"We're animals. We're violent. We're criminal. We're not so far away from the gorillas and the apes, those beautiful creatures. … And then, we're supposed to be civilized. We're supposed to go to work every day. We're supposed to be nice to our friends and send Christmas cards to our parents. We're supposed to do all these things which trouble us deeply because it's so against what we naturally would want to do. And if I've done anything, I've had kids express themselves as they are, impolitely, lovingly — they don't mean any harm. They just don't know what the right way is. And as it turns out sometimes the so-called "right way" is utterly the wrong way. What a monstrous confusion."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Atheists from the United StatesPhilanthropists from the United StatesChildren's authorsPeople from New York CityArtists from the United States
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Imported from EN Wikiquote
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Maurice_Sendak
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Maurice Sendak
Maurice Bernard Sendak (10 June 1928 – 8 May 2012) was an American writer and illustrator of children's literature.
35 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Maurice Sendak →
Related Quotes
"And now," cried Max, "let the wild rumpus start!"
"Please don't go. We'll eat you up. We love you so."
"Certainly we want to protect our children from new and painful experiences that are beyond their emotional comprehens…"
"There must be more to life than having everything!"
"I believe there is no part of our lives, our adult as well as child life, when we're not fantasizing, but we prefer t…"
"I wanted my wild things to be frightening. But why? It was probably at this point that I remembered how I detested my…"
"You cannot write for children... They're much too complicated. You can only write books that are of interest to them."
"Children are tough, though we tend to think of them as fragile. They have to be tough. Childhood is not easy. We sent…"
"We've educated children to think that spontaneity is inappropriate. Children are willing to expose themselves to expe…"
"And when he came to the place where the wild things are, they roared their terrible roars and gnashed their terrible …"