SOLNESS
It terrifies me–terrifies me every hour of the day. For sooner or later the luck must turn, you see.
DR. HERDAL
Oh nonsense! What should make the luck turn?
SOLNESS
The younger generation.
DR. HERDAL
Pooh! The younger generation! You are not laid on the shelf yet, I should hope. Oh no–your position is probably firmer now than it has ever been.
SOLNESS
The luck will turn, I know it.–I feel the day approaching, Some one or other will take it into his head to say: Give me a chance! And then all the rest will come clamouring after him, and shake their fists at me and shout: Make room–make room–make room! Yes, just you see, doctor–presently the younger generation will come knocking at my door––

In this exchange from Henrik Ibsen's "The Master Builder," Solness reveals the anxiety that gnaws at him despite his outward success. He expresses a fear that the "younger generation" will soon challenge his hard-won position. This moment encapsulates his dread of inevitable change and the passage of time—forces he cannot control or manipulate as he has with people in his life. His worry that "luck must turn" underscores a deep insecurity that his achievements are fleeting and precarious. Solness's belief that younger talents will "come knocking at [his] door" reflects his awareness of the relentless march of progress and the ephemeral nature of status. This anxiety is emblematic of a broader theme within the play: the struggle between ambition and the inexorable forces of youth and change.