time for love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zsa-zsa-gabor/parisian-men-make-love-all-day-and-have-no-time-to-work-american-men/) [Zsa Zsa Gabor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zsa-zsa-gabor/) ## More by Gertrude Stein > [I certainly do care for you Jeff Campbell less than you are always thinking and much more than you are ever knowing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/i-certainly-do-care-for-you-jeff-campbell-less-than-you-are-always/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [Americans are very friendly and very suspicious, that is what Americans are and that is what always upsets the foreigner, who deals with them,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/americans-are-very-friendly-and-very-suspicious-that-is-what/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [Just as everybody has the vote including women, I think children should, because as a child is conscious of itself then it has to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/just-as-everybody-has-the-vote-including-women-i-think-children/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [“When is there some discharge when. There never is.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/when-is-there-some-discharge-when-there-never-is/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [There is no such thing as repetition. Only insistance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/there-is-no-such-thing-as-repetition-only-insistance/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [I am I because my little dog knows me but, creatively speaking the little dog knowing that you are you and your recognising that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/i-am-i-because-my-little-dog-knows-me-but-creatively-speaking-the/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [How likely are definitions to be pleasurable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/how-likely-are-definitions-to-be-pleasurable/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [ “What is the answer?" \[ I \[Alice B Toklas\] was silent \] In that case, what is the question?” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/what-is-the-answer-i-alice-b-toklas-was-silent-in-that-case-what-is/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [More and more I like to take a train. I understand why the French prefer it to automobiling it is so much more sociable,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/more-and-more-i-like-to-take-a-train-i-understand-why-the-french/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [Adventure is making the distant approach nearer but romance is having what is where it is which is not where you are stay where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/adventure-is-making-the-distant-approach-nearer-but-romance-is-having/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [Forensics is eloquence and reduction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/forensics-is-eloquence-and-reduction/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [Eating and sleeping are not like loving and breathing. Washing is not like eating and sleeping. Believing is like breathing and loving. Religion can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/eating-and-sleeping-are-not-like-loving-and-breathing-washing-is-not/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [I write for myself and strangers. The strangers, dear Readers, are an afterthought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/i-write-for-myself-and-strangers-the-strangers-dear-readers-are-an/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [“A bag which was left and not only taken but turned away was not found. The place was shown to be very like the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/a-bag-which-was-left-and-not-only-taken-but-turned-away-was-not-found/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [I don't envisage collectivism. There is no such animal, it is always individualism, sometimes the rest vote and sometimes they do not, and if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/i-don-t-envisage-collectivism-there-is-no-such-animal-it-is-always/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) [Explore all 418 Gertrude Stein quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) ## More Aging quotes > [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/) > [In the past 40 years, the United States lost more than a million farmers and ranchers. Many of our farmers are aging. Today, only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-vilsack/in-the-past-40-years-the-united-states-lost-more-than-a-million/) [Tom Vilsack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-vilsack/) > [We'll never be as young as we are tonight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/we-ll-never-be-as-young-as-we-are-tonight/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [“Prayer of an Anonymous Abbess: Lord, thou knowest better than myself that I am growing older and will soon be old. Keep me from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/prayer-of-an-anonymous-abbess-lord-thou-knowest-better-than-myself/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The more I produce, the less I am certain. On the road along which the artist walks, night falls ever more densely. Finally, he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/the-more-i-produce-the-less-i-am-certain-on-the-road-along-which-the/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [So often do you see collegians enter life with high resolve and lofty purpose and then watch them shrink and shrink to sordid, selfish,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-e-b-du-bois/so-often-do-you-see-collegians-enter-life-with-high-resolve-and-lofty/) [W. E. B. Du Bois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-e-b-du-bois/) > [Aging is like enlightenment at gunpoint. Before I had cancer, I lived my life for my art. After I had cancer, I lived my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-halprin/aging-is-like-enlightenment-at-gunpoint-before-i-had-cancer-i-lived/) [Anna Halprin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-halprin/) > [All the dangers in our world are like a blessed wake up call. They tell us to live life NOW... not tomorrow, not when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-jeffers/all-the-dangers-in-our-world-are-like-a-blessed-wake-up-call-they/) [Susan Jeffers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-jeffers/) > [“You could see the signs of female aging as diseased, especially if you had a vested interest in making women too see them your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-wolf/you-could-see-the-signs-of-female-aging-as-diseased-especially-if-you/) [Naomi Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-wolf/) > [“It takes maturity to be able to laugh like a child again.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moffat-machingura/it-takes-maturity-to-be-able-to-laugh-like-a-child-again/) [Moffat Machingura](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moffat-machingura/) > [Seek ye counsel of the aged for their eyes have looked on the faces of the years and their ears have hardened to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khalil-gibran/seek-ye-counsel-of-the-aged-for-their-eyes-have-looked-on-the-faces/) [Khalil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khalil-gibran/) > [Growing old-it's not nice, but it's interesting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/august-strindberg/growing-old-it-s-not-nice-but-it-s-interesting/) [August Strindberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/august-strindberg/) > [Anything is possible in the life of a man if he lives long enough. 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