---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I'm over-industrious, so I don't feel…"
description: "\"I'm over-industrious, so I don't feel quite such a deviant in America as I did in England.\" — Niall Ferguson"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f2a/niall-ferguson-3627_america_i-m-over-industrious-so-i-don-t-feel-qui_539541.png"
---

#  I'm over-industrious, so I don't feel quite such a deviant…

![“I'm over-industrious, so I don't feel quite such a deviant in America as I did in England.” quote by Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f2a/niall-ferguson-3627_america_i-m-over-industrious-so-i-don-t-feel-qui_539541.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f2a/niall-ferguson-3627_america_i-m-over-industrious-so-i-don-t-feel-qui_539541.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f2a/niall-ferguson-3627_america_i-m-over-industrious-so-i-don-t-feel-qui_539541.png)

> “I'm over-industrious, so I don't feel quite such a deviant in America as I did in England.”

[Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Personal identity shifts across cultures, but self-perception can remain consistent.

**In simple terms:** Culture changes self view.

Key Takeaway

Embrace adaptability across cultures.

Themes

identity culture adaptation

Mood

reflective curious

Type

sociological personal

When to use this quote

- expatriate life
- career moves
- social integration

Key Concepts

social identity theory cultural assimilation

Questions to Reflect On

- How does culture shape your self-image?
- Can you retain core values abroad?

A Different Perspective

Overemphasis on adaptation may ignore structural barriers.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[America](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/america/) [England](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/england/)

## Related quotes

> [I wish I was more industrious, but I don't necessarily have that drive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-middleditch/i-wish-i-was-more-industrious-but-i-don-t-necessarily-have-that-drive/)

[Thomas Middleditch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-middleditch/)

> [When patronised, I'm unfortunately more flight than fight. Perhaps it's because I actually feel quite wounded.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stella-young/when-patronised-i-m-unfortunately-more-flight-than-fight-perhaps-it-s/)

[Stella Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stella-young/)

> [I guess it's interesting traveling, for me, because I never in my life until doing this felt a sense of being from anywhere particularly,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-farquarson/i-guess-it-s-interesting-traveling-for-me-because-i-never-in-my-life/)

[Will Farquarson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-farquarson/)

> [I feel quite proud to be an ambassador for women who realize that being fit is better than being skinny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellie-goulding/i-feel-quite-proud-to-be-an-ambassador-for-women-who-realize-that/)

[Ellie Goulding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellie-goulding/)

> [I feel quite blessed that I can actually balance between the two worlds, because a lot of really talented actors I know end up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donal-logue/i-feel-quite-blessed-that-i-can-actually-balance-between-the-two/)

[Donal Logue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donal-logue/)

> [I can’t exactly describe how I feel but it’s not quite right. And it leaves me cold.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/i-can-t-exactly-describe-how-i-feel-but-it-s-not-quite-right-and-it/)

[F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/)

> [“He knows everything.He's just so ridiculously well-read that it's ridiculous! You just sit there and you feel quite a worm in comparison.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brett-anderson-suede/he-knows-everything-he-s-just-so-ridiculously-well-read-that-it-s/)

Brett Anderson Suede

> [If there's something you know and there's something you feel, but you can't quite express it, you will hear it somewhere. And you don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dolly-parton/if-there-s-something-you-know-and-there-s-something-you-feel-but-you/)

[Dolly Parton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dolly-parton/)

> [I always feel as though I'm not quite Canadian enough for everybody.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claire-messud/i-always-feel-as-though-i-m-not-quite-canadian-enough-for-everybody/)

[Claire Messud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claire-messud/)

> [ You feel quite strangely secure \[doing any kind of series\]. It's the opposite of how you're supposed to feel doing a movie. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-pattinson/you-feel-quite-strangely-secure-doing-any-kind-of-series-it-s-the/)

[Robert Pattinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-pattinson/)

> [Sometimes I feel quite distinctly that what is inside me is not all of me. There is something else, sublime, quite indestructible, some tiny…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/sometimes-i-feel-quite-distinctly-that-what-is-inside-me-is-not-all/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [I've just swum the length of the Thames. I feel quite tired.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-walliams/i-ve-just-swum-the-length-of-the-thames-i-feel-quite-tired/)

[David Walliams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-walliams/)

> [I'm quite a cerebral person. Often I feel quite stuck in that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miranda-july/i-m-quite-a-cerebral-person-often-i-feel-quite-stuck-in-that/)

[Miranda July](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miranda-july/)

> [Although I'm only fourteen, I know quite well what I want, I know who is right and who is wrong. I have my opinions,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-frank/although-i-m-only-fourteen-i-know-quite-well-what-i-want-i-know-who/)

[Anne Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-frank/)

> [There would be no supporting life were we to feel quite as poignantly for others as we do for ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-richardson/there-would-be-no-supporting-life-were-we-to-feel-quite-as-poignantly/)

[Samuel Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-richardson/)

## More by Niall Ferguson

> [“I wrote this book because I had formed a strong impression that the people currently living were paying insufficient attention to the dead.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/i-wrote-this-book-because-i-had-formed-a-strong-impression-that-the/)

[Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/)

> [“Consider this: the US economy created 2.4 million jobs in the three years beginning in June 2009. In the same period, 3.3 million Americans…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/consider-this-the-us-economy-created-2-4-million-jobs-in-the-three/)

[Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/)

> [I think the rise of quantitative econometrics and a highly mathematical approach to risk management was the obverse of a decline in interest in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/i-think-the-rise-of-quantitative-econometrics-and-a-highly/)

[Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/)

> [“Is it better today to be in a network, which gives you influence, than in a hierarchy, which gives you power?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/is-it-better-today-to-be-in-a-network-which-gives-you-influence-than/)

[Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/)

> [As a teacher, my strategy is to encourage questioning. I'm the least authoritarian professor you'll ever meet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/as-a-teacher-my-strategy-is-to-encourage-questioning-i-m-the-least/)

[Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/)

> [Ask me not, 'Are you rightwing,' but ask me 'Are you a committed believer in individual freedom, the values of the enlightenment?' Then, yeah,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/ask-me-not-are-you-rightwing-but-ask-me-are-you-a-committed-believer/)

[Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/)

> [“Many historians still tend to assume that the spread of an idea or an ideology is a function of its inherent content in relation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/many-historians-still-tend-to-assume-that-the-spread-of-an-idea-or-an/)

[Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/)

> [“the twentieth century ran a series of experiments, imposing quite different institutions on two sets of Germans (in West and East), two sets of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/the-twentieth-century-ran-a-series-of-experiments-imposing-quite/)

[Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/)

> [“Historians are not scientists. They cannot (and should not even trying to) establish universal laws of social or political "physics" with reliable predictive powers.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/historians-are-not-scientists-they-cannot-and-should-not-even-trying/)

[Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/)

> [You really struggle to be a successful empire if you are also the world's biggest debtor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/you-really-struggle-to-be-a-successful-empire-if-you-are-also-the/)

[Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/)

> [“One difficulty is that we cannot always reconstruct the past thoughts of these non-Western peoples, for not all of them existed in civilizations with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/one-difficulty-is-that-we-cannot-always-reconstruct-the-past-thoughts/)

[Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/)

> [If young men have jobs - or the prospects of jobs - they are less likely to take up arms, they are less likely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/if-young-men-have-jobs-or-the-prospects-of-jobs-they-are-less-likely/)

[Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/)

> [I think that it is important to be gregarious, and that friendships are not just a leisure pursuit, that they are an integral part…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/i-think-that-it-is-important-to-be-gregarious-and-that-friendships/)

[Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/)

> [“The question was simply this: Would the world be French or British?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/the-question-was-simply-this-would-the-world-be-french-or-british/)

[Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/)

> [“it is not ‘Eurocentrism’ or (anti-)‘Orientalism’ to say that the rise of Western civilization is the single most important historical phenomenon of the second…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/it-is-not-eurocentrism-or-anti-orientalism-to-say-that-the-rise-of/)

[Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/)

[Explore all 124 Niall Ferguson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/)

## More America quotes

> [The costs of the Bush-Obama wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are now estimated to run as high as $4.4 trillion - a major victory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-costs-of-the-bush-obama-wars-in-iraq-and-afghanistan-are-now/)

[Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/)

> [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/)

[Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/)

> [Well, The Day the Earth Caught Fire was a story... I don't if anybody knows what it is but it was about... in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/val-guest/well-the-day-the-earth-caught-fire-was-a-story-i-don-t-if-anybody/)

[Val Guest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/val-guest/)

> [So here's what I want you to know, and here's what I want all our men and women in uniform to know: Because of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/so-here-s-what-i-want-you-to-know-and-here-s-what-i-want-all-our-men/)

[Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/)

> [Today, the world looks to America for leadership. And America looks to its Corps of Marines.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/today-the-world-looks-to-america-for-leadership-and-america-looks-to/)

[Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/)

> [The image of blacks usually is one of people who are suffering from hunger, unemployment, and poverty. The idea of them as agents and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-lee-boggs/the-image-of-blacks-usually-is-one-of-people-who-are-suffering-from/)

[Grace Lee Boggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-lee-boggs/)

> [ I'll smoke, I'll cough, I'll get the tumors, I'll die, deal? Thank you America. \[salutes\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-hicks/i-ll-smoke-i-ll-cough-i-ll-get-the-tumors-i-ll-die-deal-thank-you/)

[Bill Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-hicks/)

> [America is a democracy and has no Hitler, but I am afraid for her future; there are hard times ahead for the American people,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/america-is-a-democracy-and-has-no-hitler-but-i-am-afraid-for-her/)

[Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/)

> [I'm gonna bring America together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/i-m-gonna-bring-america-together/)

[Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/)

> [In the nineteenth century some parts of the world were unexplored, but there was almost no restriction on travel.:; Up to 1914 you did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-the-nineteenth-century-some-parts-of-the-world-were-unexplored-but/)

[George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/)

> [We need a system that serves our needs, not the needs of others. Remember, under a Trump administration it's called America first. Remember that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/we-need-a-system-that-serves-our-needs-not-the-needs-of-others/)

[Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/)

> [America, you're sending girls a mixed message. On one hand, you're saying to have positive body image and love who we are; on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adora-svitak/america-you-re-sending-girls-a-mixed-message-on-one-hand-you-re/)

[Adora Svitak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adora-svitak/)

> [You live overseas, you see these exotic places and you want to know about them. But, weirdly, it also made me homesick for all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-jennings/you-live-overseas-you-see-these-exotic-places-and-you-want-to-know/)

[Ken Jennings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-jennings/)

> [Freedom in every sense but primarily political sense, a rise in repression that stems from a repression of sexuality. It's AIDS, it's herpes, it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-nicholson/freedom-in-every-sense-but-primarily-political-sense-a-rise-in/)

[Jack Nicholson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-nicholson/)

> [“In American terms, the accomplishment of Genghis Khan might be understood if the United States, instead of being created by a group of educated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-weatherford/in-american-terms-the-accomplishment-of-genghis-khan-might-be/)

[Jack Weatherford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-weatherford/)

[Browse all 20,382 America quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/america/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "I'm over-industrious, so I don't feel quite such a deviant in America as I did in England.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Niall Ferguson"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/i-m-over-industrious-so-i-don-t-feel-quite-such-a-deviant-in-america/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "America"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/i-m-over-industrious-so-i-don-t-feel-quite-such-a-deviant-in-america/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f2a/niall-ferguson-3627_america_i-m-over-industrious-so-i-don-t-feel-qui_539541.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f2a/niall-ferguson-3627_america_i-m-over-industrious-so-i-don-t-feel-qui_539541.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f2a/niall-ferguson-3627_america_i-m-over-industrious-so-i-don-t-feel-qui_539541.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“I'm over-industrious, so I don't feel quite such a deviant in America as I did in England.” — Niall Ferguson",
                "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": "Niall Ferguson",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "I'm over-industrious, so I don't feel...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/i-m-over-industrious-so-i-don-t-feel-quite-such-a-deviant-in-america/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/i-m-over-industrious-so-i-don-t-feel-quite-such-a-deviant-in-america/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
