And the wild things roared their terrible roars and gnashed their terrible teeth and rolled their terrible eyes and showed their terrible claws.
Maurice SendakRead
Children do live in fantasy and reality; they move back and forth very easily in a way we no longer remember how to do.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Children easily transition between imagination and reality, a skill often lost in adulthood.
This quote by Maurice Sendak highlights the unique ability of children to fluidly navigate between the realms of fantasy and reality. Unlike adults, who often become constrained by practicality and logic, children embrace their imagination with remarkable ease, a capacity that enriches their experience and understanding of the world.
Themes
ChildrenFantasyRealityImaginationCreativity
In practice
Example use cases
A teacher might use this quote to inspire artistic projects in children.
More from Maurice Sendak
All quotes βFrom their earliest years children live on familiar terms with disrupting emotions, fear and anxiety are an intrinsic part of their everyday lives, they continually cope with frustrations as best they can. And it is through fantasy that children achieve catharsis. It is the best means they have for taming Wild Things.
Maurice SendakRead
I'm totally crazy, I know that. I don't say that to be a smartass, but I know that that's the very essence of what makes my work good. And I know my work is good. Not everybody likes it, that's fine. I don't do it for everybody. Or anybody. I do it because I can't not do it.
Maurice SendakRead
That always seemed to be the most critical test that a child was confronted with - loss of parents, loss of direction, loss of love. Can you live without a mother and a father?
Maurice SendakRead
One 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 SendakRead
To get a child's trust - you may know or not - is a very hard thing to do. They're so used to not believing adults - because adults tell tales and lies all the time.
Maurice SendakRead
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