DH Lawrence

I took mum for her hospital appointment at the Royal Free Hampstead this morning. It was a long wait. I had a look around the Vale of Health, a small road off of the Heath. I had always wondered where it led.

It was a small hamlet with expensive yet friendly looking houses dotted about the private community. One of the houses had a blue plaque denoting that DH Lawrence had once lived there.

I remembered at school we had to write about one of his quotes. I had picked one I agreed with:

"Men fight for liberty and win it with hard knocks. Their children, brought up easy, let it slip away again, poor fools. And their grandchildren are once more slaves."

This still rings true to me. The post WW2 generations (of which I am one) feel fickle, shallow and naive compared to our strong, brave, resilient recent forefathers.

It feels like we have lost the spirit to strive and sweat, just expecting to be spoon-fed and over-protected. Disheartened quickly when we don't recieve instant wins, less patience, willpower or backbone.

I like the old-fashioned values of respect, hard work and commitment, but feel they are ebbing away with each new generation.

Liam Gallagher also apparently lived in this hamlet.

TED talk over.