As one went to Europe to see the living past, so one must visit Southern California to observe the future.
Alison LurieWe can lie in the language of dress or try ot tell the truth; but unless we are naked and bald, it is impossible to be silent.
Alison LurieMost of the great works of juvenile literature are subversive in one way or another: they express ideas and emotions not generally approved of or even recognized at the time; they make fun of honored figures and piously held beliefs; and they view social pretenses with clear-eyed directness, remarking - as in Andersen's famous tale - that the emperor has no clothes.
Alison LurieThe fashion industry is no more able to preserve a style that men and women have decided to abandon than to introduce one they do not choose to accept.
Alison LurieGrosvenor and Burke suggest that continually, though silently, a school building tells students who they are and how they should think about the world. It can help to manufacture rote obedience or independent activity; it can create high self-confidence or low self-esteem.
Alison LurieThe great subversive works of children's literature suggest that there are other views of human life besides those of the shopping mall and the corporation. They mock current assumptions and express the imaginative, unconventional, noncommercial view of the world in its simplest and purest form. They appeal to the imaginative, questioning, rebellious child within all of us, renew our instinctive energy, and act as a force for change. This is why such literature is worthy of our attention and will endure long after more conventional tales have been forgotten.
Alison Lurie