Age Quote by Susan Sontag
“Conventions vs. spontaneity. This is a dialectical choice, it depends on the assessment you make of your own times. If you judge that your own time is ridden with empty insincere formalities, you plump for spontaneity, for indecorous behavior even...Much of morality is the task of compensating for one's age. One assumes unfashionable virtues, in an indecorous time. In a time hollowed out by decorum, one must school oneself in spontaneity.”
About This Quote
Choosing between strict conventions and spontaneous authenticity depends on how one perceives the current cultural climate.
In simple terms: Balance tradition and spontaneity.
Key Takeaway
Adapt to your era's expectations.
Themes
culture
authenticity
conformity
Mood
contemplative
critical
Type
philosophical
literary
When to use this quote
- creative work
- social events
- personal growth
Key Concepts
dialectic
morality
virtue
Questions to Reflect On
- When should you follow tradition?
- What risks come with being spontaneous?
A Different Perspective
Spontaneity may clash with social norms.
![“[People] ask themselves, what is suitable for my position? What is usually done by persons of my station and percuniary circumstances? Or (worse still) what is usually done by persons of a station and circumstances superior to mine? I do not mean that they choose what is customary in preference to…” quote by John Stuart Mill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/310/john-stuart-mill-477_conformity_people-ask-themselves-what-is-suitable-f_2309783.jpg)
![“Anthropology has always struggled with an intense, fascinated repulsion towards its subject… [The anthropologist] submits himself to the exotic to confirm his own inner alienation as an urban intellectual.” quote by Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/fe1/susan-sontag-332_alienation_anthropology-has-always-struggled-with-a_15322.jpg)
