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
I have to accept my role. I will never kill myself like Vincent Van Gogh. Nor will I paint beautiful water lilies like Monet. I can't do that. I'm in the idiot role of being a kiddie book person.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Accepting one's role and limitations in the creative landscape.
In this quote, Maurice Sendak reflects on the importance of recognizing and accepting one's own artistic identity and role within the larger picture of art and creativity. He compares himself to iconic artists like Vincent Van Gogh and Claude Monet, acknowledging their greatness while simultaneously embracing his own unique contribution as a creator of children's literature.
Themes
AcceptanceArtIdentitySelf-RecognitionCreativity
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech on embracing individuality, one might reference Sendak's role as a children's author.
More from Maurice Sendak
All quotes →From 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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