--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The North American system only wants to…" description: "\"The North American system only wants to consider the positive aspects of reality. Men and women are subjected from childhood to an inexorable process o..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e1b/octavio-paz-1790_adaptation_the-north-american-system-only-wants-to_2045706.jpg" --- # The North American system only wants to consider the… ![“The North American system only wants to consider the positive aspects of reality. Men and women are subjected from childhood to an inexorable process of adaptation certain principles, contained in brief formulas are endlessly repeated by the Press, the radio, the churches, and the schools, and by…” quote by Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e1b/octavio-paz-1790_adaptation_the-north-american-system-only-wants-to_2045706.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e1b/octavio-paz-1790_adaptation_the-north-american-system-only-wants-to_2045706.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e1b/octavio-paz-1790_adaptation_the-north-american-system-only-wants-to_2045706.jpg) > “The North American system only wants to consider the positive aspects of reality. Men and women are subjected from childhood to an inexorable process of adaptation certain principles, contained in brief formulas are endlessly repeated by the Press, the radio, the churches, and the schools, and by those kindly, sinister beings, the North American mothers and wives. A person imprisoned by these schemes is like a plant in a flowerpot too small for it he cannot grow or mature.” [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote critiques how North American culture imposes rigid, formulaic norms from childhood, limiting individual growth and authenticity. **In simple terms:** Society forces limiting rules that stunt personal development. Key Takeaway Question and resist limiting societal scripts. Themes conformity individualism education media family growth Mood reflective critical thoughtful Type analytical philosophical social commentary When to use this quote - childhood upbringing - media consumption - family expectations - personal development - creative pursuits Key Concepts cultural hegemony socialization identity formation Questions to Reflect On - How do you recognize when a cultural norm is helpful versus limiting? - What steps can you take to nurture personal growth beyond prescribed roles? A Different Perspective These norms can provide useful structure and shared values, even if they sometimes restrict freedom. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Adaptation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adaptation/) [Adaptation Certain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adaptation-certain-3829581/) [America](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/america/) [American Mothers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-mothers-1181800/) [Aspect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aspect/) [Certain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/certain/) [Certain Principles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/certain-principles-682930/) [Childhood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/childhood/) [Church](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/church/) [Formulas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/formulas/) [Grows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grows/) [Inexorable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inexorable/) [Integrity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/integrity/) [Mature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mature/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Men and women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men-and-women/) [Mother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mother/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) [Persons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/persons/) [Plant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plant/) [Presses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/presses/) [Principles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/principles/) [Process](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/process/) [Radio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/radio/) [Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality/) [Schemes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/schemes/) [School](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/school/) [Sinister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sinister/) [Subjected Childhood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/subjected-childhood-3829580/) [Want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want/) [Wife](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wife/) ## Related quotes > [Only a war that serves no conceivable national interest gets the New York Time's endorsement. 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One such principle was that we're all God's children, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/i-think-that-there-are-certain-principles-which-should-guide-decision/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [“LIFE IS GOVERNED BY CERTAIN PRINCIPLES AND ETHICS THAT MAKE US WHO WE ARE!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napz-cherub-pellazo/life-is-governed-by-certain-principles-and-ethics-that-make-us-who-we/) [Napz Cherub Pellazo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napz-cherub-pellazo/) > [“In order to have success it is necessary to know certain principles and rules”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/in-order-to-have-success-it-is-necessary-to-know-certain-principles/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [People can be trained in certain principles, but then they actually have to apply them and try them out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sakyong-mipham/people-can-be-trained-in-certain-principles-but-then-they-actually/) [Sakyong Mipham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sakyong-mipham/) > [Our system presumes that there are certain principles that are more important than the temper of the times. And you must have a judge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-kennedy/our-system-presumes-that-there-are-certain-principles-that-are-more/) [Anthony Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-kennedy/) > [“At its core were certain principles: authority should be questioned, hierarchies should be circumvented, nonconformity should be admired, and creativity should be nurtured.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-isaacson/at-its-core-were-certain-principles-authority-should-be-questioned/) [Walter Isaacson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-isaacson/) > [The free world has need that its foreign policies should fairly measure the realities of the world in which we live. There are certain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-eden/the-free-world-has-need-that-its-foreign-policies-should-fairly/) [Anthony Eden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-eden/) ## More by Octavio Paz > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [The religion of art, like the religion of politics, was born from the ruins of Christianity. Art inherited from the old religion the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/the-religion-of-art-like-the-religion-of-politics-was-born-from-the/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [I thought that the world was a vast system of signs, a conversation between giant beings. My actions, the cricket's saw, the star's blink,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/i-thought-that-the-world-was-a-vast-system-of-signs-a-conversation/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Changes are inseparable from democracy. To defend democracy is to defend the possibility of change; in turn, changes alone can strengthen democracy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/changes-are-inseparable-from-democracy-to-defend-democracy-is-to/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Grace is gratuitous; it is a gift.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/grace-is-gratuitous-it-is-a-gift/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Death is the mother of forms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/death-is-the-mother-of-forms/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [It is not proper to project our feelings onto things or to attribute our own sensations and passions to them. Can it also be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/it-is-not-proper-to-project-our-feelings-onto-things-or-to-attribute/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Without democracy freedom is a chimera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/without-democracy-freedom-is-a-chimera/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [“I went to the little window and inhaled the country air. One could hear the breathing of the night, feminine, enormous. ("The Blue Bouquet")”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/i-went-to-the-little-window-and-inhaled-the-country-air-one-could/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [A glass pitcher, a wicker basket, a tunic of coarse cloth. Their beauty is inseparable from their function. Handicrafts belong to a world existing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/a-glass-pitcher-a-wicker-basket-a-tunic-of-coarse-cloth-their-beauty/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [“Between going and staying the day wavers, in love with its own transparency. The circular afternoon is now a bay where the world in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/between-going-and-staying-the-day-wavers-in-love-with-its-own/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [“Two bodies face to face Are at times two waves And the night is an ocean. Two bodies face to face Are sometimes two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/two-bodies-face-to-face-are-at-times-two-waves-and-the-night-is-an/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Writers, you know, are the beggars of Western society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/writers-you-know-are-the-beggars-of-western-society/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [“Solitude is the profoundest fact of the human condition.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/solitude-is-the-profoundest-fact-of-the-human-condition/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [“...you are you and your body of steam, you and your face of night, you and your hair, unhurried lightning, you cross the street…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/you-are-you-and-your-body-of-steam-you-and-your-face-of-night-you-and/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) [Explore all 150 Octavio Paz quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) ## More Adaptation quotes > [“The global population of Earth are involved in the following corporate government experiments: The long term effects of - 1. 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The fittest are those endowed with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-smalley/the-survival-of-the-fittest-is-the-ageless-law-of-nature-but-the/) [Dave Smalley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-smalley/) > [The facts of variability, of the struggle for existence, of adaptation to conditions, were notorious enough; but none of us had suspected that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-facts-of-variability-of-the-struggle-for-existence-of-adaptation/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It is a law of nature we overlook, that intellectual versatility is the compensation for change, danger, and trouble. 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In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-helgeland/working-on-an-adaptation-is-not-as-satisfying-because-it-s-not-your/) [Brian Helgeland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-helgeland/) [Browse all 476 Adaptation quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adaptation/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The North American system only wants to consider the positive aspects of reality. Men and women are subjected from childhood to an inexorable process of adaptation certain principles, contained in brief formulas are endlessly repeated by the Press, the radio, the churches, and the schools, and by those kindly, sinister beings, the North American mothers and wives. 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