--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Adolescence was only recognised as a life…" description: "\"Adolescence was only recognised as a life stage in the early 20th century, when psychologists got down to work. Today's generational battle obscures th..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9f0/jane-ridley-40549_adolescence_adolescence-was-only-recognised-as-a-lif_287802.jpg" --- # Adolescence was only recognised as a life stage in the… ![“Adolescence was only recognised as a life stage in the early 20th century, when psychologists got down to work. Today's generational battle obscures the fact that adulthood is happening later. A new transitional stage has emerged after adolescence: the twenties.” quote by Jane Ridley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9f0/jane-ridley-40549_adolescence_adolescence-was-only-recognised-as-a-lif_287802.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9f0/jane-ridley-40549_adolescence_adolescence-was-only-recognised-as-a-lif_287802.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9f0/jane-ridley-40549_adolescence_adolescence-was-only-recognised-as-a-lif_287802.jpg) > “Adolescence was only recognised as a life stage in the early 20th century, when psychologists got down to work. Today's generational battle obscures the fact that adulthood is happening later. A new transitional stage has emerged after adolescence: the twenties.” [Jane Ridley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-ridley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Adolescence was defined late, and now the twenties act as a new transitional phase before full adulthood. **In simple terms:** The twenties are a new life stage. Key Takeaway Use the twenties for growth and planning. Themes development life stages generational change psychology Mood analytical reflective Type academic observational When to use this quote - career planning - education - financial independence - relationship building Key Concepts emerging adulthood social expectations Questions to Reflect On - How do you define adulthood? - What goals will you set in your twenties? A Different Perspective Extended youth may delay responsibilities and cause uncertainty. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Adolescence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adolescence/) [Adulthood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adulthood/) [Battle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/battle/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Today](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/today/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) [Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work/) [Youth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/youth/) ## Related quotes > [Adolescence has been recognised as a stage of human development since medieval times--long, long before the industrial revolution--and, as it is now, has long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terri-e-apter/adolescence-has-been-recognised-as-a-stage-of-human-development-since/) [Terri E Apter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terri-e-apter/) > [Criticism starts - it has to start - with a real passion for reading. It can come in adolescence, even in your twenties, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-bloom/criticism-starts-it-has-to-start-with-a-real-passion-for-reading-it/) [Harold Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-bloom/) > [“We don’t do all our growing up between birth and adolescence or even our twenties. If we’re fortunate, we never stop. \*”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-guerrero/we-don-t-do-all-our-growing-up-between-birth-and-adolescence-or-even/) [Diane Guerrero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-guerrero/) > [To most of us, adulthood means being able to earn a living, possess a home, get married and rear children, and this implies having…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-ridley/to-most-of-us-adulthood-means-being-able-to-earn-a-living-possess-a/) [Jane Ridley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-ridley/) > [I feel that adolescence has served its purpose when a person arrives at adulthood with a strong sense of self-esteem, the ability to relate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-satir/i-feel-that-adolescence-has-served-its-purpose-when-a-person-arrives/) [Virginia Satir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-satir/) > [Massachusetts is the first state in America to reach full adulthood. The rest of America is still in adolescence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/uwe-reinhardt/massachusetts-is-the-first-state-in-america-to-reach-full-adulthood/) [Uwe Reinhardt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/uwe-reinhardt/) > [“Wasn’t that the definition of adulthood? That you wanted one thing, but did another because you knew what was right and good, and wanted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/wasn-t-that-the-definition-of-adulthood-that-you-wanted-one-thing-but/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [“So it was a crossroads summer, when the universe seemed to stand perilously still like an egg wobbling on a precipice, a regular rite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-luckman/so-it-was-a-crossroads-summer-when-the-universe-seemed-to-stand/) [Sol Luckman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-luckman/) > [Adolescence, the time to live, experience, love before the monotonia of adulthood, so let's live the day without hate or sorrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/adolescence-the-time-to-live-experience-love-before-the-monotonia-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“There is so much woman in many a girl and too much boy in many a man.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/there-is-so-much-woman-in-many-a-girl-and-too-much-boy-in-many-a-man/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [“Adolescence--the time when teens begin to do things adults do--now happens later. Thirteen-year-olds--and even 18-year-olds-- are less likely to act like adults and spend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-m-twenge/adolescence-the-time-when-teens-begin-to-do-things-adults-do-now/) [Jean M. Twenge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-m-twenge/) > [We're adults. When did that happen? And how do we make it stop?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-re-adults-when-did-that-happen-and-how-do-we-make-it-stop/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The attack on youth is a national pathology, unwarranted by fact, smokescreen for the failure of adulthood and its leadership to confront larger predicaments.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-a-males/the-attack-on-youth-is-a-national-pathology-unwarranted-by-fact/) Mike A. Males > [“Yet GenX'er teens didn't slow down--they were just as likely to drive, drink alcohol, and date as their Boomer peers and more likely to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-m-twenge/yet-genx-er-teens-didn-t-slow-down-they-were-just-as-likely-to-drive/) [Jean M. Twenge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-m-twenge/) > [Being an adult is the ability to postpone a want for the sake of a family need.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hogan/being-an-adult-is-the-ability-to-postpone-a-want-for-the-sake-of-a/) [Chris Hogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hogan/) ## More by Jane Ridley > [We live in an age of generational turmoil. Baby-boom parents are accused of clinging on to jobs and houses which they should be freeing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-ridley/we-live-in-an-age-of-generational-turmoil-baby-boom-parents-are/) [Jane Ridley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-ridley/) > [Historians who write about families are usually feminists who think in terms of gender relations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-ridley/historians-who-write-about-families-are-usually-feminists-who-think/) [Jane Ridley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-ridley/) > [Political biography is in the doldrums. No one wants to read 800 pages or so of cradle-to-grave dead politics, especially if it's familiar stuff…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-ridley/political-biography-is-in-the-doldrums-no-one-wants-to-read-800-pages/) [Jane Ridley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-ridley/) > [To most of us, adulthood means being able to earn a living, possess a home, get married and rear children, and this implies having…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-ridley/to-most-of-us-adulthood-means-being-able-to-earn-a-living-possess-a/) [Jane Ridley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-ridley/) > ['Family Secrets' is thought provoking, well written, and remorselessly intelligent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-ridley/family-secrets-is-thought-provoking-well-written-and-remorselessly/) [Jane Ridley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-ridley/) > [The main reason why historians have skated over the relationship of Victorian PMs with the press is that they haven't been looking for it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-ridley/the-main-reason-why-historians-have-skated-over-the-relationship-of/) [Jane Ridley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-ridley/) > [“A 1970 survey of dreams about Queen Elizabeth II found that people continued to dream about Queen Victoria seventy years after her death, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-ridley/a-1970-survey-of-dreams-about-queen-elizabeth-ii-found-that-people/) [Jane Ridley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-ridley/) > [It is a truth universally acknowledged that secrets are toxic and break up families.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-ridley/it-is-a-truth-universally-acknowledged-that-secrets-are-toxic-and/) [Jane Ridley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-ridley/) > [Romantic love came under attack, first from the Freudians and then from the neuroscientists, who said that being in love was a chemical reaction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-ridley/romantic-love-came-under-attack-first-from-the-freudians-and-then/) [Jane Ridley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-ridley/) [Explore all 10 Jane Ridley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-ridley/) ## More Adolescence quotes > [They must move from a psychological state of victimization to a psychological state of accepting responsibility. The Palestinians must leave behind their revolutionary adolescence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ari-shavit/they-must-move-from-a-psychological-state-of-victimization-to-a/) [Ari Shavit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ari-shavit/) > [Having children truly ends adolescence. We are all either parents or children: responsibility-takers or those who demand from others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-shapiro/having-children-truly-ends-adolescence-we-are-all-either-parents-or/) [Ben Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-shapiro/) > [Teenage girls are extremists who see the world in black-and- white terms, missing shades of gray. Life is either marvelous or notworth living. School…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-pipher/teenage-girls-are-extremists-who-see-the-world-in-black-and-white/) [Mary Pipher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-pipher/) > [Teenagers complain there's nothing to do, then stay out all night doing it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-phillips/teenagers-complain-there-s-nothing-to-do-then-stay-out-all-night/) [Bob Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-phillips/) > [The idols of one's adolescence tend to endure - you never forget how you worshipped them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/molly-ivins/the-idols-of-one-s-adolescence-tend-to-endure-you-never-forget-how/) [Molly Ivins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/molly-ivins/) > [Being an adult is the ability to postpone a want for the sake of a family need.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hogan/being-an-adult-is-the-ability-to-postpone-a-want-for-the-sake-of-a/) [Chris Hogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hogan/) > [The donning of the ear buds marks the beginning of teen life, when children set off on their own for the passage through adolescence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amity-shlaes/the-donning-of-the-ear-buds-marks-the-beginning-of-teen-life-when/) [Amity Shlaes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amity-shlaes/) > [Adolescence is when the very worst and best impulses in the human soul struggle against each other for possession.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-stanley-hall/adolescence-is-when-the-very-worst-and-best-impulses-in-the-human/) [G. Stanley Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-stanley-hall/) > [Most adults would not dream of belittling, humiliating, or bullying (verbally or physically) another adult. But many of the same adults think nothing of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-steinberg/most-adults-would-not-dream-of-belittling-humiliating-or-bullying/) [Laurence Steinberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-steinberg/) > [If you can't count, they can cheat you. If you can't read, they can beat you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/if-you-can-t-count-they-can-cheat-you-if-you-can-t-read-they-can-beat/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“He'd possessed all the key elements of a school shooter: hormones, misery, ammunition. People wondered how something like Columbine could happen. Jude wondered why…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-hill/he-d-possessed-all-the-key-elements-of-a-school-shooter-hormones/) [Joe Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-hill/) > [ I remember realizing, when I did Little Women \[1994\], that that was the only time girls that age were being written about. It was… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winona-ryder/i-remember-realizing-when-i-did-little-women-1994-that-that-was-the/) [Winona Ryder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winona-ryder/) > [Content without style is propaganda or adolescence. Style without content is decadence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rita-mae-brown/content-without-style-is-propaganda-or-adolescence-style-without/) [Rita Mae Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rita-mae-brown/) > [Adolescence is interesting. I mean, all of life is interesting and all of life is transitionary. But I think there is an exponential growth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-henson/adolescence-is-interesting-i-mean-all-of-life-is-interesting-and-all/) [Bill Henson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-henson/) > [“Yet GenX'er teens didn't slow down--they were just as likely to drive, drink alcohol, and date as their Boomer peers and more likely to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-m-twenge/yet-genx-er-teens-didn-t-slow-down-they-were-just-as-likely-to-drive/) [Jean M. Twenge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-m-twenge/) [Browse all 787 Adolescence quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adolescence/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Adolescence was only recognised as a life stage in the early 20th century, when psychologists got down to work. Today's generational battle obscures the fact that adulthood is happening later. 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