{
  "type": "book",
  "site": {
    "name": "Leafy Quotes",
    "language": "en",
    "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com"
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  "formats": "Every page has two versions with the same data: JSON (the page address + .json) and markdown (the page address + .md). Append .json or .md to any `url` in this document.",
  "title": "Generation X",
  "slug": "generation-x",
  "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-coupland/generation-x",
  "json": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-coupland/generation-x.json",
  "markdown": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-coupland/generation-x.md",
  "author": {
    "name": "Douglas Coupland",
    "slug": "douglas-coupland",
    "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-coupland"
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  "cover": "https://quivercdn.com/covers/abacus/douglas-coupland/generation-x_978-03-4914-259-3.jpg",
  "quotes_count": 14,
  "quotes": [
    {
      "id": "f5136dc8-d7c7-4334-8892-6c18c92dc726",
      "slug": "you-see-when",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-coupland/generation-x/you-see-when",
      "text": "\"You see, when you're middle class, you have to live with the fact that history will ignore you. You have to live with the fact that history can never champion your causes and that history will never feel sorry for you. It is the price that is paid for day-to-day comfort and silence. And because of this price, all happinesses are sterile; all sadnesses go unpitied.\"",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
      "chapter": null,
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      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "history",
          "slug": "history",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/history"
        },
        {
          "name": "everyday life",
          "slug": "everyday-life",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/everyday-life"
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      ],
      "source": {
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        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Douglas_Coupland#Generation_X_(1991)",
        "license": {
          "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
          "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
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      },
      "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:43:51"
    },
    {
      "id": "a7541339-3d86-4985-b790-3c917f9aa50b",
      "slug": "i-wonder-that",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-coupland/generation-x/i-wonder-that",
      "text": "\"I wonder that all things seem to be from hell these days: dates, jobs, parties, weather .... Could the situation be that we no long believe in that particular place? Or maybe we were all promised heaven in our lifetimes, and what we ended up with can't help but suffer in comparison.\"",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
      "chapter": null,
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      "other_languages": [],
      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "disappointment",
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      "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:43:51"
    },
    {
      "id": "6bdaf441-5ed7-4caf-be3f-37c374377ca7",
      "slug": "starved-for-affection",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-coupland/generation-x/starved-for-affection",
      "text": "Starved for affection, terrified of abandonment, I began to wonder if sex was really just an excuse to look deeply into another human being's eyes.",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
      "chapter": null,
      "chapter_parent": null,
      "page": null,
      "verified": false,
      "original": null,
      "other_languages": [],
      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "loneliness",
          "slug": "loneliness",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/loneliness"
        },
        {
          "name": "sex",
          "slug": "sex",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/sex"
        }
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      "source": {
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        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Douglas_Coupland#Generation_X_(1991)",
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    },
    {
      "id": "3b599610-8cdd-4156-8da1-ae8ca5cb00be",
      "slug": "fake-yuppie-experiences",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-coupland/generation-x/fake-yuppie-experiences",
      "text": "Fake yuppie experiences that you had to spend money on, like white water rafting or elephant rides in Thailand don't count. I want to hear some small moment from your life that proves you're really alive.",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
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    },
    {
      "id": "3a36fea1-62c2-42c1-80fe-9364be7db6ad",
      "slug": "after-youre-dead",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-coupland/generation-x/after-youre-dead",
      "text": "… after you're dead and buried and floating around whatever place we go to, what's going to be your best memory of Earth? … What moment for you defines what it's like to be alive on this planet?",
      "language": "en",
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      "topics": [
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        {
          "name": "memory",
          "slug": "memory",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/memory"
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      ],
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        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Douglas_Coupland#Generation_X_(1991)",
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    },
    {
      "id": "fe69b889-4154-462e-bf89-6306eaec6b77",
      "slug": "lessness-a-philosophy",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-coupland/generation-x/lessness-a-philosophy",
      "text": "lessness - a philosophy whereby one reconciles oneself with diminishing expectations of material wealth: \"I've given up wanting to make a killing or be a bigshot. I just want to find happiness and maybe open up a little roadside cafe in Idaho.\" (page 54)",
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      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "happiness",
          "slug": "happiness",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/happiness"
        },
        {
          "name": "money",
          "slug": "money",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/money"
        }
      ],
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        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Generation_X:_Tales_for_an_Accelerated_Culture#H-L",
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      "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:43:50"
    },
    {
      "id": "f74b61f6-511b-491d-9d32-7f55ccfdf5c1",
      "slug": "cult-of-aloneness",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-coupland/generation-x/cult-of-aloneness",
      "text": "cult of aloneness - the need for autonomy at all costs, usually at the expense of long-term relationships. Often brought about by overly high expectations of others. (page 69)",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
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      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "loneliness",
          "slug": "loneliness",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/loneliness"
        },
        {
          "name": "independence",
          "slug": "independence",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/independence"
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      ],
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    {
      "id": "d9e625d9-f39d-4c16-91ae-81a8a5ff20ac",
      "slug": "option-paralysis-the",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-coupland/generation-x/option-paralysis-the",
      "text": "option paralysis - the tendency, when given unlimited choices, to make none. (page 139)",
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      "character": null,
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      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "choices",
          "slug": "choices",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/choices"
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      ],
      "source": {
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        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Generation_X:_Tales_for_an_Accelerated_Culture#N-O",
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    {
      "id": "73b7a76c-4deb-48f3-b947-9463fed17c79",
      "slug": "poor-buoyancy-the",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-coupland/generation-x/poor-buoyancy-the",
      "text": "poor buoyancy - the realization that one was a better person when one had less money. (page 82)",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
      "chapter": null,
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      "page": null,
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      "topics": [
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          "name": "money",
          "slug": "money",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/money"
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      ],
      "source": {
        "name": "Wikiquote",
        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Generation_X:_Tales_for_an_Accelerated_Culture#P",
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    },
    {
      "id": "6d44ac31-7eb3-48ff-b09b-6d0c93a1c213",
      "slug": "mcjob-a-low-pay",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-coupland/generation-x/mcjob-a-low-pay",
      "text": "McJob - a low-pay, low-prestige, low-dignity, low-benefit, no-future job in the service sector. Frequently considered a satisfying career choice by people who have never held one. (page 5)",
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        {
          "name": "work",
          "slug": "work",
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      ],
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    {
      "id": "4005b0e2-ba0d-4f2d-9d85-d842e633d460",
      "slug": "fame-induced-apathy-the",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-coupland/generation-x/fame-induced-apathy-the",
      "text": "fame-induced apathy - the attitude that no activity is worth pursuing unless one can become very famous pursuing it. Fame-induced apathy mimics laziness, but its roots are much deeper. (page 150)",
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        {
          "name": "laziness",
          "slug": "laziness",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/laziness"
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      ],
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    {
      "id": "2e221eda-93c2-4174-9d3d-a7fa76dfb8cc",
      "slug": "dorian-graying-the",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-coupland/generation-x/dorian-graying-the",
      "text": "Dorian Graying - the unwillingness to gracefully allow one's body to show signs of aging. (page 164)",
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      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "old age",
          "slug": "old-age",
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      "id": "2f60093b-5ab4-43a5-b4b7-cc19918ca8b3",
      "slug": "clique-maintenance-the",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-coupland/generation-x/clique-maintenance-the",
      "text": "clique maintenance - the need of one generation to see the generation following it as deficient so as to bolster its own collective ego: \"Kids today do nothing. They're so apathetic. We used to go out and protest. All they do is shop and complain.\" (page 21)",
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      "id": "28dd24f8-e792-44d2-9634-8669588f24ce",
      "slug": "brazilification-the-widening",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-coupland/generation-x/brazilification-the-widening",
      "text": "Brazilification - the widening gulf between the rich and the poor and the accompanying disappearance of the middle classes. (page 11)",
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      "topics": [
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          "name": "social inequality",
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}