But the May Fourth era was an impatient one. Intellectuals had almost no time in which to mull or question the new ways of thinking before the urgency of the mission to "save the nation" compelled them to make decisions. Or, as Yu put it: "Not enough thought went into May Fourth thought."
然而，五四終究是個倉促的時代，知識分子似乎還來不及思考、反芻甚至質疑新思潮的內涵，便因「救國」使命的催逼而驟然做出選擇，或如余英時所說：五四在思想上「準備不足」。