"My sense about Greta is that people ought to wait and see and see if she doesn't indeed turn out to be as balanced as we hope and expect she will. But there you are"
About this Quote
The key move is the passive, communal framing: “people ought to.” Hume isn’t owning a critique; he’s laundering it through a vague public that just happens to share his concerns. Then comes the loaded word “balanced,” a term that sounds clinical and reasonable but functions as a cultural tell. It’s less about Greta’s arguments on climate policy than about her affect, age, and intensity. “Balanced” becomes code for: not too angry, not too urgent, not too disruptive. The hope and expectation he cites aren’t neutral, either; they imply a norm Greta is currently failing to meet, even as he pretends not to judge.
The sentence is padded with qualifiers (“my sense,” “about,” “if she doesn’t indeed”), a rhetorical airbag system designed to survive impact. If challenged, he can insist he only meant fairness. Yet the final shrug - “But there you are” - gives away the real posture: a world-weary dismissal that signals to viewers that the doubt has already done its work.
Contextually, this is cable-news triangulation: appearing magnanimous while subtly delegitimizing a young activist by shifting attention from the crisis she names to her temperament.
Quote Details
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Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Hume, Brit. (2026, January 17). My sense about Greta is that people ought to wait and see and see if she doesn't indeed turn out to be as balanced as we hope and expect she will. But there you are. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-sense-about-greta-is-that-people-ought-to-wait-50159/
Chicago Style
Hume, Brit. "My sense about Greta is that people ought to wait and see and see if she doesn't indeed turn out to be as balanced as we hope and expect she will. But there you are." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-sense-about-greta-is-that-people-ought-to-wait-50159/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"My sense about Greta is that people ought to wait and see and see if she doesn't indeed turn out to be as balanced as we hope and expect she will. But there you are." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-sense-about-greta-is-that-people-ought-to-wait-50159/. Accessed 23 Feb. 2026.
