--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If the seventies were bulbous, and the…" description: "\"If the seventies were bulbous, and the eighties sharp, the nineties were nothing but bogus.\" — Will Self" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3f/will-self-2296_decade_if-the-seventies-were-bulbous-and-the-ei_2106958.png" --- # If the seventies were bulbous, and the eighties sharp, the… ![“If the seventies were bulbous, and the eighties sharp, the nineties were nothing but bogus.” quote by Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3f/will-self-2296_decade_if-the-seventies-were-bulbous-and-the-ei_2106958.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3f/will-self-2296_decade_if-the-seventies-were-bulbous-and-the-ei_2106958.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3f/will-self-2296_decade_if-the-seventies-were-bulbous-and-the-ei_2106958.png) > “If the seventies were bulbous, and the eighties sharp, the nineties were nothing but bogus.” [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Uses metaphor of decades to critique cultural emptiness. **In simple terms:** 1990s felt meaningless compared to earlier eras. Key Takeaway Seek authentic meaning. Themes culture history critique Mood reflective analytical Type literary satirical When to use this quote - media analysis - personal reflection - art critique Key Concepts generational change social commentary Questions to Reflect On - What defines a meaningful era? - How do we avoid cultural emptiness? A Different Perspective Subjective and possibly nostalgic. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bulbous Eighties](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bulbous-eighties-4235639/) [Decade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decade/) [Eighties Sharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eighties-sharp-4235641/) [Nineties](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nineties/) [Nineties Bogus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nineties-bogus-4235638/) [Seventies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seventies/) [Seventies Bulbous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seventies-bulbous-4235640/) ## Related quotes > [Every movement that slays its gods creates new ones, of course. I loathe talk of the sixties and seventies being a 'Greatest Generation' of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-saltz/every-movement-that-slays-its-gods-creates-new-ones-of-course-i/) [Jerry Saltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-saltz/) > [The forties, seventies, and the nineties, when money was scarce, were great periods, when the art world retracted but it was also reborn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-saltz/the-forties-seventies-and-the-nineties-when-money-was-scarce-were/) [Jerry Saltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-saltz/) > [I grew up with Burberry; as a kid in London in the nineties and early noughties it was everywhere and we all coveted it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-ackie/i-grew-up-with-burberry-as-a-kid-in-london-in-the-nineties-and-early/) [Naomi Ackie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-ackie/) > [Glimpses is dead-on about the high and tight nineties even as it reaches out for the sweet hereafter of the sixties. It longs for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-barthelme/glimpses-is-dead-on-about-the-high-and-tight-nineties-even-as-it/) [Frederick Barthelme](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-barthelme/) > [Nobody uses skits at all anymore, so it seems like I use a lot. That's how I grew up on tapes. Biggie tapes, Biggie…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-east/nobody-uses-skits-at-all-anymore-so-it-seems-like-i-use-a-lot-that-s/) [Dave East](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-east/) > [It's very difficult today for girls to become supermodels. There is a lot more competition, a lot of countries in the East have opened…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-schiffer/it-s-very-difficult-today-for-girls-to-become-supermodels-there-is-a/) [Claudia Schiffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-schiffer/) > [I don't spend much time listening to the records when they're done. Usually I let go of it. Especially in the Eighties and Nineties…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-perry/i-don-t-spend-much-time-listening-to-the-records-when-they-re-done/) [Joe Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-perry/) > [I used really into inline skating when it was the craze in the nineties and I got a really bad scar to prove it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pedro-capo/i-used-really-into-inline-skating-when-it-was-the-craze-in-the/) [Pedro Capo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pedro-capo/) > [Bands in the Nineties seem to forget the entertainment aspect of rock music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-bellamy/bands-in-the-nineties-seem-to-forget-the-entertainment-aspect-of-rock/) [Matt Bellamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-bellamy/) > [There was a period in the Nineties when the BBC wanted to act as if it was a trendy Soho independent. They broke up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-armstrong/there-was-a-period-in-the-nineties-when-the-bbc-wanted-to-act-as-if/) [Alexander Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-armstrong/) > [Much else than liberalization has happened in the nineties (in India)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-dreze/much-else-than-liberalization-has-happened-in-the-nineties-in-india/) [Jean Dreze](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-dreze/) > [There was a clarity to the Nineties. It was pre-9/11, before that anxiety kicked in that exists right now about the financial crisis or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-brownstein/there-was-a-clarity-to-the-nineties-it-was-pre-9-11-before-that/) [Carrie Brownstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-brownstein/) > [We might take it for granted now, but back in the nineties, who was talking about mental health?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-corrin/we-might-take-it-for-granted-now-but-back-in-the-nineties-who-was/) [Emma Corrin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-corrin/) > [When you're in your nineties and looking back, it's not going to be how much money you made or how many awards you've won.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-dole/when-you-re-in-your-nineties-and-looking-back-it-s-not-going-to-be/) [Elizabeth Dole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-dole/) > [Going back to the films I made in the nineties, they might not have been the most thought-provoking movies, but there was always this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-steele/going-back-to-the-films-i-made-in-the-nineties-they-might-not-have/) [Taylor Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-steele/) ## More by Will Self > [As for critical writing about modernism, its moments of lucidity are but fulgurations illuminating the dark and incomprehensible landscape of its subject's unabashed difficulty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/as-for-critical-writing-about-modernism-its-moments-of-lucidity-are/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [“As my voice died away I became conscious of the voice of another woman two tables away. I couldn't hear what she was saying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/as-my-voice-died-away-i-became-conscious-of-the-voice-of-another/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [That tertiary education is under a sustained assault by a political and - it often seems - social consensus that equates all education with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/that-tertiary-education-is-under-a-sustained-assault-by-a-political/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [I'm an anarchist. I'm implacably opposed to heirarchical systems of power and control. I also mistrust crowds, as they often operate according to their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/i-m-an-anarchist-i-m-implacably-opposed-to-heirarchical-systems-of/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [What fiction offers us is an intimacy shorn of the messy contingencies of human existence - gender, race, class or age. Those moments of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/what-fiction-offers-us-is-an-intimacy-shorn-of-the-messy/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [I'd rather fiddle with my phone for precious seconds than neglect an apostrophe; I'd rather insert a word laboriously keyed out than resort to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/i-d-rather-fiddle-with-my-phone-for-precious-seconds-than-neglect-an/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [I'm very happy for whatever plaudits might come the way of my work, but I never ever sit down to write x with y…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/i-m-very-happy-for-whatever-plaudits-might-come-the-way-of-my-work/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [As a writer, I'm not convinced that we are the best equipped to understand how we go about the business of literary production.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/as-a-writer-i-m-not-convinced-that-we-are-the-best-equipped-to/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [“I explained to him - as I withdrew the cup, ripped open the sachet and dunked the tea bag - that tea was an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/i-explained-to-him-as-i-withdrew-the-cup-ripped-open-the-sachet-and/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [There is something mysteriously powerful that can happen when young, inchoate minds come into contact with older and more worldly ones in a spirit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/there-is-something-mysteriously-powerful-that-can-happen-when-young/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [It would seem that I, who never could make much sense of physics when I was at school, have now gained a strong sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/it-would-seem-that-i-who-never-could-make-much-sense-of-physics-when/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [Drug use and procrastination often go hand in tourniquet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/drug-use-and-procrastination-often-go-hand-in-tourniquet/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [“…with the morbid realisation that his sexual being was a dull thing, a lifeless thing, a mass-produced marionette with chipped paint and fraying strings”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/with-the-morbid-realisation-that-his-sexual-being-was-a-dull-thing-a/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [A creative life cannot be sustained by approval any more than it can be destroyed by criticism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/a-creative-life-cannot-be-sustained-by-approval-any-more-than-it-can/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [I don't think in terms of that bizarre tautology 'value for money' in my literary and journalistic work - and nor will I in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/i-don-t-think-in-terms-of-that-bizarre-tautology-value-for-money-in/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) [Explore all 172 Will Self quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) ## More Decade quotes > [It's funny, I used to say on 'That 70's Show', you could really put us in any decade, and it was about the people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-prepon/it-s-funny-i-used-to-say-on-that-70-s-show-you-could-really-put-us-in/) [Laura Prepon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-prepon/) > [It was an odd coincidence that my career took off the same decade as having babies. I often wished it had been different, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-kaczmarek/it-was-an-odd-coincidence-that-my-career-took-off-the-same-decade-as/) [Jane Kaczmarek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-kaczmarek/) > [I saw Len Hutton in his prime, Another time, another time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-pinter/i-saw-len-hutton-in-his-prime-another-time-another-time/) [Harold Pinter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-pinter/) > [The 1970s, the decade of my teenage years, was a transitional period in American youth culture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-allin-cornell/the-1970s-the-decade-of-my-teenage-years-was-a-transitional-period-in/) [Eric Allin Cornell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-allin-cornell/) > [I was eating beans by candle light for a decade.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-andre/i-was-eating-beans-by-candle-light-for-a-decade/) [Eric Andre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-andre/) > [I'm a product of the 1970s.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-rushin/i-m-a-product-of-the-1970s/) [Steve Rushin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-rushin/) > [“The eighties happened. The nineties happened. Death and sickness and getting fat and going bald happened. I traded lots of dreams for a bigger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/the-eighties-happened-the-nineties-happened-death-and-sickness-and/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [When you're playing the same character for a decade it's natural that there are moments when you want to try something new.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-schwimmer/when-you-re-playing-the-same-character-for-a-decade-it-s-natural-that/) [David Schwimmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-schwimmer/) > [I grew up in the '60s, which was a creative time, so it wasn't that big of a stretch to go from a baseball…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abel-ferrara/i-grew-up-in-the-60s-which-was-a-creative-time-so-it-wasn-t-that-big/) [Abel Ferrara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abel-ferrara/) > [I was a child of the '80s.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-lowe/i-was-a-child-of-the-80s/) [Rob Lowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-lowe/) > [I don't buy into the glory days thing. I think every time has its great things to it. The '60s were such a glorious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-gordon-levitt/i-don-t-buy-into-the-glory-days-thing-i-think-every-time-has-its/) [Joseph Gordon-Levitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-gordon-levitt/) > [You know, there's nothing in 'E.T.' that earmarks it as really '80s.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-duffer/you-know-there-s-nothing-in-e-t-that-earmarks-it-as-really-80s/) [Matt Duffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-duffer/) > [When I look back on my life, it seems nearly everything of interest happened in little more than one decade - dramas, tragedies, major…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-radziwill/when-i-look-back-on-my-life-it-seems-nearly-everything-of-interest/) [Lee Radziwill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-radziwill/) > [I have this obsession with the '80s because I missed all of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/regina-spektor/i-have-this-obsession-with-the-80s-because-i-missed-all-of-it/) [Regina Spektor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/regina-spektor/) > [I sort of don't remember anything I did in the '70s.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-peterson/i-sort-of-don-t-remember-anything-i-did-in-the-70s/) [Cassandra Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-peterson/) [Browse all 615 Decade quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decade/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If the seventies were bulbous, and the eighties sharp, the nineties were nothing but bogus.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Will Self" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/if-the-seventies-were-bulbous-and-the-eighties-sharp-the-nineties/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Decade" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/if-the-seventies-were-bulbous-and-the-eighties-sharp-the-nineties/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3f/will-self-2296_decade_if-the-seventies-were-bulbous-and-the-ei_2106958.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3f/will-self-2296_decade_if-the-seventies-were-bulbous-and-the-ei_2106958.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3f/will-self-2296_decade_if-the-seventies-were-bulbous-and-the-ei_2106958.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If the seventies were bulbous, and the eighties sharp, the nineties were nothing but bogus.” — Will Self", "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": "Will Self", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "If the seventies were bulbous, and...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/if-the-seventies-were-bulbous-and-the-eighties-sharp-the-nineties/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/if-the-seventies-were-bulbous-and-the-eighties-sharp-the-nineties/#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 } } ] } ```