--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: He had known it often enough. A…" description: "\"“He had known it often enough. A delightful child, even a delightful early adolescent, interested in everything, alive,affectionate, would turn into a ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b2c/patrick-o-brian-2283_adolescent_he-had-known-it-often-enough-a-delightfu_511218.jpg" --- # He had known it often enough. A delightful child, even a… ![“He had known it often enough. A delightful child, even a delightful early adolescent, interested in everything, alive,affectionate, would turn into a thick, heavy, stupid brute and never recover: ageing men would become wholly self-centered, indifferent to those who had been their friends…” quote by Patrick O'Brian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b2c/patrick-o-brian-2283_adolescent_he-had-known-it-often-enough-a-delightfu_511218.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b2c/patrick-o-brian-2283_adolescent_he-had-known-it-often-enough-a-delightfu_511218.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b2c/patrick-o-brian-2283_adolescent_he-had-known-it-often-enough-a-delightfu_511218.jpg) > ““He had known it often enough. A delightful child, even a delightful early adolescent, interested in everything, alive,affectionate, would turn into a thick, heavy, stupid brute and never recover: ageing men would become wholly self-centered, indifferent to those who had been their friends, avaricious”” [Patrick O'Brian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-o-brian/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A once curious, affectionate person can become selfish and bitter with age, losing empathy and becoming greedy. **In simple terms:** People can become selfish as they age. Key Takeaway Guard against self‑centredness. Themes aging human nature empathy greed Mood melancholic reflective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - family relationships - friendships - elder care - personal reflection Key Concepts psychology moral decline loneliness Questions to Reflect On - How can we nurture empathy in later life? - What habits prevent becoming self‑centered? A Different Perspective Not all aging leads to selfishness; many retain compassion. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Adolescent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adolescent/) [Affectionate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affectionate/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) ## Related quotes > [It meant that Diana had not waited for any explanation, however halting and imperfect, but had condemned him unheard; and this showed a much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-o-brian/it-meant-that-diana-had-not-waited-for-any-explanation-however/) [Patrick O'Brian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-o-brian/) > [Why there you are, Stephen,' cried Jack. 'You are come home, I find.' That is true,' said Stephen with an affectionate look: he prized…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-o-brian/why-there-you-are-stephen-cried-jack-you-are-come-home-i-find-that-is/) [Patrick O'Brian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-o-brian/) > [Adults forget the depths of languor into which the adolescent mind decends with ease. They are prone to undervalue the mental growth that occurs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/adults-forget-the-depths-of-languor-into-which-the-adolescent-mind/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Capture your youth, while you can.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-liccione/capture-your-youth-while-you-can/) [Anthony Liccione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-liccione/) > [Adolescents are still children in that they can't yet tell the difference between make believe and fiction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-o-neill/adolescents-are-still-children-in-that-they-can-t-yet-tell-the/) [Heather O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-o-neill/) > [“I've had a great deal of experience with adolescents over the centuries, and I've discovered that as a group these awkward half children take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-ve-had-a-great-deal-of-experience-with-adolescents-over-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“There is so much woman in many a girl and too much boy in many a man.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/there-is-so-much-woman-in-many-a-girl-and-too-much-boy-in-many-a-man/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [When I was nine, we moved to Stanford University in San Francisco so that my father could do a Ph.D. I went to Terman…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-lawrence/when-i-was-nine-we-moved-to-stanford-university-in-san-francisco-so/) [Caroline Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-lawrence/) > [Mozart was very much an arrested adolescent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-curry/mozart-was-very-much-an-arrested-adolescent/) [Tim Curry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-curry/) > [There's only one thing harder than living in a home with an adolescent - and that's being an adolescent. The moodiness, the volatility, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-kluger/there-s-only-one-thing-harder-than-living-in-a-home-with-an/) [Jeffrey Kluger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-kluger/) > [Why do people stop developing, or, like they stop the way you can rate their, psychologically, their development? Where they stop, and just from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edie-sedgwick/why-do-people-stop-developing-or-like-they-stop-the-way-you-can-rate/) [Edie Sedgwick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edie-sedgwick/) > [A lot of people pass off adolescent depression as something trivial.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lacey-sturm/a-lot-of-people-pass-off-adolescent-depression-as-something-trivial/) [Lacey Sturm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lacey-sturm/) > [“I will never be crazy," repeats the adolescent hero to herself. "I will never get killed. I have to grow up.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-will-never-be-crazy-repeats-the-adolescent-hero-to-herself-i-will/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“It’s too easy to follow bad but attractive leaders, embrace pleasurable but destructive habits, ignore looming disaster because maybe it won’t happen after all—or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavia-e-butler/it-s-too-easy-to-follow-bad-but-attractive-leaders-embrace/) [Octavia E. Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavia-e-butler/) > [“Adolescent youths cry out for us to help them contextualize their life experiences.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-gurian/adolescent-youths-cry-out-for-us-to-help-them-contextualize-their/) [Michael Gurian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-gurian/) ## More by Patrick O'Brian > [“Christ's blood in heaven, you ignorant, incompetent whey-faced nestlecock, do you think I am a hired spy, an informer? That I have a master,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-o-brian/christ-s-blood-in-heaven-you-ignorant-incompetent-whey-faced/) [Patrick O'Brian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-o-brian/) > [“To tell the truth, sir, I believe I had rather sit in the shelter for a while. The cabbage seems to have turned my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-o-brian/to-tell-the-truth-sir-i-believe-i-had-rather-sit-in-the-shelter-for-a/) [Patrick O'Brian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-o-brian/) > [“Never mind the disappointment. Salt water will wash it away. You will be amazed how unimportant it will seem in a week’s time –…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-o-brian/never-mind-the-disappointment-salt-water-will-wash-it-away-you-will/) [Patrick O'Brian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-o-brian/) > [“The weather had freshened almost to coldness, for the wind was coming more easterly, from the chilly currents between Tristan and the Cape; the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-o-brian/the-weather-had-freshened-almost-to-coldness-for-the-wind-was-coming/) [Patrick O'Brian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-o-brian/) > [“Of course I do know it is the French who are so wicked; but there are all these people who keep coming and going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-o-brian/of-course-i-do-know-it-is-the-french-who-are-so-wicked-but-there-are/) [Patrick O'Brian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-o-brian/) > [My wife and I have spent most of our lives in France, and we are both pretty well bilingual, my wife more purely than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-o-brian/my-wife-and-i-have-spent-most-of-our-lives-in-france-and-we-are-both/) [Patrick O'Brian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-o-brian/) > [“This short watch that is about to come, or rather these two short watches--why are they called dog watches? Where, heu, heu, is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-o-brian/this-short-watch-that-is-about-to-come-or-rather-these-two-short/) [Patrick O'Brian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-o-brian/) > [The function of the novel is the exploration of the human condition. Really, that's what it's all about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-o-brian/the-function-of-the-novel-is-the-exploration-of-the-human-condition/) [Patrick O'Brian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-o-brian/) > [It is a great while since I felt the grind of bone under my saw,' he added, smiling with anticipation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-o-brian/it-is-a-great-while-since-i-felt-the-grind-of-bone-under-my-saw-he/) [Patrick O'Brian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-o-brian/) > [Other people's marriages are a perpetual source of amazement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-o-brian/other-people-s-marriages-are-a-perpetual-source-of-amazement/) [Patrick O'Brian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-o-brian/) > [“But I will tell you another misery that is not to be denied. In the common, natural course of events physicians, surgeons and apothecaries…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-o-brian/but-i-will-tell-you-another-misery-that-is-not-to-be-denied-in-the/) [Patrick O'Brian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-o-brian/) > [“Yet,'said Maturin, pursuing his own thought, 'there is a quality in dogs, I must confess, rarely to be seen elsewhere and that is affection:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-o-brian/yet-said-maturin-pursuing-his-own-thought-there-is-a-quality-in-dogs/) [Patrick O'Brian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-o-brian/) > [“Physically he was tired and his body relaxed throughout its entire length; his mind was in much the same state, floating free, detached, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-o-brian/physically-he-was-tired-and-his-body-relaxed-throughout-its-entire/) [Patrick O'Brian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-o-brian/) > [“It was quite unlike their friendly discourse of some days before, and presently Stephen grew sadly bored: lies or half-lies, he reflected, had a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-o-brian/it-was-quite-unlike-their-friendly-discourse-of-some-days-before-and/) [Patrick O'Brian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-o-brian/) > [“it would be the Devil to pay and no pitch hot”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-o-brian/it-would-be-the-devil-to-pay-and-no-pitch-hot/) [Patrick O'Brian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-o-brian/) [Explore all 167 Patrick O'Brian quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-o-brian/) ## More Adolescent quotes > [“Adolescent youths cry out for us to help them contextualize their life experiences.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-gurian/adolescent-youths-cry-out-for-us-to-help-them-contextualize-their/) [Michael Gurian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-gurian/) > [“It’s too easy to follow bad but attractive leaders, embrace pleasurable but destructive habits, ignore looming disaster because maybe it won’t happen after all—or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavia-e-butler/it-s-too-easy-to-follow-bad-but-attractive-leaders-embrace/) [Octavia E. Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavia-e-butler/) > [“I will never be crazy," repeats the adolescent hero to herself. "I will never get killed. I have to grow up.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-will-never-be-crazy-repeats-the-adolescent-hero-to-herself-i-will/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [A lot of people pass off adolescent depression as something trivial.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lacey-sturm/a-lot-of-people-pass-off-adolescent-depression-as-something-trivial/) [Lacey Sturm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lacey-sturm/) > [Why do people stop developing, or, like they stop the way you can rate their, psychologically, their development? Where they stop, and just from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edie-sedgwick/why-do-people-stop-developing-or-like-they-stop-the-way-you-can-rate/) [Edie Sedgwick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edie-sedgwick/) > [There's only one thing harder than living in a home with an adolescent - and that's being an adolescent. The moodiness, the volatility, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-kluger/there-s-only-one-thing-harder-than-living-in-a-home-with-an/) [Jeffrey Kluger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-kluger/) > [Mozart was very much an arrested adolescent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-curry/mozart-was-very-much-an-arrested-adolescent/) [Tim Curry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-curry/) > [When I was nine, we moved to Stanford University in San Francisco so that my father could do a Ph.D. I went to Terman…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-lawrence/when-i-was-nine-we-moved-to-stanford-university-in-san-francisco-so/) [Caroline Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-lawrence/) > [“There is so much woman in many a girl and too much boy in many a man.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/there-is-so-much-woman-in-many-a-girl-and-too-much-boy-in-many-a-man/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [“I've had a great deal of experience with adolescents over the centuries, and I've discovered that as a group these awkward half children take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-ve-had-a-great-deal-of-experience-with-adolescents-over-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Adolescents are still children in that they can't yet tell the difference between make believe and fiction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-o-neill/adolescents-are-still-children-in-that-they-can-t-yet-tell-the/) [Heather O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-o-neill/) > [“Capture your youth, while you can.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-liccione/capture-your-youth-while-you-can/) [Anthony Liccione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-liccione/) > [Adults forget the depths of languor into which the adolescent mind decends with ease. They are prone to undervalue the mental growth that occurs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/adults-forget-the-depths-of-languor-into-which-the-adolescent-mind/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Music, especially as an adolescent, helps to build identity because that's when people start developing a sense of self. You can kind of tell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aloe-blacc/music-especially-as-an-adolescent-helps-to-build-identity-because/) [Aloe Blacc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aloe-blacc/) > [Babies did not attract me, and I was altogether without the maternal sense so highly developed in small and adolescent girls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rita-levi-montalcini/babies-did-not-attract-me-and-i-was-altogether-without-the-maternal/) [Rita Levi-Montalcini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rita-levi-montalcini/) [Browse all 151 Adolescent quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adolescent/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“He had known it often enough. 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