Grown-ups desperately need to feel safe, and then they project onto the kids. But what none of us seem to realize is how smart kids are. They donโt like what we write for them, what we dish up for them, because itโs vapid, so theyโll go for the hard words, theyโll go for the hard concepts, theyโll go for the stuff where they can learn something. Not didactic things, but passionate things.
Maurice SendakCertainly we want to protect our children from new and painful experiences that are beyond their emotional comprehension and that intensify anxiety; and to a point we can prevent premature exposure to such experiences.
Maurice SendakOne of the few graces of getting old - and God knows there are few graces - is that if you've worked hard and kept your nose to the grindstone, something happens: The body gets old but the creative mechanism is refreshed, smoothed and oiled and honed. That is the grace. That is what's happening to me.
Maurice Sendak