M. H. Abrams Quotes

The fear of the never-ending onslaught of gizmos and gadgets is nothing new. The radio, the telephone, Facebook - each of these inventions changed the world. Each of them scared the heck out of an older generation. And each of them was invented by people who were in their 20s.

Russian young people spend countless hours online downloading videos and having a very nice digital entertainment lifestyle, which does not necessarily turn them into the next Che Guevara.

Like it or not, the United States is a revolutionary power. Whether the government is trying to overthrow foreign dictators is almost irrelevant. American society is about the most revolutionary force on the planet. The Internet is more subversive than the CIA in its prime. The dynamism of American Society is constantly creating new businesses, new technologies, new ideas and new social models. These innovations travel, and they make trouble when they do.

It's all that the young can do for the old, to shock them and keep them up to date.

Communications devices were always used to effect change, to effect revolution. Telephone, telegraph - these all seemed like very big enhancements at the time.

Even some of the greatest technology-led revolutions, or allegedly technology-led, really were only made possible because of trends already present.

The language of freedom-fighting was so co-opted by the baby boomers in order to express their now-hopelessly compromised ideologies that no other generation could emulate it without a smirk. This has created an apathetic generation in the West, with young people no longer distinguishing between the old order and the new.

Rock and rollers can get you the youth buzz, and younger people are fanatical readers.

Hollywood looks to these young people now to say something to the world. I have nothing against that, I think a lot of people have things to say. But I think you need life experience.

Experience which was once claimed by the aged is now claimed exclusively by the young.

But there's a lot of 50's and a lot of boomers and a lot of kids in their 30's that grew up with us.

I think it's fantastic when the young enrage their elders. I really do believe that if it's too loud, you are indeed too old, and that if it has been standing for too long, it needs a thorough inspection.

If you start pandering to young people, you're going to get accused of simply giving people what they want.

Youth should not accept the old order if the world is to move on.

Just don’t bet against the Internet.

Sometimes people invent things because they want to stay alive or feed their children or conquer the village next door. But just as often, new ideas come into the world simply because they're fun. And here's the really strange thing: many of those playful but seemingly frivolous inventions ended up sparking momentous transformations in science, in politics and society.

Old deeds for old people, and new deeds for new.

I prefer being around young people. I don't like situations from the past, definitely no nostalgia. I prefer to think of doing everything new with a different generation that has a different mentality.

There's a reason why start-ups, especially disruptive start-ups - like Google or Amazon or Uber - are full of young people. That's because young people are not as wedded to the old fashioned ways of doing things.

The world of entertainment is, like the world of fashion, becoming increasingly populated by those who don't want to do things the same old boring way.

My obsession is with technology and how it can improve human life. In my view, what we have seen in the last 300 years is only a trailer.

I don't talk to old people; they try to find ways to stay static. Young folks are the ones with the ideas and constantly moving forward.

When there is change, there are always sceptics who think it won't work. I am sure someone at some point thought the iPhone wouldn't take off.

I think, the world over, new ideas have come from young people. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but it is rare that new or radical ideas come from old people.