--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Unnecessary customs live a brutally short…" description: "\"Unnecessary customs live a brutally short life in America.\" — Wilfrid Sheed" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2eb/wilfrid-sheed-18089_america_unnecessary-customs-live-a-brutally-shor_3210524.jpg" --- # Unnecessary customs live a brutally short life in America. ![“Unnecessary customs live a brutally short life in America.” quote by Wilfrid Sheed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2eb/wilfrid-sheed-18089_america_unnecessary-customs-live-a-brutally-shor_3210524.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2eb/wilfrid-sheed-18089_america_unnecessary-customs-live-a-brutally-shor_3210524.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2eb/wilfrid-sheed-18089_america_unnecessary-customs-live-a-brutally-shor_3210524.jpg) > “Unnecessary customs live a brutally short life in America.” [Wilfrid Sheed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfrid-sheed/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Some customs become obsolete quickly in America, losing relevance and lifespan. **In simple terms:** Customs can die fast in modern society. Key Takeaway Preserve valuable traditions. Themes culture obsolescence society Mood critical thoughtful Type sociological philosophical When to use this quote - urban development - immigration - generational shifts Key Concepts tradition modernity cultural decay Questions to Reflect On - Which traditions should be kept or discarded? - How does cultural change affect community identity? A Different Perspective Not all customs are harmful; some may be necessary evolution. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [America](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/america/) [Culture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/culture/) [Customs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/customs/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Short life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/short-life/) ## Related quotes > [The medium's gaze is brief, intense, and promiscuous. 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He can recite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-palin/not-yet-dry-behind-the-ears-not-old-enough-to-buy-a-beer-but-old/) [Sarah Palin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-palin/) > [Photos are profound because they have such short lives. 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Even during this one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-bowen/why-should-it-be-thought-incredible-that-the-same-soul-should-inhabit/) Francis Bowen > [If Only People REALIZE How Short Life Time Is Maybe. They Are Going To MAXIMIZE Every Fraction Of A Second To Be Happy Whenever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pacifiersucker/if-only-people-realize-how-short-life-time-is-maybe-they-are-going-to/) Pacifiersucker > [“I had nothing to feel guilty about. I had no one to answer to. I could look back upon my short life with Scott…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vee-hoffman/i-had-nothing-to-feel-guilty-about-i-had-no-one-to-answer-to-i-could/) [Vee Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vee-hoffman/) > [“Just as Prometheus delivered stolen fire to man, so Eve, and the serpent, delivered man into self-consciousness, setting him up, were it not for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neel-burton/just-as-prometheus-delivered-stolen-fire-to-man-so-eve-and-the/) [Neel Burton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neel-burton/) ## More by Wilfrid Sheed > [For now, I'm supposing that all movements are equal, which they're not, except in this respect: that none of them gives a damn about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfrid-sheed/for-now-i-m-supposing-that-all-movements-are-equal-which-they-re-not/) [Wilfrid Sheed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfrid-sheed/) > [I myself have not met a self-confessed liberal since the late fifties (and even then it was a tacky thing to admit, like coming…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfrid-sheed/i-myself-have-not-met-a-self-confessed-liberal-since-the-late-fifties/) [Wilfrid Sheed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfrid-sheed/) > [For Catholics before Vatican II, the land of the free was pre-eminently the land of Sister Says-except, of course, for Sister, for whom it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfrid-sheed/for-catholics-before-vatican-ii-the-land-of-the-free-was-pre/) [Wilfrid Sheed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfrid-sheed/) > [I picked up the writing on the very day he died. It was the only consolation I could find.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfrid-sheed/i-picked-up-the-writing-on-the-very-day-he-died-it-was-the-only/) [Wilfrid Sheed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfrid-sheed/) > [It is possible that the malice of writers has been overrated (by myself among others). Reading their ruminations on their craft, one sees why…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfrid-sheed/it-is-possible-that-the-malice-of-writers-has-been-overrated-by/) [Wilfrid Sheed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfrid-sheed/) > [As things now stand, the office is a slightly meaner battleground than the home. Male bosses seem to dominate their women underlings as they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfrid-sheed/as-things-now-stand-the-office-is-a-slightly-meaner-battleground-than/) [Wilfrid Sheed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfrid-sheed/) > [Mankind has always made too much of its saints and heroes, and how the latter handle the fuss might be called their final test.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfrid-sheed/mankind-has-always-made-too-much-of-its-saints-and-heroes-and-how-the/) [Wilfrid Sheed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfrid-sheed/) > [Mushy reviews are a breach of faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfrid-sheed/mushy-reviews-are-a-breach-of-faith/) [Wilfrid Sheed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfrid-sheed/) > [The actual Irish weather report is really a recording made in 1922, which no one has had occasion to change. "Scattered showers, periods of sunshine."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfrid-sheed/the-actual-irish-weather-report-is-really-a-recording-made-in-1922/) [Wilfrid Sheed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfrid-sheed/) > [The town is as full as ever of 'characters,' all created by each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfrid-sheed/the-town-is-as-full-as-ever-of-characters-all-created-by-each-other/) [Wilfrid Sheed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfrid-sheed/) > [You noodle around with tempo and sound until you get the perfect fit for that particular song, and then, so long as you can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfrid-sheed/you-noodle-around-with-tempo-and-sound-until-you-get-the-perfect-fit/) [Wilfrid Sheed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfrid-sheed/) > [Every writer is a writer of the generation before.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfrid-sheed/every-writer-is-a-writer-of-the-generation-before/) [Wilfrid Sheed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfrid-sheed/) > [Mr Michener, as timeless as a stack of National Geographics, is the ultimate Summer Writer. Just as one goes back to the cottage in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfrid-sheed/mr-michener-as-timeless-as-a-stack-of-national-geographics-is-the/) [Wilfrid Sheed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfrid-sheed/) > [Of course, history is only a muddle of facts and a fuddle of professors, and anyone who thinks it is one clear voice saying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfrid-sheed/of-course-history-is-only-a-muddle-of-facts-and-a-fuddle-of/) [Wilfrid Sheed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfrid-sheed/) > [How does one make a movie about decadence these days? Now that we're allowed to do it, it's too late.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfrid-sheed/how-does-one-make-a-movie-about-decadence-these-days-now-that-we-re/) [Wilfrid Sheed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfrid-sheed/) [Explore all 35 Wilfrid Sheed quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfrid-sheed/) ## More America quotes > [The costs of the Bush-Obama wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are now estimated to run as high as $4.4 trillion - a major victory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-costs-of-the-bush-obama-wars-in-iraq-and-afghanistan-are-now/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [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/) > [So here's what I want you to know, and here's what I want all our men and women in uniform to know: Because of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/so-here-s-what-i-want-you-to-know-and-here-s-what-i-want-all-our-men/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [Today, the world looks to America for leadership. And America looks to its Corps of Marines.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/today-the-world-looks-to-america-for-leadership-and-america-looks-to/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [The image of blacks usually is one of people who are suffering from hunger, unemployment, and poverty. The idea of them as agents and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-lee-boggs/the-image-of-blacks-usually-is-one-of-people-who-are-suffering-from/) [Grace Lee Boggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-lee-boggs/) > [ I'll smoke, I'll cough, I'll get the tumors, I'll die, deal? Thank you America. \[salutes\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-hicks/i-ll-smoke-i-ll-cough-i-ll-get-the-tumors-i-ll-die-deal-thank-you/) [Bill Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-hicks/) > [America is a democracy and has no Hitler, but I am afraid for her future; there are hard times ahead for the American people,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/america-is-a-democracy-and-has-no-hitler-but-i-am-afraid-for-her/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [I'm gonna bring America together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/i-m-gonna-bring-america-together/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [In the nineteenth century some parts of the world were unexplored, but there was almost no restriction on travel.:; Up to 1914 you did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-the-nineteenth-century-some-parts-of-the-world-were-unexplored-but/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [We need a system that serves our needs, not the needs of others. Remember, under a Trump administration it's called America first. Remember that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/we-need-a-system-that-serves-our-needs-not-the-needs-of-others/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [America, you're sending girls a mixed message. On one hand, you're saying to have positive body image and love who we are; on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adora-svitak/america-you-re-sending-girls-a-mixed-message-on-one-hand-you-re/) [Adora Svitak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adora-svitak/) > [You live overseas, you see these exotic places and you want to know about them. But, weirdly, it also made me homesick for all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-jennings/you-live-overseas-you-see-these-exotic-places-and-you-want-to-know/) [Ken Jennings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-jennings/) > [Freedom in every sense but primarily political sense, a rise in repression that stems from a repression of sexuality. 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