# "The youth of today" - in ancient times? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 13, 2007, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-youth-of-today-in-ancient-times/387860 "2007-01-13T20:19:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2007, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-youth-of-today-in-ancient-times/387860/1 "2007-01-13T20:19:48Z")
There’s a quote which goes the email rounds every so often all about yow the “youth of today” have no manners, no morals, no respect … and the kicker is that this quote is purportedly from some ancient Greek or Roman author about 2000 years ago. Does anyone know a) the quote I’m talking about and b) if it’s actually genuine, or just made up out of wholecloth? ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2007, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-youth-of-today-in-ancient-times/387860/2 "2007-01-13T20:28:25Z")
Plato quotes Socrates in _The Republic_ as saying, > [@Socrates](#): > > I mean such things as these: — when the young are to > be silent before their elders; how they are to show respect to them by > standing and making them sit; what honour is due to parents; what > garments or shoes are to be worn; the mode of dressing the hair; > deportment and manners in general. I think that’s the one that’s usually trotted out. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2007, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-youth-of-today-in-ancient-times/387860/3 "2007-01-13T20:30:23Z")
_O tempora, O mores!_ ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2007, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-youth-of-today-in-ancient-times/387860/4 "2007-01-13T20:33:13Z")
That was from Cicero, BTW. ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2007, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-youth-of-today-in-ancient-times/387860/5 "2007-01-13T20:39:19Z")
You mean the supposed Assyrian tablet from 2800 B.C. that reads, in translation: _…bribery and corruption are common; children no longer obey their parents; every man wants to write a book, and the end of the world is evidently approaching_? According to [Bartleby’s](http://www.bartleby.com/73/456.html) the first cite for this quote is from 1949, and seems to be spurious as there is no actual tablet that can be identified as the source. A quick Googling shows it continues to be frequently quoted and referred to though, including a speech by Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen in 1997. ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2007, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-youth-of-today-in-ancient-times/387860/6 "2007-01-13T20:40:52Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny L.A.] _O tempora, O mores!_ [/QUOTE] I thought this was supposed to be a complaint about the food at a Japanese restaurant, particularly the unagi. _O Tempura, O Morays!_ ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2007, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-youth-of-today-in-ancient-times/387860/7 "2007-01-13T20:47:48Z")
[QUOTE=robardin] I thought this was supposed to be a complaint about the food at a Japanese restaurant, particularly the unagi. _O Tempura, O Morays!_ [/QUOTE] Damn, I was going to come back and post that joke! ---
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2007, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-youth-of-today-in-ancient-times/387860/8 "2007-01-13T21:23:43Z")
There are lots of great passages in “[History Begins at Sumer](http://www.amazon.com/History-Begins-Sumer-Thirty-Nine-Recorded/dp/0812212762/sr=1-1/qid=1168723361/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-4864866-2835140?ie=UTF8&s=books)”–translations of the Sumerian clay tablets, the earliest written documents we have (or at least they were when I studied history). My favorite is the one where a father is raving at his son, something along the lines of: “Your mother and I work hard to send you to scribe school, and do you study? No! You’re hanging around on the street corner with the wrong kind of friends instead of coming home and doing schoolwork.” Etc. Not exactly the same, but darned close. That’s from some 4 or 5 thousand years ago, IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2007, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-youth-of-today-in-ancient-times/387860/9 "2007-01-13T23:38:02Z")
Hesiod has a poem about the loss of the old values, but unfortunately I can remember only a single line from it after all these years - ‘no brother will take from brother the love once freely given’ not a clue but I dont think it comes from works and days, nor from theogony but since i havent seen my copies of tehm for about 15 years i cant check it out. ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2007, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-youth-of-today-in-ancient-times/387860/10 "2007-01-13T23:41:48Z")
Hey you kids! Get off my lawn! ---
**Author:** ![JCorre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3da27b/32.png) [@JCorre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JCorre)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2007, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-youth-of-today-in-ancient-times/387860/11 "2007-01-13T23:49:21Z")
Children nowadays are tyrants. They contradict their parents, gobble their food and tyrannise their teachers. -Socrates Here’s the cite. It doesn’t look like it lists the source but I’ve seen this quote bandied about often. [http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/s/socrates128135.html](http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/s/socrates128135.html) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2007, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-youth-of-today-in-ancient-times/387860/12 "2007-01-13T23:52:42Z")
[QUOTE=Common Tater] Hey you kids! Get off my lawn! [/QUOTE] I’m late again! Only I was going to ask how to say ‘Hey, you kids! Get off my lawn’ in Latin. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-youth-of-today-in-ancient-times/387860/13 "2007-01-14T04:34:19Z")
O pueros! Ab meus ortus! ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-youth-of-today-in-ancient-times/387860/14 "2007-01-14T04:37:32Z")
… _hortus_ ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-youth-of-today-in-ancient-times/387860/15 "2007-01-14T04:53:22Z")
Read Aristophanes’ _The Clouds_ for a good diatribe against these goddam youts. ---
**Author:** ![According\_to\_Pliny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@According\_to\_Pliny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/According_to_Pliny)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-youth-of-today-in-ancient-times/387860/16 "2007-01-15T00:44:34Z")
There are also similar quotes from ancient times about how the world is getting more dangerous, that you used to be able to trust people and never lock your house, etc.