The young always have the same problem — how to rebel and conform at the same time. They have now solved this by defying their parents and copying one another.

Quentin Crisp (1908–1999), the English writer and self-styled “stately homo of England,” became widely known for his memoir and for his sharp, epigrammatic observations about social behavior. This remark belongs to the persona he cultivated in interviews and public appearances from the 1970s onward: a witty outsider commenting on conformity, fashion, and the performance of identity. Crisp often contrasted his own refusal (and inability) to blend in with what he saw as the herd instincts of modern life. The line targets youth culture in particular, where “rebellion” can quickly harden into a new uniform enforced by peers rather than parents.

Crisp frames adolescence as a paradox: young people want to assert independence while still needing belonging. His punchline suggests that contemporary youth resolve this tension by redirecting conformity away from family authority and toward peer approval—rebelling against parents becomes a badge of membership in a group that looks, talks, and behaves similarly. The quote satirizes “rebellion” as a style rather than a substantive challenge to norms, implying that the desire to fit in can be stronger than the desire to be free. It also reflects Crisp’s broader skepticism about fashion and trend-following as substitutes for genuine individuality.