--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There's one thing about freedom ... each…" description: "\"There's one thing about freedom ... each generation of people begins by thinking they've got it for the first time in history, and ends by being sure t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/671/rose-macaulay-8071_ends_there-s-one-thing-about-freedom-each-gen_2031170.png" --- # There's one thing about freedom ... each generation of… ![“There's one thing about freedom ... each generation of people begins by thinking they've got it for the first time in history, and ends by being sure the generation younger than themselves have too much of it. It can't really always have been increasing at the rate people suppose, or there would…” quote by Rose Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/671/rose-macaulay-8071_ends_there-s-one-thing-about-freedom-each-gen_2031170.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/671/rose-macaulay-8071_ends_there-s-one-thing-about-freedom-each-gen_2031170.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/671/rose-macaulay-8071_ends_there-s-one-thing-about-freedom-each-gen_2031170.png) > “There's one thing about freedom ... each generation of people begins by thinking they've got it for the first time in history, and ends by being sure the generation younger than themselves have too much of it. It can't really always have been increasing at the rate people suppose, or there would be more of it by now.” [Rose Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-macaulay/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Freedom is often perceived as a novel bounty by each generation, yet it may not be expanding as quickly as believed. **In simple terms:** People think freedom is new each generation. Key Takeaway Question assumptions about freedom’s growth. Themes freedom generational perspective history perception optimism Mood reflective critical Type philosophical observational When to use this quote - political discourse - family debates - educational curricula - media commentary Key Concepts social theory historical analysis Questions to Reflect On - How do we measure true freedom? - What factors limit freedom’s growth? A Different Perspective Freedom can be limited by structural constraints and inequality. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Generation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generation/) [Generation y](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generation-y/) [Generations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generations/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [It is always self-defeating to pretend to a generation younger than your own; it simply erases your own experience in history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/renata-adler/it-is-always-self-defeating-to-pretend-to-a-generation-younger-than/) [Renata Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/renata-adler/) > [It is always self-defeating to pretend to the style of a generation younger than your own; it simply erases your own experience in history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/renata-adler/it-is-always-self-defeating-to-pretend-to-the-style-of-a-generation/) [Renata Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/renata-adler/) > [I don't have time to download all the apps that seem to make the world go round for people not even a generation younger.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cathy-newman/i-don-t-have-time-to-download-all-the-apps-that-seem-to-make-the/) [Cathy Newman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cathy-newman/) > [I think with each generation comes more opportunity. At least that's the way that I see it. I grew up in a generation that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-timberlake/i-think-with-each-generation-comes-more-opportunity-at-least-that-s/) [Justin Timberlake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-timberlake/) > [You're talking about a younger generation, Generation Y, whose interpersonal communication skills are different from Generation X. The younger generation is more comfortable saying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-qualman/you-re-talking-about-a-younger-generation-generation-y-whose/) [Erik Qualman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-qualman/) > [The number of people my age, younger now, a whole generation younger, who are fiercely bright, over-educated, under-employed and who are politicised and purposeless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benedict-cumberbatch/the-number-of-people-my-age-younger-now-a-whole-generation-younger/) [Benedict Cumberbatch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benedict-cumberbatch/) > [If you're trying to appeal to my generation you've got to be honest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katie-hill/if-you-re-trying-to-appeal-to-my-generation-you-ve-got-to-be-honest/) [Katie Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katie-hill/) > [“Generation Y are everything you feared. They’re everything your worst nightmares conjured up. They’re lazy, apathetic, unoriginal, scared of innovation, scared of difference, just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarra-manning/generation-y-are-everything-you-feared-they-re-everything-your-worst/) [Sarra Manning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarra-manning/) > [“I really don't trust the generation Y we will make the worst grandparents ever”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-siranjofu/i-really-don-t-trust-the-generation-y-we-will-make-the-worst/) Joshua Siranjofu > [If we hold true to our ideals and our commitment to freedom, this generation of servicemen and women will have extended liberty to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-talent/if-we-hold-true-to-our-ideals-and-our-commitment-to-freedom-this/) [Jim Talent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-talent/) > [Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didnt pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/freedom-is-never-more-than-one-generation-away-from-extinction-we-2/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [We live in freedom because every generation has produced patriots willing to serve a cause greater than themselves. Those who serve today are taking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/we-live-in-freedom-because-every-generation-has-produced-patriots/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/freedom-is-never-more-than-one-generation-away-from-extinction-we/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/freedom-is-never-more-than-one-generation-away-from-extinction/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [“freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. we did'nt pass it to our children in the bloodstream. it must be fought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/freedom-is-never-more-than-one-generation-away-from-extinction-we-did/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) ## More by Rose Macaulay > [It wasn't really touching to be young; it was touching not to be young, because you had less of life left. Touching to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-macaulay/it-wasn-t-really-touching-to-be-young-it-was-touching-not-to-be-young/) [Rose Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-macaulay/) > [Cruelty was the devil, and most people were, in one way or another, cruel. Tyranny, suppression, persecution, torture, slavery, war, neglect - all were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-macaulay/cruelty-was-the-devil-and-most-people-were-in-one-way-or-another/) [Rose Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-macaulay/) > [To be prejudiced is the privilege of the thinking human being. ... The open mind is the empty mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-macaulay/to-be-prejudiced-is-the-privilege-of-the-thinking-human-being-the/) [Rose Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-macaulay/) > [Publishers of course have you altogether in their grip; if they say you must do a thing you have jolly well got to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-macaulay/publishers-of-course-have-you-altogether-in-their-grip-if-they-say/) [Rose Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-macaulay/) > [The great and recurrent question about Abroad is, is it worth the trouble of getting there?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-macaulay/the-great-and-recurrent-question-about-abroad-is-is-it-worth-the/) [Rose Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-macaulay/) > [Parents are untamed, excessive, potentially troublesome creatures; charming to be with for a time, in the main they must lead their own lives, independent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-macaulay/parents-are-untamed-excessive-potentially-troublesome-creatures/) [Rose Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-macaulay/) > [Life, for all its agonies...is exciting and beautiful, amusing and artful and endearing...and whatever is to come after it -- we shall not have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-macaulay/life-for-all-its-agonies-is-exciting-and-beautiful-amusing-and-artful/) [Rose Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-macaulay/) > [You point out that war is only a symptom of the whole horrid business of human behavior, and cannot be isolated. And that, even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-macaulay/you-point-out-that-war-is-only-a-symptom-of-the-whole-horrid-business/) [Rose Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-macaulay/) > [I seldom meet actors, they are to me bright strange fishes swimming in an element alien to me; I feel that to meet them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-macaulay/i-seldom-meet-actors-they-are-to-me-bright-strange-fishes-swimming-in/) [Rose Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-macaulay/) > [Giving is not at all interesting; but receiving is, there is no doubt about it, delightful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-macaulay/giving-is-not-at-all-interesting-but-receiving-is-there-is-no-doubt/) [Rose Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-macaulay/) > [All sorts of articles and letters appear in the papers about women. Profound questions are raised concerning them. Should they smoke? Should they work?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-macaulay/all-sorts-of-articles-and-letters-appear-in-the-papers-about-women/) [Rose Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-macaulay/) > [Here is one of the points about this planet which should be remembered; into every penetrable corner of it, and into most of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-macaulay/here-is-one-of-the-points-about-this-planet-which-should-be/) [Rose Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-macaulay/) > [Once learnt, this business of cooking was to prove an ever growing burden. It scarcely bears thinking about, the time and labour that man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-macaulay/once-learnt-this-business-of-cooking-was-to-prove-an-ever-growing/) [Rose Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-macaulay/) > [Decades have a delusive edge to them. They are not, of course, really periods at all, except as any other ten years may be.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-macaulay/decades-have-a-delusive-edge-to-them-they-are-not-of-course-really/) [Rose Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-macaulay/) > [“The superior thing, in this as in other departments of life, was to be late. Lateness showed that serene contempt for the illusion we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-macaulay/the-superior-thing-in-this-as-in-other-departments-of-life-was-to-be/) [Rose Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-macaulay/) [Explore all 84 Rose Macaulay quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-macaulay/) ## More Ends quotes > [I understand that it's the music that keeps me alive... That's my lifeblood. And to give that up for, like, the TV, the cars,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/i-understand-that-it-s-the-music-that-keeps-me-alive-that-s-my/) [Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/) > [The end is nothing; the road is all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/the-end-is-nothing-the-road-is-all/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [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/) > [Bush reiterated his stand to conservatives opposing his decision on stem cell research. He said today he believes life begins at conception and ends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-leno/bush-reiterated-his-stand-to-conservatives-opposing-his-decision-on/) [Jay Leno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-leno/) > [Dating someone on the opposite end of the happy spectrum teaches you an incredible amount of patience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-pine/dating-someone-on-the-opposite-end-of-the-happy-spectrum-teaches-you/) [Chris Pine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-pine/) > [What is history after all? History is facts which become lies in the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/what-is-history-after-all-history-is-facts-which-become-lies-in-the/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [Sometimes it's just enough for me to have the idea. I don't need to see it through to the end. When it actually happens,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-sedaris/sometimes-it-s-just-enough-for-me-to-have-the-idea-i-don-t-need-to/) [Amy Sedaris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-sedaris/) > [In the fight between biology and morality, biology has commonly won in the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/semir-zeki/in-the-fight-between-biology-and-morality-biology-has-commonly-won-in/) [Semir Zeki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/semir-zeki/) > [At the end of night, before you close your eyes, be content with what you've done and be proud of who you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-almond/at-the-end-of-night-before-you-close-your-eyes-be-content-with-what/) [Steve Almond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-almond/) > [it is the brevity of life which makes it tolerable; its experiences have value because they have an end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winifred-holtby/it-is-the-brevity-of-life-which-makes-it-tolerable-its-experiences/) [Winifred Holtby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winifred-holtby/) > [I hope that the Palestinians don't make the mistake of unleashing a new intifada. They've tried it twice before, and the consequences were bad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-segev/i-hope-that-the-palestinians-don-t-make-the-mistake-of-unleashing-a/) [Tom Segev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-segev/) > [Believe to the end, even if all men went astray and you were left the only one faithful; bring your offering even then and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoevsky/believe-to-the-end-even-if-all-men-went-astray-and-you-were-left-the/) [Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoevsky/) > [When the amount of change externally exceeds the amount of change internally, the end is in sight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-welch/when-the-amount-of-change-externally-exceeds-the-amount-of-change/) [Jack Welch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-welch/) > [A man cannot speak but he judges himself. With his will or against his will he draws his portrait to the eye of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/a-man-cannot-speak-but-he-judges-himself-with-his-will-or-against-his/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [The beginning of love is all about the butterflies, but the end of it is when you can't get out of bed in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-swift/the-beginning-of-love-is-all-about-the-butterflies-but-the-end-of-it/) [Taylor Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-swift/) Browse all 20,790 Ends quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There's one thing about freedom ... each generation of people begins by thinking they've got it for the first time in history, and ends by being sure the generation younger than themselves have too much of it. It can't really always have been increasing at the rate people suppose, or there would be more of it by now.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Rose Macaulay" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-macaulay/there-s-one-thing-about-freedom-each-generation-of-people-begins-by/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ends" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-macaulay/there-s-one-thing-about-freedom-each-generation-of-people-begins-by/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/671/rose-macaulay-8071_ends_there-s-one-thing-about-freedom-each-gen_2031170.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/671/rose-macaulay-8071_ends_there-s-one-thing-about-freedom-each-gen_2031170.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/671/rose-macaulay-8071_ends_there-s-one-thing-about-freedom-each-gen_2031170.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There's one thing about freedom ... each generation of people begins by thinking they've got it for the…” — Rose Macaulay", "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": "Rose Macaulay", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-macaulay/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "There's one thing about freedom ......", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-macaulay/there-s-one-thing-about-freedom-each-generation-of-people-begins-by/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-macaulay/there-s-one-thing-about-freedom-each-generation-of-people-begins-by/#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 } } ] } ```