Children do live in fantasy and reality; they move back and forth very easily in a way we no longer remember how to do.
—Maurice Sendak
We’ve educated children to think that spontaneity is inappropriate. Children are willing to expose themselves to experiences. We aren’t. Grownups always say they protect their children, but they’re really protecting themselves. Besides, you can’t protect children. They know everything.
—Maurice Sendak
Children are tough, though we tend to think of them as fragile. They have to be tough. Childhood is not easy. We sentimentalize children, but they know what’s real and what’s not. They understand metaphor and symbol. If children are different from us, they are more spontaneous. Grown-up lives have become overlaid with dross.
—Maurice Sendak
There must be more to life than having everything.
—Maurice Sendak
Topics: Appreciation, Blessings, Gratitude
To be a healthy person, you have to be sympathetic to the child you once were and maintain the continuity between you as a child and you as an adult
—Maurice Sendak
Wondering Whom to Read Next?
Aaron Copland American Composer
Alvin Toffler American Writer, Futurist
Harvey Fierstein American Actor
Edward Albee American Playwright
Carl Reiner American Comedian
Arthur Miller American Playwright
Philip Roth American Novelist, Short-story Writer
James Randi Canadian-American Escapologist
Stephen Fry English Actor, Writer
Oliver Sacks British Neurologist, Writer