Generation X Quotes

In our youth, we may have ridiculed the cost-of-living-index family, with their house, two cars, and two kids, but today we are pro-family. We have seen the damage done by the previous generation and have doubled our efforts when it comes to caring for our families. Our children come first.

~ Gudjon Bergmann

Drugs are also a part of school life in particular marijuana. Alcohol beverages, prostitution - not so much on campus - but that is a way of survival for some young women and young men. These are societal ills.

~ Drexel Deal

This tendency to defend a belief structure is true in all cases, even the rational. Never underestimate our ability to convince ourselves of what we wish to be true, especially if we have invested time and money in our beliefs.

~ Gudjon Bergmann

If you stick with the definition of spirituality as a peaceful internal state (a.k.a. deep, dreamless sleep while awake), then you will ignore some of the hallucinatory experiences that are bound to happen when you sit in silence (studies have shown that, in such circumstances, the mind often creates elaborate experiences and stories that are reminiscent of dreams) and refrain from interpreting them as something otherworldly.

~ Gudjon Bergmann

Breaking away from old psychological memes requires a Herculean effort in many cases. In essence, we are outgrowing a worldview while maintaining a relation-ship of sorts. Transcending an ideology can feel like going through a divorce and having to stay friends because of the kids.

~ Gudjon Bergmann

Growth seems to evolve from a narrow-minded, constricted worldview (selfish) to an ever-more-encompassing worldview (multiperspective caring). To put it simply, the more self-centered you are, the lower you tend to land on these scales, while the more perspectives you can entertain—the more empathy you can show and the better your ability to see things from a variety of viewpoints—the higher you land on these scales.

~ Gudjon Bergmann

This book consists not only of my stories of mistakes, rather it’s all our stories of mistakes and heart aches. It’s the plight of all of us who were rebelling, and kicking against the social messes we found ourselves in. Yet there are so many others who are not alive today, and I feel obligated in not allowing the lessons of their mistakes to lie in the grave with them. It was the United States Senator, Al Franken, who stated, “Mistakes are a part of being human. Precious life lessons that can only be learned the hard way unless it's a fatal mistake, which, at least, others can learn from.” I’m revealing all of those mistakes and more, sadly a lot of them are fatal. In an attempt to have these real life lessons obtained in blood, prevent the blood-shedding of so many others. These stories are ones that young people can understand and identify with. While at the same time empowering them, to make better decisions about their choice of friends, the proper use of their time and how one wrong move can be fatal. I guess the major question that we all have to ask ourselves at the end of the day would be: how could I and so many others have been prevented from becoming monsters? You be the judge. I now extend my hand to you, and personally invite you to take a journey with me into the heartlands of innocence to menacing, from a youngster to a monster, and the making of a predator. I will safely walk you down the deserted and darkened street corners which were once my world of crime, gang violence and senseless murders. It’s a different world unto itself, one which could only be observed up close by invitation only. Together we will learn the motivation behind hard-core gangsters, and explore the minds of cold-blooded murderers. You will discover the way they think about their own lives, and why they are so remorseless about the taking of another’s life. So, if you will, please journey with me as we discover together how the fight of our lives were wrapped up in our fathers.

~ Drexel Deal

If my generation is remembered for anything, it will be as the last one that remembers the world before the Internet.

~ Lev Grossman

We are known to be anti-authoritarian, anti-institutional, and notoriously anti-religious—more likely to quote Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Monty Python, or Star Trek than the Bible.

~ Gudjon Bergmann

Walk into any church, and you will see people swimming in a sea of emotions (everything from shame and guilt to love and ecstasy). That may be the reason some people think that the more emotional they are, the more spiritual they are. But, as we will explore later in the book, undiluted spirituality has little to do with emotions, and what little it does have has more to do with emotional growth than feelings of elation.

~ Gudjon Bergmann

And then you got us. Yeah, we stopped the zombie menace, but we're the ones who let it become a menace in the first place. At least we're cleaning up our own mess, and maybe that's the best epitaph to hope for. Generation Z, they cleaned up their own mess.

~ Max Brooks

I am suggesting that we don’t put the “income” cart before the “contentment” horse.

~ Miles Anthony Smith

Our career mantra should be learn, relearn, repeat.

~ Miles Anthony Smith

There remains a natural career progression even though the tougher job climate seeks to delay it.

~ Miles Anthony Smith

What someone may lack in talent can be more than made up for in self-motivation, self-direction, and follow-through.

~ Miles Anthony Smith

Do you want a level of income to fit your lifestyle or a lifestyle to fit your income level?

~ Miles Anthony Smith

In the name of all that is holy, please consider the wages of a particular profession before you select that degree plan.

~ Miles Anthony Smith

The construct of retirement is dubious at best and a farce at worst. Expectations contrary to this are to be dashed.

~ Miles Anthony Smith

Adaptability is the name of the game; if you understand that you must now be adaptable and flexible, you will find a way to succeed in your career. If not, you will succumb to job market pressures.

~ Miles Anthony Smith

Labor saving devices have destroyed many jobs but have given rise to many new ones. It simply is up to us if we are going to resist or embrace the future.

~ Miles Anthony Smith

Whereas previous generations had to face some unpredictability, current generations are facing unprecedented levels of instability.

~ Miles Anthony Smith

The surest way to ensure career extinction is to resist change and adaptation.

~ Miles Anthony Smith

Finding a job that is a good fit is as much about you selecting the right company as it is about them selecting the right candidate.

~ Miles Anthony Smith

Everyone is dispensable but some are more dispensable than others.

~ Miles Anthony Smith

Can’t we do better with Applicant Tracking System (ATS) software?

~ Miles Anthony Smith

When presented with an open door in your job, drive a Mack truck through it.

~ Miles Anthony Smith

Once we got closer to the origins of these Eastern practices, we found that the monks and swamis were just as dogmatic and paternalistic, just as literal and conservative in their approach to spirituality as the Christian priests and ministers we were trying to get away from.

~ Gudjon Bergmann

These superhero and mythical stories have, in many cases, replaced Biblical stories as vehicles for communal myths, but they are hardly any better than ancient magical adventures tinged with mythical archetypes and the decidedly unnuanced black-and-white struggle between good and evil.

~ Gudjon Bergmann

Saying, “I don’t agree with you,” or going so far as to say, “I think your belief structure is childish,” does not amount to persecution. Insensitivity is not the same as harassment or oppression.

~ Gudjon Bergmann