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The countenances of children, like those of animals, are masks, not faces, for they have not yet developed a significant profile of their own.
W. H. Auden
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Children's expressions are superficial and do not yet reveal their true selves.

This quote by W. H. Auden suggests that the outward appearances or expressions (countenances) of children, similar to animals, do not convey their true inner identities. At a young age, individuals have not yet forged a strong personal identity or character, and their outward expressions are mere masks that do not fully capture the complexity of their developing selves.

Themes

ChildrenIdentityExpressionPhilosophyDevelopment

In practice

Example use cases

This quote can be used in a discussion about child development in a parenting seminar.

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Death is the sound of distant thunder at a picnic.
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History is, strictly speaking, the study of questions; the study of answers belongs to anthropology and sociology.
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'Healing,' Papa would tell me, 'is not a science, but the intuitive art of wooing nature.'
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