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About this quote

What does it mean?
Young people need something meaningful to rebel against, requiring elders to stay active and engaged.
In plain terms
Youth need strong elders to fight, or they are lost.
What can you take from it?
For youth to rebel constructively, elders must offer strong values.

Where it applies

  • parenting
  • mentoring
  • community

Putting it to work

  • mentorship
  • family values
  • civic duty

Questions to consider

  • What do youth need to rebel against?
  • How should elders lead?

Another view

It assumes rebellion is always necessary for growth.

More from Jane Addams

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  2. The good we secure for ourselves is precarious and uncertain until it is secured for all of us and incorporated into our common life.

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  3. If the underdog were always right, one might quite easily try to defend him. The trouble is that very often he is but obscurely right, sometimes only partially…

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