--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: All the proliferating falsifications of…" description: "\"All the proliferating falsifications of what I and everyone I know experienced once in what it is now so convenient to call the \"fifties\" or \"sixties,\"..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/460/lester-bangs-9750_arbitrary_all-the-proliferating-falsifications-of_1381235.jpg" --- # All the proliferating falsifications of what I and… ![“All the proliferating falsifications of what I and everyone I know experienced once in what it is now so convenient to call the "fifties" or "sixties," as if life was really measured or lived in arbitrary decades, when the history books are sold like comix.” quote by Lester Bangs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/460/lester-bangs-9750_arbitrary_all-the-proliferating-falsifications-of_1381235.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/460/lester-bangs-9750_arbitrary_all-the-proliferating-falsifications-of_1381235.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/460/lester-bangs-9750_arbitrary_all-the-proliferating-falsifications-of_1381235.jpg) > “All the proliferating falsifications of what I and everyone I know experienced once in what it is now so convenient to call the "fifties" or "sixties," as if life was really measured or lived in arbitrary decades, when the history books are sold like comix.” [Lester Bangs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lester-bangs/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Our memories are shaped by cultural narratives that simplify decades, turning history into convenient myths. **In simple terms:** Decades become stories, not precise truths. Key Takeaway Question accepted narratives. Themes memory culture history Mood reflective nostalgic Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - personal reflection - academic study - media critique Key Concepts nostalgia media framing subjective truth Questions to Reflect On - Why do we prefer tidy decade labels? - How does nostalgia affect our view of the past? A Different Perspective Simplification can erase nuance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [History books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history-books/) ## Related quotes > [“Once the process of falsification is set in motion, it won't stop. 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I thought that until I hit the sixties.In your sixties, life decides to reward…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/in-the-fifties-you-have-your-beauty-as-a-treat-i-thought-that-until-i/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [“We need falsifications to make the past inhabitable.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-need-falsifications-to-make-the-past-inhabitable/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Every time we proceed to explain some conjectural law or theory by a new conjectural theory of a higher degree of universality, we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-popper/every-time-we-proceed-to-explain-some-conjectural-law-or-theory-by-a/) [Karl Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-popper/) > [To call the coronavirus a great equaliser turned out to be the greatest falsification of our time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barkha-dutt/to-call-the-coronavirus-a-great-equaliser-turned-out-to-be-the/) [Barkha Dutt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barkha-dutt/) > [“You'd think (losing his job and degree for having made false claims as a researcher) would be a lesson to him," said Miss Hillyard.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/you-d-think-losing-his-job-and-degree-for-having-made-false-claims-as/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) > [My parents often wondered why I would grow so indignant at the falsification and exploitation of the Nazi genocide. The most obvious answer is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-finkelstein/my-parents-often-wondered-why-i-would-grow-so-indignant-at-the/) [Norman Finkelstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-finkelstein/) > [On a nationwide basis, I would guess that the various churches would have to pay annually an amount at least equal to the national…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madalyn-murray-o-hair/on-a-nationwide-basis-i-would-guess-that-the-various-churches-would/) [Madalyn Murray O'Hair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madalyn-murray-o-hair/) > [Reason is the cause of our falsification of the evidence of the senses. 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Goodrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-e-goodrich/) > [To turn experience into speech - that is, to classify, to categorize, to conceptualize, to grammarize, to syntactify it - is always a betrayal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-barth/to-turn-experience-into-speech-that-is-to-classify-to-categorize-to/) [John Barth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-barth/) > [Younger people who are being indoctrinated into the contemporary system of falsification - they really have to do some research to find out what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/younger-people-who-are-being-indoctrinated-into-the-contemporary/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [“The theories of the social sciences do not consist of “laws” in the sense of empirical rules about the behavior of objects definable in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-a-von-hayek/the-theories-of-the-social-sciences-do-not-consist-of-laws-in-the/) Friedrich A. von Hayek > [ “See that the mind is honest, first; the rest may follow or not as God wills. \[That\] the fundamental treason to the mind ...… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/see-that-the-mind-is-honest-first-the-rest-may-follow-or-not-as-god/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) ## More by Lester Bangs > [I think that if most guys in America could somehow get their fave-rave poster girl in bed and have total license to do whatever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lester-bangs/i-think-that-if-most-guys-in-america-could-somehow-get-their-fave/) [Lester Bangs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lester-bangs/) > [I can guarantee you one thing, we will never agree on anything as we agreed on Elvis.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lester-bangs/i-can-guarantee-you-one-thing-we-will-never-agree-on-anything-as-we/) [Lester Bangs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lester-bangs/) > [ “Like almost all of Beefheart's recorded work, \[Trout Mask Replica\] was not even "ahead" of its time in 1969. Then and now, it stands… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lester-bangs/like-almost-all-of-beefheart-s-recorded-work-trout-mask-replica-was/) [Lester Bangs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lester-bangs/) > [Here we are in the 70's when everything really is horrible and it really stinks. The mass media, everything on television everything everywhere is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lester-bangs/here-we-are-in-the-70-s-when-everything-really-is-horrible-and-it/) [Lester Bangs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lester-bangs/) > [The ultimate sin of any performer is contempt for the audience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lester-bangs/the-ultimate-sin-of-any-performer-is-contempt-for-the-audience/) [Lester Bangs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lester-bangs/) > [I don't see that there are any particular changes in popular music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lester-bangs/i-don-t-see-that-there-are-any-particular-changes-in-popular-music/) [Lester Bangs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lester-bangs/) > [“Look at it this way: there are many here among us for whom the life force is best represented by the livid twitching of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lester-bangs/look-at-it-this-way-there-are-many-here-among-us-for-whom-the-life/) [Lester Bangs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lester-bangs/) > [“Art", "Bop" and "rock and roll" and whatever is all just a joke and a mistake, just a hunka foolishness so stop treating it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lester-bangs/art-bop-and-rock-and-roll-and-whatever-is-all-just-a-joke-and-a/) [Lester Bangs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lester-bangs/) > [Don’t ask me why I obsessively look to rock ’n’ roll bands for some kind of model for a better society. 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The punks for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lester-bangs/a-young-woman-is-dead-i-don-t-care-you-probably-don-t-care-the-police/) [Lester Bangs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lester-bangs/) > [Sexual chaos reigns currently, but out of chaos may flow true understanding and harmony, and either way Elvis almost singlehandedly opened the floodgates.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lester-bangs/sexual-chaos-reigns-currently-but-out-of-chaos-may-flow-true/) [Lester Bangs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lester-bangs/) > [When kids can't afford to see it anymore maybe we'll have a whole resurgence of garage bands all over America and this New Wave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lester-bangs/when-kids-can-t-afford-to-see-it-anymore-maybe-we-ll-have-a-whole/) [Lester Bangs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lester-bangs/) > [The Mekons are the most revolutionary group in the history of rock 'n' roll.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lester-bangs/the-mekons-are-the-most-revolutionary-group-in-the-history-of-rock-n/) [Lester Bangs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lester-bangs/) > [“But since death is inevitable we don’t have to deal with it (it’ll deal with us when it decides to). What we do have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lester-bangs/but-since-death-is-inevitable-we-don-t-have-to-deal-with-it-it-ll/) [Lester Bangs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lester-bangs/) [Explore all 70 Lester Bangs quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lester-bangs/) ## More Arbitrary quotes > [It is irresponsible to set an arbitrary cap on how much therapy a Medicare beneficiary can receive. It ignores the health needs of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ensign/it-is-irresponsible-to-set-an-arbitrary-cap-on-how-much-therapy-a/) [John Ensign](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ensign/) > [I do think that theater is a great venue for science fiction, and not just adaptations but also original work. I also think some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-einhorn/i-do-think-that-theater-is-a-great-venue-for-science-fiction-and-not/) Edward Einhorn > [To divide one's life by years is of course to tumble into a trap set by our own arithmetic. 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Once you relieve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-eisenberg/i-don-t-concern-myself-with-thinking-ahead-to-the-finished-product-i/) [Jesse Eisenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-eisenberg/) > [Habit is altogether too arbitrary a master for me to submit to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-kaspar-lavater/habit-is-altogether-too-arbitrary-a-master-for-me-to-submit-to/) [Johann Kaspar Lavater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-kaspar-lavater/) > [I look back, now, and I know that the naming moment, which seemed so insignificant then, which seemed to demand no more than an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-david-roberts/i-look-back-now-and-i-know-that-the-naming-moment-which-seemed-so/) [Gregory David Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-david-roberts/) > [Police in China can do whatever they want; after 81 days in arbitrary detention you clearly realise that they don't have to obey their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ai-weiwei/police-in-china-can-do-whatever-they-want-after-81-days-in-arbitrary/) [Ai Weiwei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ai-weiwei/) > [Contrary to what certain governments say, human rights are universal. Arbitrary detention, torture and discrimination hurt the human dignity of anybody, whatever his or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirin-ebadi/contrary-to-what-certain-governments-say-human-rights-are-universal/) [Shirin Ebadi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirin-ebadi/) > [What causes adolescents to rebel is not the assertion of authority but the arbitrary use of power, with little explanation of the rules and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-steinberg/what-causes-adolescents-to-rebel-is-not-the-assertion-of-authority/) [Laurence Steinberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-steinberg/) > [There is something on earth greater than arbitrary or despotic power. The lightning has its power, and the whirlwind has its power, and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-webster/there-is-something-on-earth-greater-than-arbitrary-or-despotic-power/) [Daniel Webster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-webster/) > [“nothing is arbitrary in this whole world, there is a good reason behind each and everything…”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikhil-kumar/nothing-is-arbitrary-in-this-whole-world-there-is-a-good-reason/) Nikhil Kumar > [Fundamentally, adopting rules without any estimate of the impact is the height of arbitrary decision-making.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-o-rielly/fundamentally-adopting-rules-without-any-estimate-of-the-impact-is/) [Michael O'Rielly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-o-rielly/) > [No arbitrary regulation, no act of the legislature, can add anything to the capital of the country; it can only force it into artificial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ramsay-mcculloch/no-arbitrary-regulation-no-act-of-the-legislature-can-add-anything-to/) John Ramsay McCulloch > [But the desire of obtaining the advantages, and of escaping the burthens, of political society, is a perpetual and inexhaustible source of discord; nor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/but-the-desire-of-obtaining-the-advantages-and-of-escaping-the/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) Browse all 529 Arbitrary quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "All the proliferating falsifications of what I and everyone I know experienced once in what it is now so convenient to call the \"fifties\" or \"sixties,\" as if life was really measured or lived in arbitrary decades, when the history books are sold like comix.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lester Bangs" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lester-bangs/all-the-proliferating-falsifications-of-what-i-and-everyone-i-know/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Arbitrary" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lester-bangs/all-the-proliferating-falsifications-of-what-i-and-everyone-i-know/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/460/lester-bangs-9750_arbitrary_all-the-proliferating-falsifications-of_1381235.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/460/lester-bangs-9750_arbitrary_all-the-proliferating-falsifications-of_1381235.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/460/lester-bangs-9750_arbitrary_all-the-proliferating-falsifications-of_1381235.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“All the proliferating falsifications of what I and everyone I know experienced once in what it is now so…” — Lester Bangs", "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": "Lester Bangs", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lester-bangs/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "All the proliferating falsifications of what...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lester-bangs/all-the-proliferating-falsifications-of-what-i-and-everyone-i-know/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lester-bangs/all-the-proliferating-falsifications-of-what-i-and-everyone-i-know/#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 } } ] } ```