--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: the crucial disadvantage of aggression…" description: "\"the crucial disadvantage of aggression, competitiveness and skepticism as national characteristics is that these qualities cannot be turned off at five..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c21/margaret-halsey-6554_aggression_the-crucial-disadvantage-of-aggression-c_79015.jpg" --- # the crucial disadvantage of aggression, competitiveness… ![“the crucial disadvantage of aggression, competitiveness and skepticism as national characteristics is that these qualities cannot be turned off at five o'clock.” quote by Margaret Halsey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c21/margaret-halsey-6554_aggression_the-crucial-disadvantage-of-aggression-c_79015.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c21/margaret-halsey-6554_aggression_the-crucial-disadvantage-of-aggression-c_79015.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c21/margaret-halsey-6554_aggression_the-crucial-disadvantage-of-aggression-c_79015.jpg) > “the crucial disadvantage of aggression, competitiveness and skepticism as national characteristics is that these qualities cannot be turned off at five o'clock.” [Margaret Halsey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-halsey/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Aggression, competitiveness, and skepticism, when ingrained in a nation's character, persist beyond deliberate control, limiting flexibility and cooperation. **In simple terms:** National traits are hard to switch off. Key Takeaway Cultural traits shape behavior continuously. Themes cultural rigidity national identity social dynamics psychology political behavior Mood thoughtful critical cautious Type observation analysis caution When to use this quote - policy negotiation - international diplomacy - team leadership - conflict resolution - civic education Key Concepts collective mindset institutional inertia social cohesion Practical Applications - Designing adaptive governance - Fostering collaborative cultures Questions to Reflect On - How can societies balance competitive drive with cooperation? - What mechanisms allow cultural traits to evolve? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Aggression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aggression/) [Clock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clock/) [Competition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/competition/) [Competitiveness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/competitiveness/) [Quality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quality/) [Skepticism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/skepticism/) ## Related quotes > [Solidity, caution, integrity, efficiency. Lack of imagination, hypocrisy. These qualities characterize the middle classes in everycountry, but in England they are national characteristics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster/solidity-caution-integrity-efficiency-lack-of-imagination-hypocrisy-2/) [E. M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster/) > [Everyone is concerned about his niche, his name, and wants to adapt the concept to so-called national characteristics. But at the end of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garry-kasparov/everyone-is-concerned-about-his-niche-his-name-and-wants-to-adapt-the/) [Garry Kasparov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garry-kasparov/) > [The national characteristics... the restless metaphysical curiosity, the tenderness of good living and the passionate individualism. This is the invisible constant in a place…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-durrell/the-national-characteristics-the-restless-metaphysical-curiosity-the/) [Lawrence Durrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-durrell/) > [Solidity, caution, integrity, efficiency. Lack of imagination, hypocrisy. Thesequalities characterize the middle classes in every country, but in England they are national characteristics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-morgan-forster/solidity-caution-integrity-efficiency-lack-of-imagination-hypocrisy/) Edward Morgan Forster > [The great thing about a name like 'Cougar Town' is that you hear it once and you remember it forever. It's a very 'loud'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-byrd/the-great-thing-about-a-name-like-cougar-town-is-that-you-hear-it/) [Dan Byrd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-byrd/) > [A Polish man in a helicopter. Goes up to 800 feet. Down it comes! What happened? "It got chilly up there, so I turned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henny-youngman/a-polish-man-in-a-helicopter-goes-up-to-800-feet-down-it-comes-what/) [Henny Youngman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henny-youngman/) > [We know that people are less open in conversations if the other conversant puts a cell phone on the table. Even if it's turned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-rushkoff/we-know-that-people-are-less-open-in-conversations-if-the-other/) [Douglas Rushkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-rushkoff/) > [I don't appreciate it when women - or men - bandy about these stupid stereotypes about feminism that are age-old, and that are meant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-hanna/i-don-t-appreciate-it-when-women-or-men-bandy-about-these-stupid/) [Kathleen Hanna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-hanna/) > [Old friend, there are people—young and old—that I like, and people that I do not like. The former are always in short supply. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-macdonald/old-friend-there-are-people-young-and-old-that-i-like-and-people-that/) [John D. MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-macdonald/) > [Donald Trump is accomplishing getting, particularly white, working-class voters, who are turned off by their own party.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joy-ann-reid/donald-trump-is-accomplishing-getting-particularly-white-working/) [Joy-Ann Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joy-ann-reid/) > [There are some girls who are turned on by my body, and some others who are turned off. but for the majority i just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-schwarzenegger/there-are-some-girls-who-are-turned-on-by-my-body-and-some-others-who/) [Arnold Schwarzenegger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-schwarzenegger/) > [When I am kicking around show ideas, or really any idea, usually an image comes to me. I don't really start with a character…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-kripke/when-i-am-kicking-around-show-ideas-or-really-any-idea-usually-an/) [Eric Kripke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-kripke/) > [“i feel like my life is so scattered right now. like it’s all these small pieces of paper and someone’s turned on the fan.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/i-feel-like-my-life-is-so-scattered-right-now-like-it-s-all-these/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [The way you really find out about the performer's seriousness about the cause is how long they stay with it when the spotlight gets…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-redford/the-way-you-really-find-out-about-the-performer-s-seriousness-about/) [Robert Redford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-redford/) > [We are not being true to the artist as a man if we consider his art work junk simply because we differ with his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-are-not-being-true-to-the-artist-as-a-man-if-we-consider-his-art/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Margaret Halsey > [Life itself, however, flows and is sequential and punishes those who try to compartmentalize it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-halsey/life-itself-however-flows-and-is-sequential-and-punishes-those-who/) [Margaret Halsey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-halsey/) > [Englishwomen's shoes look as if they had been made by someone who had often heard shoes described, but had never seen any.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-halsey/englishwomen-s-shoes-look-as-if-they-had-been-made-by-someone-who-had/) [Margaret Halsey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-halsey/) > [it is a waste of time to ask more of people than they have to give.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-halsey/it-is-a-waste-of-time-to-ask-more-of-people-than-they-have-to-give/) [Margaret Halsey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-halsey/) > [I would have felt more comfortable on a girder fifty floors above the street, catching white-hot rivets in a pail.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-halsey/i-would-have-felt-more-comfortable-on-a-girder-fifty-floors-above-the/) [Margaret Halsey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-halsey/) > [The position of children as a group, in a commercial society, is not wholly advantageous. A commercial society urges its citizens to be responsible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-halsey/the-position-of-children-as-a-group-in-a-commercial-society-is-not/) [Margaret Halsey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-halsey/) > [Money does not corrupt people. What corrupts people is lack of affection ... Money is simply the bandage which wounded people put over their wounds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-halsey/money-does-not-corrupt-people-what-corrupts-people-is-lack-of/) [Margaret Halsey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-halsey/) > [Identity is not found, the way Pharaoh's daughter found Moses in the bulrushes. Identity is built.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-halsey/identity-is-not-found-the-way-pharaoh-s-daughter-found-moses-in-the/) [Margaret Halsey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-halsey/) > [I am living with a rising generation which talks like people coming out of ether.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-halsey/i-am-living-with-a-rising-generation-which-talks-like-people-coming/) [Margaret Halsey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-halsey/) > [children are an embarrassment to a business civilization. A business society needs children for the same reason that a nomadic or a pastoral society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-halsey/children-are-an-embarrassment-to-a-business-civilization-a-business/) [Margaret Halsey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-halsey/) > [The only way not to worry about the race problem is to be doing something about it yourself. When you are, natural human vanity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-halsey/the-only-way-not-to-worry-about-the-race-problem-is-to-be-doing/) [Margaret Halsey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-halsey/) > [Employed as I had been employing it, liquor is a fixative of old patterns.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-halsey/employed-as-i-had-been-employing-it-liquor-is-a-fixative-of-old/) [Margaret Halsey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-halsey/) > [in the comparatively short time between my childhood and my daughter's, the business society has ceased urging people to produce and is now exerting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-halsey/in-the-comparatively-short-time-between-my-childhood-and-my-daughter/) [Margaret Halsey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-halsey/) > [A person may be totally unimaginative and have the social vision of a mole, and we still call him a decent man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-halsey/a-person-may-be-totally-unimaginative-and-have-the-social-vision-of-a/) [Margaret Halsey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-halsey/) > [Infants, I note with envy, are receptive to enjoyment in a degree not attained by adults this side of the new Jerusalem.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-halsey/infants-i-note-with-envy-are-receptive-to-enjoyment-in-a-degree-not/) [Margaret Halsey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-halsey/) > [The modification of prejudice takes a long time, and occurs as the result of a thousand things that happen to the prejudiced person -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-halsey/the-modification-of-prejudice-takes-a-long-time-and-occurs-as-the/) [Margaret Halsey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-halsey/) [Explore all 98 Margaret Halsey quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-halsey/) ## More Aggression quotes > [Because of the womb being a central phenomenon in the feminine body, the whole psychology of woman differs: she is non-aggressive, non-inquiring, non-questioning, non-doubting,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/because-of-the-womb-being-a-central-phenomenon-in-the-feminine-body/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [I used to fight with hate. There's been a lot of aggression in my past growing up and stuff. That's because I was hurt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-namajunas/i-used-to-fight-with-hate-there-s-been-a-lot-of-aggression-in-my-past/) [Rose Namajunas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-namajunas/) > [We have nothing in our history or position to invite aggression; we have everything to beckon us to the cultivation of relations of peace…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-have-nothing-in-our-history-or-position-to-invite-aggression-we/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I take up the standpoint that the tendency to aggression is an innate, independent, instinctual disposition in man, and I come back now to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/i-take-up-the-standpoint-that-the-tendency-to-aggression-is-an-innate/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [Boxing can be so important to young people, it keeps you off the street and you can channel your energy and aggression in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-benn/boxing-can-be-so-important-to-young-people-it-keeps-you-off-the/) [Nigel Benn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-benn/) > [“That which is of great value cannot be attained through aggression. You will be able to find the mystery of life only if you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osho/that-which-is-of-great-value-cannot-be-attained-through-aggression/) [Osho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osho/) > [A society that presumes a norm of violence and celebrates aggression, whether in the subway, on the football field, or in the conduct of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-h-lapham/a-society-that-presumes-a-norm-of-violence-and-celebrates-aggression/) [Lewis H. Lapham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-h-lapham/) > [I can remember watching MTV Cribs - these amazing houses - and looking around my house where there was no carpet on the floors.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bugzy-malone/i-can-remember-watching-mtv-cribs-these-amazing-houses-and-looking/) [Bugzy Malone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bugzy-malone/) > [Nationalism, on my opinion, is nothing more than an idealistic rationalization for militarism and aggression.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/nationalism-on-my-opinion-is-nothing-more-than-an-idealistic/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [I really like battle ropes. They're so versatile; you can get a terrific workout doing a ton of different exercises with them. My clients…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunnar-peterson/i-really-like-battle-ropes-they-re-so-versatile-you-can-get-a/) [Gunnar Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunnar-peterson/) > [ Now they \[the Powers\] have started the aggression, and the extinction of our nation is imminent. If we just fold our arms and yield… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/empress-dowager-cixi/now-they-the-powers-have-started-the-aggression-and-the-extinction-of/) Empress Dowager Cixi > [I'm not going to appeal to violence or aggression - of course not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexei-navalny/i-m-not-going-to-appeal-to-violence-or-aggression-of-course-not/) [Alexei Navalny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexei-navalny/) > [This is passive-aggression in action.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/this-is-passive-aggression-in-action/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [When a child hits a child, we call it aggression. When a child hits an adult, we call it hostility. When an adult hits…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-a-child-hits-a-child-we-call-it-aggression-when-a-child-hits-an/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Major international interventions are doomed unless the US is directly or indirectly involved. But if American politicians, officials and servicemen are to be put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-thatcher/major-international-interventions-are-doomed-unless-the-us-is/) [Margaret Thatcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-thatcher/) [Browse all 860 Aggression quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aggression/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "the crucial disadvantage of aggression, competitiveness and skepticism as national characteristics is that these qualities cannot be turned off at five o'clock.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Margaret Halsey" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-halsey/the-crucial-disadvantage-of-aggression-competitiveness-and-skepticism/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Aggression" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-halsey/the-crucial-disadvantage-of-aggression-competitiveness-and-skepticism/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c21/margaret-halsey-6554_aggression_the-crucial-disadvantage-of-aggression-c_79015.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c21/margaret-halsey-6554_aggression_the-crucial-disadvantage-of-aggression-c_79015.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c21/margaret-halsey-6554_aggression_the-crucial-disadvantage-of-aggression-c_79015.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“the crucial disadvantage of aggression, competitiveness and skepticism as national characteristics is that…” — Margaret Halsey", "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": "Margaret Halsey", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-halsey/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "the crucial disadvantage of aggression, competitiveness...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-halsey/the-crucial-disadvantage-of-aggression-competitiveness-and-skepticism/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-halsey/the-crucial-disadvantage-of-aggression-competitiveness-and-skepticism/#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 } } ] } ```