--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We of an older generation can get along…" description: "\"We of an older generation can get along with what we have, though with growing hardship; but in your full manhood and womanhood you will want what natu..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/831/theodore-roosevelt-218_arbor-day_we-of-an-older-generation-can-get-along_2817545.jpg" --- # We of an older generation can get along with what we have… ![“We of an older generation can get along with what we have, though with growing hardship; but in your full manhood and womanhood you will want what nature once so bountifully supplied and man so thoughtlessly destroyed; and because of that want you will reproach us, not for what we have used, but…” quote by Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/831/theodore-roosevelt-218_arbor-day_we-of-an-older-generation-can-get-along_2817545.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/831/theodore-roosevelt-218_arbor-day_we-of-an-older-generation-can-get-along_2817545.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/831/theodore-roosevelt-218_arbor-day_we-of-an-older-generation-can-get-along_2817545.jpg) > “We of an older generation can get along with what we have, though with growing hardship; but in your full manhood and womanhood you will want what nature once so bountifully supplied and man so thoughtlessly destroyed; and because of that want you will reproach us, not for what we have used, but for what we have wasted...So any nation which in its youth lives only for the day, reaps without sowing, and consumes without husbanding, must expect the penalty of the prodigal whose labor could with difficulty find him the bare means of life.” [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Older generations accept limited resources, but younger generations demand abundant nature, leading to criticism of waste and short‑term thinking. **In simple terms:** Older accept less; youth want more, causing conflict over waste. Key Takeaway Balance resource use with long‑term stewardship. Themes resource management generational conflict environmental stewardship economics ethics Mood reflective concerned optimistic Type advice philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - policy planning - family budgeting - community development - personal finance - environmental activism Key Concepts sustainability intergenerational equity consumerism Questions to Reflect On - How can societies align youth aspirations with sustainable practices? - What responsibilities do older generations have to preserve resources? A Different Perspective Short‑term gains often ignore long‑term costs, risking depletion. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Arbor day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arbor-day/) [Destroyed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destroyed/) [Difficulty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/difficulty/) [Dinosaurs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dinosaurs/) [Generations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generations/) [Growing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/growing/) [Growing Hardship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/growing-hardship-3564548/) [Hardship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hardship/) [Hardship Manhood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hardship-manhood-3564547/) [Labor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/labor/) [Manhood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/manhood/) [Mean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mean/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Nations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nations/) [Nature conservation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-conservation/) [Older generation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/older-generation/) [Penalties](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/penalties/) [Prodigals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prodigals/) [Reap](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reap/) [Reproach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reproach/) [Sowing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sowing/) [Used](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/used/) [Want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want/) [Womanhood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/womanhood/) [Youth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/youth/) [Youth life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/youth-life/) [Youth Lives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/youth-lives-1838190/) ## Related quotes > [As youth lives in the future, so the adult lives in the past: No one rightly knows how to live in the present.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-grillparzer/as-youth-lives-in-the-future-so-the-adult-lives-in-the-past-no-one/) [Franz Grillparzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-grillparzer/) > [The democratic youth lives along day by day, gratifying the desire that occurs to him, at one time drinking and listening to the flute,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/the-democratic-youth-lives-along-day-by-day-gratifying-the-desire/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [Youth lives in an atmosphere of energy waiting to make contact.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hallie-flanagan/youth-lives-in-an-atmosphere-of-energy-waiting-to-make-contact/) [Hallie Flanagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hallie-flanagan/) > [Will urban sprawl spread so far that most people lose all touch with nature? Will the day come when the only bird a typical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-n-ikard/will-urban-sprawl-spread-so-far-that-most-people-lose-all-touch-with/) [Frank N. Ikard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-n-ikard/) > [There are no words that can tell the hidden spirit of the wilderness, that can reveal its mystery, its melancholy and its charm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/there-are-no-words-that-can-tell-the-hidden-spirit-of-the-wilderness/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [And to lose the chance to see frigatebirds soaring in circles above the storm, or a file of pelicans winging their way homeward across…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/and-to-lose-the-chance-to-see-frigatebirds-soaring-in-circles-above/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [There is a delight in the hardy life of the open.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/there-is-a-delight-in-the-hardy-life-of-the-open/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [Conservation means development as much as it does protection. I recognize the right and duty of this generation to develop and use the natural…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/conservation-means-development-as-much-as-it-does-protection-i/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [Conservation means development as much as it does protection.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/conservation-means-development-as-much-as-it-does-protection/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [Time is never time at all. You can never ever leave without leaving a piece of youth. And our lives are forever changed. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-corgan/time-is-never-time-at-all-you-can-never-ever-leave-without-leaving-a/) [Billy Corgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-corgan/) > [Youth lives on hope, old age on remembrance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/french-proverb/youth-lives-on-hope-old-age-on-remembrance/) [French Proverb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/french-proverb/) > [The deepest definition of youth is life as yet untouched by tragedy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/the-deepest-definition-of-youth-is-life-as-yet-untouched-by-tragedy/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [“Children—their untroubled, idyllic vision of the future is almost always shattered. Sooner or later they learn what all youth must—that life is the cruel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-levkoff/children-their-untroubled-idyllic-vision-of-the-future-is-almost/) [Andrew Levkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-levkoff/) > [In work consists the true pride of life; grounded in active employment, though early ardor may abate, it never degenerates into indifference, and age…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leopold-hartley-grindon/in-work-consists-the-true-pride-of-life-grounded-in-active-employment/) [Leopold Hartley Grindon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leopold-hartley-grindon/) > [Youth is life's beautiful moment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baptiste-henri-lacordaire/youth-is-life-s-beautiful-moment/) [Jean-Baptiste Henri Lacordaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baptiste-henri-lacordaire/) ## More by Theodore Roosevelt > [No people is wholly civilized where a distinction is drawn between stealing an office and stealing a purse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/no-people-is-wholly-civilized-where-a-distinction-is-drawn-between/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [There can be no effective control of corporations while their political activity remains.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/there-can-be-no-effective-control-of-corporations-while-their/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [Get action. Seize the moment. Man was never intended to become an oyster.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/get-action-seize-the-moment-man-was-never-intended-to-become-an-oyster/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [Argument weak; speak loudly!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/argument-weak-speak-loudly/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [Let the watchwords of all our people be the old familiar watchwords of honesty, decency, fair-dealing, and commonsense."... "We must treat each man on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/let-the-watchwords-of-all-our-people-be-the-old-familiar-watchwords/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [The forces that tend for evil are great and terrible, but the forces of truth and love and courage and honesty and generosity and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/the-forces-that-tend-for-evil-are-great-and-terrible-but-the-forces/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [Every reform movement has a lunatic fringe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/every-reform-movement-has-a-lunatic-fringe/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [Conservation and rural-life policies are really two sides of the same policy; and down at the bottom this policy rests upon the fundamental law…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/conservation-and-rural-life-policies-are-really-two-sides-of-the-same/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [It is a great mistake to think that the extremist is a better man than the moderate. Usually the difference is not that he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/it-is-a-great-mistake-to-think-that-the-extremist-is-a-better-man/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [I am a strong individualist by personal habit, inheritance, and conviction; but it is a mere matter of common sense to recognize that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/i-am-a-strong-individualist-by-personal-habit-inheritance-and/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [Alone of human beings the good and wise mother stands on a plane of equal honor with the bravest soldier; for she has gladly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/alone-of-human-beings-the-good-and-wise-mother-stands-on-a-plane-of/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [The greatest privilege and greatest duty for any man is to be happily married, and no other form of success or service, for either…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/the-greatest-privilege-and-greatest-duty-for-any-man-is-to-be-happily/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [For unflagging interest and enjoyment, a household of children, if things go reasonably well, certainly all other forms of success and achievement lose their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/for-unflagging-interest-and-enjoyment-a-household-of-children-if/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [There can be no effective control of corporations while their political activity remains. To put an end to it will be neither a short…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/there-can-be-no-effective-control-of-corporations-while-their-2/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [If elected, I shall see to it that every man has a square deal, no less and no more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/if-elected-i-shall-see-to-it-that-every-man-has-a-square-deal-no-less/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) [Explore all 876 Theodore Roosevelt quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) ## More Arbor day quotes > [Each generation of humanity takes the earth as trustees... We ought to bequeath to posterity as many forests and orchards as we have exhausted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julius-sterling-morton/each-generation-of-humanity-takes-the-earth-as-trustees-we-ought-to/) [Julius Sterling Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julius-sterling-morton/) > [Forests are the lungs of our land…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franklin-d-roosevelt/forests-are-the-lungs-of-our-land/) [Franklin D. Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklin-d-roosevelt/) > [You can gauge a country's wealth, its real wealth, by its tree cover.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-st-barbe-baker/you-can-gauge-a-country-s-wealth-its-real-wealth-by-its-tree-cover/) [Richard St. Barbe Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-st-barbe-baker/) > [Like the trees, we are visitors, guests of the earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-stafford/like-the-trees-we-are-visitors-guests-of-the-earth/) [Kim Stafford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-stafford/) > [The school children of New York State planted more than 200,000 trees within ten years from the time Arbor Day was recognized. Few similar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-s-draper/the-school-children-of-new-york-state-planted-more-than-200-000-trees/) [Andrew S. Draper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-s-draper/) > [I frequently tramped eight or ten miles through the deepest snow to keep an appointment with a beechtree, or a yellow birch, or an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/i-frequently-tramped-eight-or-ten-miles-through-the-deepest-snow-to/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Thanksgiving is the holiday that encompasses all others. All of them, from Martin Luther King Day to Arbor Day to Christmas to Valentine's Day,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/thanksgiving-is-the-holiday-that-encompasses-all-others-all-of-them/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“IT’S ARBOR DAY! LET’S HUG TREES AND EAT CAKE! COLUMBUS BROUGHT SMALLPOX TO THE NATIVES; WE SHALL RECALL THE OCCASION WITH A PICNIC!, etc.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/it-s-arbor-day-let-s-hug-trees-and-eat-cake-columbus-brought-smallpox/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“It’s Thursday, March twenty-ninth!” she basically screamed, a demented smile plastered to her face. “You are really excited about knowing the date!” I yelled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/it-s-thursday-march-twenty-ninth-she-basically-screamed-a-demented/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [God cannot save them from fools.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-muir/god-cannot-save-them-from-fools/) [John Muir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-muir/) > [If I thought I was going to die tomorrow, I should nevertheless plant a tree today.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-girard/if-i-thought-i-was-going-to-die-tomorrow-i-should-nevertheless-plant/) [Stephen Girard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-girard/) > [No man manages his affairs as well as a tree does](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/no-man-manages-his-affairs-as-well-as-a-tree-does/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [The great object to be attained through the observance of Arbor Day is the cultivation of a love for nature among children, with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-s-draper/the-great-object-to-be-attained-through-the-observance-of-arbor-day/) [Andrew S. Draper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-s-draper/) > [I think that I shall never see A poem lovely as a tree. A tree whose hungry mouth is prest Against the earth's sweet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-kilmer/i-think-that-i-shall-never-see-a-poem-lovely-as-a-tree-a-tree-whose/) [Joyce Kilmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-kilmer/) > [Arbor Day is not like other holidays. Each of those reposes on the past, while Arbor Day proposes for the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julius-sterling-morton/arbor-day-is-not-like-other-holidays-each-of-those-reposes-on-the/) [Julius Sterling Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julius-sterling-morton/) [Browse all 24 Arbor day quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arbor-day/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We of an older generation can get along with what we have, though with growing hardship; but in your full manhood and womanhood you will want what nature once so bountifully supplied and man so thoughtlessly destroyed; and because of that want you will reproach us, not for what we have used, but for what we have wasted...So any nation which in its youth lives only for the day, reaps without sowing, and consumes without husbanding, must expect the penalty of the prodigal whose labor could with difficulty find him the bare means of life.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Theodore Roosevelt" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/we-of-an-older-generation-can-get-along-with-what-we-have-though-with/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Arbor day" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/we-of-an-older-generation-can-get-along-with-what-we-have-though-with/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/831/theodore-roosevelt-218_arbor-day_we-of-an-older-generation-can-get-along_2817545.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/831/theodore-roosevelt-218_arbor-day_we-of-an-older-generation-can-get-along_2817545.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/831/theodore-roosevelt-218_arbor-day_we-of-an-older-generation-can-get-along_2817545.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We of an older generation can get along with what we have, though with growing hardship; but in your full…” — Theodore Roosevelt", "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": "Theodore Roosevelt", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "We of an older generation can...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/we-of-an-older-generation-can-get-along-with-what-we-have-though-with/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/we-of-an-older-generation-can-get-along-with-what-we-have-though-with/#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 } } ] } ```