In every age "the good old days" were a myth. No one ever thought they were good at the time. For every age has consisted of crises that seemed intolerable to the people who lived through them.

Atkinson challenges nostalgia by arguing that “the good old days” are largely a retrospective invention. What later generations romanticize as stable or virtuous periods were, to those living in them, filled with anxieties, upheavals, and problems that felt immediate and overwhelming. The quote reframes historical memory as selective: people tend to forget ordinary hardship and recall comforting narratives of simplicity or order. Its significance lies in urging historical humility and emotional perspective—today’s crises are not unprecedented, and longing for an imagined past can distract from the work of addressing present realities.