--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What really distinguishes this generation…" description: "\"What really distinguishes this generation in all countries from earlier generations ... is its determination to act, its joy in action, the assurance o..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d7/hannah-arendt-610_able_what-really-distinguishes-this-generatio_23279.jpg" --- # What really distinguishes this generation in all countries… ![“What really distinguishes this generation in all countries from earlier generations ... is its determination to act, its joy in action, the assurance of being able to change things by one's own efforts.” quote by Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d7/hannah-arendt-610_able_what-really-distinguishes-this-generatio_23279.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d7/hannah-arendt-610_able_what-really-distinguishes-this-generatio_23279.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d7/hannah-arendt-610_able_what-really-distinguishes-this-generatio_23279.jpg) > “What really distinguishes this generation in all countries from earlier generations ... is its determination to act, its joy in action, the assurance of being able to change things by one's own efforts.” [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. It highlights the unique drive of today's global cohort to take initiative, find pleasure in doing, and trust in personal agency to effect change. **In simple terms:** Modern people act, enjoy action, trust their impact. Key Takeaway Agency fuels progress. Themes agency generational shift optimism collective action self-efficacy Mood optimistic empowering Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - community organizing - entrepreneurial ventures - social activism - policy reform - personal development Key Concepts determination joy in action belief in change Practical Applications - leadership training - civic engagement programs Questions to Reflect On - How does personal agency shape societal outcomes? - What barriers limit this generation's determination? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Action](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/action/) [Assurance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assurance/) [Change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change/) [Country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/country/) [Determination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/determination/) [Determination and success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/determination-and-success/) [Effort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/effort/) [Generation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generation/) [Generations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generations/) [Joy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/joy/) [Motivational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/motivational/) [Self determination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-determination/) [This generation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/this-generation/) [Will and determination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/will-and-determination/) [Willpower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/willpower/) ## Related quotes > [If I had to select one quality, one personal characteristic that I regard as being most highly correlated with success, whatever the field, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-devos/if-i-had-to-select-one-quality-one-personal-characteristic-that-i/) [Richard DeVos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-devos/) > [“The world is full of educated derelicts”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/calvin-coolidge/the-world-is-full-of-educated-derelicts/) [Calvin Coolidge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/calvin-coolidge/) > [Quit. Most men succeed because they are determined to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-allen/quit-most-men-succeed-because-they-are-determined-to/) [George Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-allen/) > [The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vince-lombardi/the-price-of-success-is-hard-work-dedication-to-the-job-at-hand/) [Vince Lombardi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vince-lombardi/) > [People of mediocre ability sometimes achieve outstanding success because they don't know when to quit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-allen/people-of-mediocre-ability-sometimes-achieve-outstanding-success/) [George Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-allen/) > [Watch your thoughts, they become words. Watch your words, they become actions. Watch your actions, they become habit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/watch-your-thoughts-they-become-words-watch-your-words-they-become-3/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [A dream doesn't become reality through magic; it takes a lot of hard work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ozwald-boateng/a-dream-doesn-t-become-reality-through-magic-it-takes-a-lot-of-hard/) [Ozwald Boateng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ozwald-boateng/) > [I shall either find a way, or make one (attributed)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-roosevelt/i-shall-either-find-a-way-or-make-one-attributed/) [Eleanor Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-roosevelt/) > [Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/calvin-coolidge/persistence-and-determination-alone-are-omnipotent/) [Calvin Coolidge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/calvin-coolidge/) > [Obstacles are what you see when you take your eyes off your goals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-tracy/obstacles-are-what-you-see-when-you-take-your-eyes-off-your-goals/) [Brian Tracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-tracy/) > [Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-brennan/our-goals-can-only-be-reached-through-a-vehicle-of-a-plan-in-which-we-2/) Stephen Brennan > [The world makes way for the man with an idea.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orison-swett-marden/the-world-makes-way-for-the-man-with-an-idea/) [Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) > [Never give up on what you really want to do](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-jackson-brown-jr/never-give-up-on-what-you-really-want-to-do/) [H. Jackson Brown, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-jackson-brown-jr/) > [I think you can accomplish anything if you're willing to pay the price.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vince-lombardi/i-think-you-can-accomplish-anything-if-you-re-willing-to-pay-the-price/) [Vince Lombardi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vince-lombardi/) > [“Failure? I never encountered it. All I ever met were temporary setbacks.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dottie-walters/failure-i-never-encountered-it-all-i-ever-met-were-temporary-setbacks/) [Dottie Walters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dottie-walters/) ## More by Hannah Arendt > [“It means, first, that everything that appears in public can be seen and heard by everybody and has the widest possible publicity. For us,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/it-means-first-that-everything-that-appears-in-public-can-be-seen-and/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [Without being forgiven, released from the consequences of what we have done, our capacity to act would, as it were, be confined to one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/without-being-forgiven-released-from-the-consequences-of-what-we-have/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [The practice of violence, like all action, changes the world, but the most probable change is a more violent world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/the-practice-of-violence-like-all-action-changes-the-world-but-the/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [“Nationalism always preserved this initial intimate loyalty to the government and never quite lost its function of preserving a precarious balance between nation and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/nationalism-always-preserved-this-initial-intimate-loyalty-to-the/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [There is all the difference in the world between the criminal's avoiding the public eye and the civil disobedience's taking the law into his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/there-is-all-the-difference-in-the-world-between-the-criminal-s/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [“What imperialists actually wanted was expansion of political power without the foundation of the body politic. Imperialist expansion had been touched off by a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/what-imperialists-actually-wanted-was-expansion-of-political-power/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [the greater the bureaucratization of public life, the greater will be the attraction of violence. In a fully developed bureaucracy there is nobody left…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/the-greater-the-bureaucratization-of-public-life-the-greater-will-be/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [Forgiveness is the key to action and freedom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/forgiveness-is-the-key-to-action-and-freedom/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [Death not merely ends life, it also bestows upon it a silent completeness, snatched from the hazardous flux to which all things human are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/death-not-merely-ends-life-it-also-bestows-upon-it-a-silent/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [Only crime and the criminal, it is true, confront us with the perplexity of radical evil; but only the hypocrite is really rotten to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/only-crime-and-the-criminal-it-is-true-confront-us-with-the/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [We have almost succeeded in leveling all human activities to the common denominator of securing the necessities of life and providing for their abundance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/we-have-almost-succeeded-in-leveling-all-human-activities-to-the/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [“Totalitarian politics—far from being simply antisemitic or racist or imperialist or communist—use and abuse their own ideological and political elements until the basis of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/totalitarian-politics-far-from-being-simply-antisemitic-or-racist-or/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [“It is like the distinction between war and peace: just as war takes place for the sake of peace, thus every kind of activity,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/it-is-like-the-distinction-between-war-and-peace-just-as-war-takes/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [Every end in history necessarily contains a new beginning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/every-end-in-history-necessarily-contains-a-new-beginning/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [The end of rebellion is liberation, while the end of revolution is the foundation of freedom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/the-end-of-rebellion-is-liberation-while-the-end-of-revolution-is-the/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) [Explore all 405 Hannah Arendt quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) ## More Able quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [There is something about the South that accepts the supernatural. If you don't accept it and you're having a conversation with someone who does,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-englert/there-is-something-about-the-south-that-accepts-the-supernatural-if/) [Alice Englert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-englert/) > [In the '80s, the way radio was programmed, if you didn't have a hit record you weren't going to be able to make any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huey-lewis/in-the-80s-the-way-radio-was-programmed-if-you-didn-t-have-a-hit/) [Huey Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huey-lewis/) > [I think I've had the longest career of strength, focus, and still being able to sell records. I think I'm that guy. I'm still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nas/i-think-i-ve-had-the-longest-career-of-strength-focus-and-still-being/) [Nas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nas/) > [I have that need in me, I want everyone to love me, but I'm embarrassed by that need, so I wanted to cover it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-jeselnik/i-have-that-need-in-me-i-want-everyone-to-love-me-but-i-m-embarrassed/) [Anthony Jeselnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-jeselnik/) > [Thinking about the things that happened, I don't know any other ball player would could have done what he (Jackie Robinson) did. To be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pee-wee-reese/thinking-about-the-things-that-happened-i-don-t-know-any-other-ball/) [Pee Wee Reese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pee-wee-reese/) > [I wanted to remember in order to be able to return.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/i-wanted-to-remember-in-order-to-be-able-to-return/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [Government schools, with your tax money, now discourage the teaching of multiplication tables by rote memorization but teach reading by the 'look-and-say' method which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-perry/government-schools-with-your-tax-money-now-discourage-the-teaching-of/) Greg Perry > [I don't know if I would qualify as mainstream. I think I have managed to function pretty successfully on the fringes of the music…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-metheny/i-don-t-know-if-i-would-qualify-as-mainstream-i-think-i-have-managed/) [Pat Metheny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-metheny/) > [What we're supposed to do as actors is be able to portray real human beings and emotions. And if you grow up in this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-browning/what-we-re-supposed-to-do-as-actors-is-be-able-to-portray-real-human/) [Emily Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-browning/) > [The reason that Apple is able to create products like iPad is because we always try to be at the intersection of technology and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/the-reason-that-apple-is-able-to-create-products-like-ipad-is-because/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) > [It was an important period for us, because even though we weren't a "punk band", and what became a model for a punk band,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-mallinder/it-was-an-important-period-for-us-because-even-though-we-weren-t-a/) [Stephen Mallinder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-mallinder/) > [- You look fine. - Right. I look fine. Except I don't, said Zora, tugging sadly at her man's nightshirt. This was why Kiki…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/you-look-fine-right-i-look-fine-except-i-don-t-said-zora-tugging/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [There is a way to be a woman, ask for what we deserve and be able to negotiate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracee-ellis-ross/there-is-a-way-to-be-a-woman-ask-for-what-we-deserve-and-be-able-to/) [Tracee Ellis Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracee-ellis-ross/) Browse all 17,257 Able quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "What really distinguishes this generation in all countries from earlier generations ... is its determination to act, its joy in action, the assurance of being able to change things by one's own efforts.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Hannah Arendt" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/what-really-distinguishes-this-generation-in-all-countries-from/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Able" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/what-really-distinguishes-this-generation-in-all-countries-from/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d7/hannah-arendt-610_able_what-really-distinguishes-this-generatio_23279.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d7/hannah-arendt-610_able_what-really-distinguishes-this-generatio_23279.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d7/hannah-arendt-610_able_what-really-distinguishes-this-generatio_23279.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“What really distinguishes this generation in all countries from earlier generations ... is its determination…” — Hannah Arendt", "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": "Hannah Arendt", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "What really distinguishes this generation in...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/what-really-distinguishes-this-generation-in-all-countries-from/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/what-really-distinguishes-this-generation-in-all-countries-from/#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 } } ] } ```