--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Young people have a marvelous faculty of…" description: "\"“Young people have a marvelous faculty of either dying or adapting themselves to circumstances. Even if they are unhappy - very unhappy - it is astonis..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd7/samuel-butler-823_children_young-people-have-a-marvelous-faculty-of_1951032.jpg" --- # Young people have a marvelous faculty of either dying or… ![“Young people have a marvelous faculty of either dying or adapting themselves to circumstances. Even if they are unhappy - very unhappy - it is astonishing how easily they can be prevented from finding it out, or at any rate from attributing it to any other cause than their own sinfulness. To…” quote by Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd7/samuel-butler-823_children_young-people-have-a-marvelous-faculty-of_1951032.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd7/samuel-butler-823_children_young-people-have-a-marvelous-faculty-of_1951032.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd7/samuel-butler-823_children_young-people-have-a-marvelous-faculty-of_1951032.jpg) > ““Young people have a marvelous faculty of either dying or adapting themselves to circumstances. Even if they are unhappy - very unhappy - it is astonishing how easily they can be prevented from finding it out, or at any rate from attributing it to any other cause than their own sinfulness. To parents who wish to lead a quiet life I would say: Tell your children that they are naughty - much naughtier than most children. Point to the young people of some acquaintances as models of perfection and impress your own children with a deep sense of their own inferiority. You carry so many more guns than they do that they cannot fight you. This is called moral influence, and it will enable you to bounce them as much as you please. They think you know and they will not have yet caught you lying often enough to suspect that you are not the unworldly and scrupulously truthful person which you represent yourself to be; nor yet will they know how great a coward you are, nor how soon you will run away if they fight you with persistency and judgment. You keep the dice and throw them both for your children and yourself. Load them then, for you can easily manage to stop your children from examining them. Tell them how singularly indulgent you are; insist on the incalculable benefit you conferred upon them, firstly in bringing them into the world at all, but more particularly in bringing them into it as your own children rather than anyone else's... You hold all the trump cards, or if you do not you can filch them; if you play them with anything like judgment you will find yourselves heads of happy, united, God-fearing families... True, your children will probably find out all about it some day, but not until too late to be of much service to them or inconvenience to yourself.”” [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Adults manipulate youth by imposing guilt and moral authority, using power to control behavior **In simple terms:** Adults use guilt and authority to control children Key Takeaway Recognize and question manipulative moral influence Themes power control guilt Mood critical reflective Type philosophical analytical When to use this quote - parenting - education - leadership - family dynamics Key Concepts moral authority psychological manipulation Questions to Reflect On - What power dynamics exist in your relationships? - How can you foster autonomy without coercion? A Different Perspective Manipulation can backfire when children become aware ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/child/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Fearing Families](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fearing-families-3166521/) [Parents](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parents/) [Quiet life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quiet-life/) [Sinfulness Parents](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sinfulness-parents-3166520/) [Stop Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stop-children-587604/) [Tell Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tell-children/) [Too late](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/too-late/) [Young people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/young-people/) ## Related quotes > [In many parts of the world, especially Pakistan and Afghanistan, terrorism, war and conflict stop children to go to their schools. We are really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malala-yousafzai/in-many-parts-of-the-world-especially-pakistan-and-afghanistan/) [Malala Yousafzai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malala-yousafzai/) > [I would teach U.K. parents how to stop their children throwing litter. London is a beautiful city but its streets are disgusting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/britt-ekland/i-would-teach-u-k-parents-how-to-stop-their-children-throwing-litter/) [Britt Ekland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/britt-ekland/) > [The best way to stop children from playing is NOT TO STOP THEM AT ALL.They would only stop when they want to...except if you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-mark/the-best-way-to-stop-children-from-playing-is-not-to-stop-them-at-all/) [Terry Mark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-mark/) > [America's not the world's policeman. Terrible things happen across the globe and it is beyond our means to right every wrong. But when, with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rand-paul/america-s-not-the-world-s-policeman-terrible-things-happen-across-the/) [Rand Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rand-paul/) > [Barack wants to stop all children from working on the farm... Can you imagine this? I just, I can't fathom that. Did you ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-raese/barack-wants-to-stop-all-children-from-working-on-the-farm-can-you/) [John Raese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-raese/) > [The truth is we never stop being children, terrible children covered in sores and knotty veins and tumors and age spots, but ultimately children,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roberto-bola-o/the-truth-is-we-never-stop-being-children-terrible-children-covered/) [Roberto Bolano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roberto-bola-o/) > [When will it stop, when will our children be safe to play outside or to walk out the door without the sound of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mzlady-bee/when-will-it-stop-when-will-our-children-be-safe-to-play-outside-or/) [MzLady Bee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mzlady-bee/) > [“Perhaps, she mused, we never really stop being the children we once were.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-mckenna/perhaps-she-mused-we-never-really-stop-being-the-children-we-once-were/) [Christina McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-mckenna/) > [“If We Can't Stop Other Children From Being Mean And Bullying Other Children...Then We Must Start Teaching Our Children To Never Ever Hurt Themselves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-pina/if-we-can-t-stop-other-children-from-being-mean-and-bullying-other/) [Timothy Pina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-pina/) > [“How much blood will it take to make them stop? How many more children must die?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brom/how-much-blood-will-it-take-to-make-them-stop-how-many-more-children/) [Brom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brom/) > [I tell the children I want everyone to love the life that they're in, to be who they are... and make it the best…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-trudeau/i-tell-the-children-i-want-everyone-to-love-the-life-that-they-re-in/) [Margaret Trudeau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-trudeau/) > [You must teach your children that the ground beneath their feet is the ashes of your grandfathers. So that they will respect the land,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chief-seattle/you-must-teach-your-children-that-the-ground-beneath-their-feet-is/) [Chief Seattle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chief-seattle/) > [The day I need a television puppet or clown to tell my children what's right and what's wrong, I'll bow out as a mother.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elinor-smith/the-day-i-need-a-television-puppet-or-clown-to-tell-my-children-what/) [Elinor Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elinor-smith/) > [“I married the first man I ever kissed. When I tell my children that, they just about throw up.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-bush/i-married-the-first-man-i-ever-kissed-when-i-tell-my-children-that/) [Barbara Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-bush/) > [“I want people to tell their children terrible stories about the things we did for love”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-softer-world/i-want-people-to-tell-their-children-terrible-stories-about-the/) [A Softer World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-softer-world/) ## More by Samuel Butler > [Is life worth living? This is a question for an embryo not for a man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/is-life-worth-living-this-is-a-question-for-an-embryo-not-for-a-man/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [I am the enfant terrible of literature and science. If I cannot, and I know I cannot, get the literary and scientific bigwigs to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/i-am-the-enfant-terrible-of-literature-and-science-if-i-cannot-and-i/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [If you follow reason far enough it always leads to conclusions that are contrary to reason.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/if-you-follow-reason-far-enough-it-always-leads-to-conclusions-that/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [All animals, except man, know that the principal business of life is to enjoy it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/all-animals-except-man-know-that-the-principal-business-of-life-is-to/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [The advantage of doing one's praising for oneself is that one can lay it on so thick and exactly in the right places.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/the-advantage-of-doing-one-s-praising-for-oneself-is-that-one-can-lay/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [Spare the rod and spoil the child.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/spare-the-rod-and-spoil-the-child/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [Opinions have vested interests just as men have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/opinions-have-vested-interests-just-as-men-have/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [“we must judge men not so much by what they, as by what they make us feel that they have it in them to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/we-must-judge-men-not-so-much-by-what-they-as-by-what-they-make-us/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [If I die prematurely I shall be saved from being bored to death at my own success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/if-i-die-prematurely-i-shall-be-saved-from-being-bored-to-death-at-my/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [Vaccination is the medical sacrament corresponding to baptism. Whether it is or is not more efficacious I do not know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/vaccination-is-the-medical-sacrament-corresponding-to-baptism-whether/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [“Having, then, once introduced an element of inconsistency into his system, he was far too consistent not to be inconsistent consistently, and he lapsed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/having-then-once-introduced-an-element-of-inconsistency-into-his/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [Brigands demand your money or your life; women require both.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/brigands-demand-your-money-or-your-life-women-require-both/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [A man who lets himself be bored is even more contemptible than the bore.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/a-man-who-lets-himself-be-bored-is-even-more-contemptible-than-the/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [It is not sufficiently considered in the hour of exultation, that all human excellence is comparative; that no man performs much but in proportion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/it-is-not-sufficiently-considered-in-the-hour-of-exultation-that-all/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [“The oldest books are still only just out to those who have not read them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/the-oldest-books-are-still-only-just-out-to-those-who-have-not-read/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) [Explore all 355 Samuel Butler quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) ## More Child quotes > [The thing about hitting kids is, think about if you were doing the same thing to another adult. Hitting your kid is really the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zach-braff/the-thing-about-hitting-kids-is-think-about-if-you-were-doing-the/) [Zach Braff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zach-braff/) > [“Children's lives are always beginning and adults' lives are always ending. Or is it the opposite? Your childhood is always ending and your adult…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-espach/children-s-lives-are-always-beginning-and-adults-lives-are-always/) [Alison Espach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-espach/) > [“As parents who make every effort we can to raise our children in loving security, we do not need to feel more guilt than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/as-parents-who-make-every-effort-we-can-to-raise-our-children-in/) [Gabor Maté](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) > [I want to make my music and be a happy woman, a good wife, a good mom and one day hopefully have a child…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leann-rimes/i-want-to-make-my-music-and-be-a-happy-woman-a-good-wife-a-good-mom/) [LeAnn Rimes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leann-rimes/) > [I would have done well as a gypsy child, I think. A circus baby. I coulda played a great street urchin or ragamuffin. Or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natasha-lyonne/i-would-have-done-well-as-a-gypsy-child-i-think-a-circus-baby-i/) [Natasha Lyonne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natasha-lyonne/) > [We're raising children who have little tolerance for disappointment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bren-brown/we-re-raising-children-who-have-little-tolerance-for-disappointment/) [Brené Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bren-brown/) > [I'm a weirdo and an only child. That comes together to create one-woman shows.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-seales/i-m-a-weirdo-and-an-only-child-that-comes-together-to-create-one/) [Amanda Seales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-seales/) > [“Every child is born as angel.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/every-child-is-born-as-angel/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [To assist a child we must provide him with an environment which will enable him to develop freely.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-montessori/to-assist-a-child-we-must-provide-him-with-an-environment-which-will/) [Maria Montessori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-montessori/) > [Almost everywhere we find . . . the use of various coercive measures, to rid ourselves as quickly as possible of the child withinus--i.e.,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-miller/almost-everywhere-we-find-the-use-of-various-coercive-measures-to-rid/) [Alice Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-miller/) > [Since I was a little child, my nose - I think it's too big.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/celine-dion/since-i-was-a-little-child-my-nose-i-think-it-s-too-big/) [Celine Dion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/celine-dion/) > [if we center our lives on BMWs, RVs, VCRs, PCs and the other acronyms of consumerism, we cannot expect our children to do otherwise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnnetta-b-cole/if-we-center-our-lives-on-bmws-rvs-vcrs-pcs-and-the-other-acronyms-of/) [Johnnetta B. Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnnetta-b-cole/) > [Bring up your children in the way you think other peoples children should go.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/bring-up-your-children-in-the-way-you-think-other-peoples-children/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [Parents who are stressed or disturbed will have more difficulty in meeting their children's needs. Parents who have little support--from friends, relatives, neighbors, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-kamerman/parents-who-are-stressed-or-disturbed-will-have-more-difficulty-in/) [Sheila Kamerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-kamerman/) > [My first three manuscripts were epic fantasy - like high fantasy - and then the fourth one was a historical fantasy about Mozart as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-lu/my-first-three-manuscripts-were-epic-fantasy-like-high-fantasy-and/) [Marie Lu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-lu/) [Browse all 10,700 Child quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/child/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Young people have a marvelous faculty of either dying or adapting themselves to circumstances. Even if they are unhappy - very unhappy - it is astonishing how easily they can be prevented from finding it out, or at any rate from attributing it to any other cause than their own sinfulness. To parents who wish to lead a quiet life I would say: Tell your children that they are naughty - much naughtier than most children. Point to the young people of some acquaintances as models of perfection and impress your own children with a deep sense of their own inferiority. You carry so many more guns than they do that they cannot fight you. This is called moral influence, and it will enable you to bounce them as much as you please. They think you know and they will not have yet caught you lying often enough to suspect that you are not the unworldly and scrupulously truthful person which you represent yourself to be; nor yet will they know how great a coward you are, nor how soon you will run away if they fight you with persistency and judgment. You keep the dice and throw them both for your children and yourself. Load them then, for you can easily manage to stop your children from examining them. Tell them how singularly indulgent you are; insist on the incalculable benefit you conferred upon them, firstly in bringing them into the world at all, but more particularly in bringing them into it as your own children rather than anyone else's... You hold all the trump cards, or if you do not you can filch them; if you play them with anything like judgment you will find yourselves heads of happy, united, God-fearing families... True, your children will probably find out all about it some day, but not until too late to be of much service to them or inconvenience to yourself.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Samuel Butler" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/young-people-have-a-marvelous-faculty-of-either-dying-or-adapting-2/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Child" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/young-people-have-a-marvelous-faculty-of-either-dying-or-adapting-2/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd7/samuel-butler-823_children_young-people-have-a-marvelous-faculty-of_1951032.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd7/samuel-butler-823_children_young-people-have-a-marvelous-faculty-of_1951032.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd7/samuel-butler-823_children_young-people-have-a-marvelous-faculty-of_1951032.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Young people have a marvelous faculty of either dying or adapting themselves to circumstances. Even if they…” — Samuel Butler", "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": "Samuel Butler", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Young people have a marvelous faculty...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/young-people-have-a-marvelous-faculty-of-either-dying-or-adapting-2/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/young-people-have-a-marvelous-faculty-of-either-dying-or-adapting-2/#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 } } ] } ```