--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I am old enough to remember what it was…" description: "\"I am old enough to remember what it was like when the theories of Freud first escaped from the study and the clinic, and the great game of Hunt-the Com..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6fc/mary-butts-23972_alarms_i-am-old-enough-to-remember-what-it-was_1591559.jpg" --- # I am old enough to remember what it was like when the… ![“I am old enough to remember what it was like when the theories of Freud first escaped from the study and the clinic, and the great game of Hunt-the Complex began, to the entertainment and alarm of a war-shattered and disillusioned world.” quote by Mary Butts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6fc/mary-butts-23972_alarms_i-am-old-enough-to-remember-what-it-was_1591559.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6fc/mary-butts-23972_alarms_i-am-old-enough-to-remember-what-it-was_1591559.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6fc/mary-butts-23972_alarms_i-am-old-enough-to-remember-what-it-was_1591559.jpg) > “I am old enough to remember what it was like when the theories of Freud first escaped from the study and the clinic, and the great game of Hunt-the Complex began, to the entertainment and alarm of a war-shattered and disillusioned world.” [Mary Butts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-butts/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Reflects on how early psychoanalytic ideas entered popular culture, sparking both fascination and fear in a post‑war society. **In simple terms:** Freud’s theories spread, mixing curiosity with anxiety. Key Takeaway Recognize how new ideas can both excite and unsettle. Themes culture psychoanalysis history culture war public perception Mood reflective nostalgic critical Type historical analytical commentary When to use this quote - post‑war intellectual circles - media commentary - academic discussions - public debates Key Concepts Freudian theory social impact intellectual curiosity Questions to Reflect On - How do new scientific theories change societal attitudes? - What role does historical context play in shaping reception? A Different Perspective The quote may overstate the uniformity of public reaction; not all audiences responded similarly. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Complexes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/complexes/) [Disillusioned](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disillusioned/) [Entertainment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/entertainment/) [Games](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/games/) [Psychiatry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychiatry/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [“reducing human love, joy, religion, and art to a product of unconscious urges, or economic forces, or the struggle for survival and reproduction, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-a-markos/reducing-human-love-joy-religion-and-art-to-a-product-of-unconscious/) [Louis A. 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'Hi, it's a great day and I'm out enjoying it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-rooney/did-you-ever-hear-one-of-those-corny-positive-messages-on-someone-s/) [Andy Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-rooney/) > [What's disgraceful is that any Tom, Dick and Harry can open up a clinic and administer Botox.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacey-solomon/what-s-disgraceful-is-that-any-tom-dick-and-harry-can-open-up-a/) [Stacey Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacey-solomon/) > [It is impossible for an abortion clinic to have a waiting list of more than nine months.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-carlin/it-is-impossible-for-an-abortion-clinic-to-have-a-waiting-list-of/) [George Carlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-carlin/) > [ We got a commitment that 3 million nurses are going to be trained to better identify these signs \[of PTSD\], because, you know, when… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-obama/we-got-a-commitment-that-3-million-nurses-are-going-to-be-trained-to/) [Michelle Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-obama/) > [If men could get pregnant, abortion clinics would be like Starbucks - two on every block and four in every airport. And the morning-after…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nasim-pedrad/if-men-could-get-pregnant-abortion-clinics-would-be-like-starbucks/) [Nasim Pedrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nasim-pedrad/) > [Sign on the abortion clinic: Don't kid yourself!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/green-monk/sign-on-the-abortion-clinic-don-t-kid-yourself/) [Green Monk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/green-monk/) > [Public and private funds have been thrown around like confetti at a country fair, to close up and destroy clinics, hospitals, and scientific research…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benedict-fitzgerald/public-and-private-funds-have-been-thrown-around-like-confetti-at-a/) Benedict Fitzgerald > [I was shooting all this time. And there was only one guy who helped to pull him. And I had to think whether I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haskell-wexler/i-was-shooting-all-this-time-and-there-was-only-one-guy-who-helped-to/) [Haskell Wexler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haskell-wexler/) > [I was raised to volunteer: nursing homes, clinics, church nurseries, school, everywhere that could use help. It's such an intrinsic part of me, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debby-ryan/i-was-raised-to-volunteer-nursing-homes-clinics-church-nurseries/) [Debby Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debby-ryan/) ## More by Mary Butts > [One should be allowed to choose one's burden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-butts/one-should-be-allowed-to-choose-one-s-burden/) [Mary Butts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-butts/) > [There are two kinds of reading, reading which is contemplation - even a kind of vision & reading for information. For the first only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-butts/there-are-two-kinds-of-reading-reading-which-is-contemplation-even-a/) [Mary Butts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-butts/) > [“For some days before, as well as for some nights, Vincent had observed a shadow about the quays. First because it had tried to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-butts/for-some-days-before-as-well-as-for-some-nights-vincent-had-observed/) [Mary Butts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-butts/) > [If it is true that it is the simplicity of the Einsteinian formulae which constitutes their difficulty, that they are so obvious as to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-butts/if-it-is-true-that-it-is-the-simplicity-of-the-einsteinian-formulae/) [Mary Butts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-butts/) > [Not till the end of the war will there be any time for art or love or magic again. Perhaps never again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-butts/not-till-the-end-of-the-war-will-there-be-any-time-for-art-or-love-or/) [Mary Butts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-butts/) > [It is in the nature of any effort to leave something serviceable behind it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-butts/it-is-in-the-nature-of-any-effort-to-leave-something-serviceable/) [Mary Butts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-butts/) > [“the things you hate are only your body being knocked about by phenomena”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-butts/the-things-you-hate-are-only-your-body-being-knocked-about-by/) [Mary Butts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-butts/) > [I thought of my father's wisdom, as though it were buried in a box under a tree. As in the old song - a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-butts/i-thought-of-my-father-s-wisdom-as-though-it-were-buried-in-a-box/) [Mary Butts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-butts/) > [“Like men of his kind, at cross-purposes with their purpose, there could be nothing fortuitous that happened to him.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-butts/like-men-of-his-kind-at-cross-purposes-with-their-purpose-there-could/) [Mary Butts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-butts/) > [“She saw the skin pull under the driver's ears and knew that he was laughing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-butts/she-saw-the-skin-pull-under-the-driver-s-ears-and-knew-that-he-was/) [Mary Butts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-butts/) > [Frog or pearl, life hid something at the bottom of the cup.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-butts/frog-or-pearl-life-hid-something-at-the-bottom-of-the-cup/) [Mary Butts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-butts/) > [Sink twice before you strike out for land.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-butts/sink-twice-before-you-strike-out-for-land/) [Mary Butts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-butts/) > [Armed with madness, I go on a long voyage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-butts/armed-with-madness-i-go-on-a-long-voyage/) [Mary Butts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-butts/) > [The truth which may not be told, is the truth which cannot be told.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-butts/the-truth-which-may-not-be-told-is-the-truth-which-cannot-be-told/) [Mary Butts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-butts/) > [“He turned to her - his gesture a superb compound of relief, remorse, passionate candour and bewilderment touched with curiosity; confidence and perfect penitence.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-butts/he-turned-to-her-his-gesture-a-superb-compound-of-relief-remorse/) [Mary Butts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-butts/) [Explore all 25 Mary Butts quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-butts/) ## More Alarms quotes > [Were the life of man prolonged, he would become such a proficient in villainy, that it would become necessary again to drown or to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/were-the-life-of-man-prolonged-he-would-become-such-a-proficient-in/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [There's a statement from several members of the Senate, both Democrats and Republicans, including the Democratic leader, Charles Schumer; John McCain, the chair of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-stephanopoulos/there-s-a-statement-from-several-members-of-the-senate-both-democrats/) [George Stephanopoulos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-stephanopoulos/) > [Here in the UK the audience immediately reacts and they get the fact that: "What would be the most annoying thing in the world?"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duncan-jones/here-in-the-uk-the-audience-immediately-reacts-and-they-get-the-fact/) [Duncan Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duncan-jones/) > [It is a hard matter for a man to lie all over, nature having provided king's evidence in almost every member. The hand will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/washington-allston/it-is-a-hard-matter-for-a-man-to-lie-all-over-nature-having-provided/) [Washington Allston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/washington-allston/) > [Who then is free? the wise man who is lord over himself; Whom neither poverty nor death, nor chains alarm; strong to withstand his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/who-then-is-free-the-wise-man-who-is-lord-over-himself-whom-neither/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [Modern man threw a brick through his own window in order to sell himself a burglar alarm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-carr/modern-man-threw-a-brick-through-his-own-window-in-order-to-sell/) [Allen Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-carr/) > [I understand the power and the alarm of words - Not those that they applaud from theatre-boxes, but those which make coffins break from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-mayakovsky/i-understand-the-power-and-the-alarm-of-words-not-those-that-they/) [Vladimir Mayakovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-mayakovsky/) > [I don't know who Azazel is," he said. "Isn't he the cat from The Smurfs?" He cast about , but Isabelle just looked up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/i-don-t-know-who-azazel-is-he-said-isn-t-he-the-cat-from-the-smurfs/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [The beloved may be treacherous, greasy-headed and given to evil habits, or else it can be a man in his late forties who works…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-link/the-beloved-may-be-treacherous-greasy-headed-and-given-to-evil-habits/) [Kelly Link](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-link/) > [Those who have past much of their lives in this great city, look upon its opulence and its multitudes, its extent and variety, with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/those-who-have-past-much-of-their-lives-in-this-great-city-look-upon/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Unfortunately, I'm one of those idiots who knows everything about health and is in a constant state of alarm, and yet I continue to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-ames/unfortunately-i-m-one-of-those-idiots-who-knows-everything-about/) [Jonathan Ames](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-ames/) > [“batteries in the smoke alarms, and since he “just happened”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-lawson-timmer/batteries-in-the-smoke-alarms-and-since-he-just-happened/) [Julie Lawson Timmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-lawson-timmer/) > [When I see a new face, something sets off an alarm bell inside me. 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Even though not one of those cries was ever a false alarm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/i-am-sick-of-the-girl-who-cries-wolf-all-the-time-even-though-not-one/) [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) Browse all 360 Alarms quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I am old enough to remember what it was like when the theories of Freud first escaped from the study and the clinic, and the great game of Hunt-the Complex began, to the entertainment and alarm of a war-shattered and disillusioned world.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mary Butts" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-butts/i-am-old-enough-to-remember-what-it-was-like-when-the-theories-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Alarms" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-butts/i-am-old-enough-to-remember-what-it-was-like-when-the-theories-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6fc/mary-butts-23972_alarms_i-am-old-enough-to-remember-what-it-was_1591559.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6fc/mary-butts-23972_alarms_i-am-old-enough-to-remember-what-it-was_1591559.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6fc/mary-butts-23972_alarms_i-am-old-enough-to-remember-what-it-was_1591559.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I am old enough to remember what it was like when the theories of Freud first escaped from the study and the…” — Mary Butts", "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": "Mary Butts", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-butts/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I am old enough to remember...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-butts/i-am-old-enough-to-remember-what-it-was-like-when-the-theories-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-butts/i-am-old-enough-to-remember-what-it-was-like-when-the-theories-of/#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 } } ] } ```