--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I have the not altogether unsatisfying…" description: "\"“I have the not altogether unsatisfying impression that civilisation is collapsing around me. Is it my age, I wonder, or the age we live in? I am not s..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aff/theodore-dalrymple-7084_age_i-have-the-not-altogether-unsatisfying-i_2587535.png" --- # I have the not altogether unsatisfying impression that… ![“I have the not altogether unsatisfying impression that civilisation is collapsing around me. Is it my age, I wonder, or the age we live in? I am not sure. Civilisations do collapse, after all, but on the other hand people grow old with rather greater frequency.” quote by Theodore Dalrymple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aff/theodore-dalrymple-7084_age_i-have-the-not-altogether-unsatisfying-i_2587535.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aff/theodore-dalrymple-7084_age_i-have-the-not-altogether-unsatisfying-i_2587535.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aff/theodore-dalrymple-7084_age_i-have-the-not-altogether-unsatisfying-i_2587535.png) > ““I have the not altogether unsatisfying impression that civilisation is collapsing around me. Is it my age, I wonder, or the age we live in? I am not sure. Civilisations do collapse, after all, but on the other hand people grow old with rather greater frequency.”” [Theodore Dalrymple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-dalrymple/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He feels society is deteriorating, questioning whether it's due to his age or the era, noting increased mortality and the inevitability of civilizational decline. **In simple terms:** Society seems to be falling apart, age or era? Key Takeaway Question the narrative of decline. Themes society age decline Mood contemplative skeptical Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - political analysis - personal reflection - public discourse - health trends Key Concepts civilizational theory mortality perception Questions to Reflect On - What evidence supports this view? - How does personal aging affect perception? A Different Perspective May generalize personal bias. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age/) [Civilisation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilisation/) [Civilisation Collapsing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilisation-collapsing-1831357/) [Civilisations Collapse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilisations-collapse-1831358/) [Civilization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization/) [Collapsing Age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/collapsing-age-1831359/) [Decline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decline/) [Grow Old](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grow-old/) [Impression Civilisation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impression-civilisation-1831360/) ## Related quotes > [“...it is plain that the proportion of celibates was high in the Roman empire and that the fall in the fertility of marriages was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eileen-power/it-is-plain-that-the-proportion-of-celibates-was-high-in-the-roman/) [Eileen Power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eileen-power/) > [“There is a great deal of ruin in a nation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-smith/there-is-a-great-deal-of-ruin-in-a-nation/) [Adam Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-smith/) > [On this waterlogged landscape…are scattered palaces and hovels…It is here that the human spirit becomes perfect, and at the same time brutalised, that civilisation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/on-this-waterlogged-landscape-are-scattered-palaces-and-hovels-it-is/) [Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/) > [If the truth be told, we are a society that is dripping in racism. 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That was a hard work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-kaulitz/we-have-started-to-make-music-at-age-seven-that-was-a-hard-work/) [Bill Kaulitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-kaulitz/) [Browse all 18,948 Age quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I have the not altogether unsatisfying impression that civilisation is collapsing around me. Is it my age, I wonder, or the age we live in? I am not sure. 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