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Quote by Louise J. Kaplan

“Though they themselves might be as surprised as their parents and teachers to hear it said, adolescents--these poignantly thin- skinned and vulnerable, passionate and impulsive, starkly sexual and monstrously self-absorbed creatures--are, in fact, avid seekers of moral authenticity. They wish above all to achieve some realistic power over the real world in which they live while at the same time remaining true to their values and ideals.”

Quote by Louise J. Kaplan

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Louise J. Kaplan
Louise J. Kaplan

Louise J. Kaplan was an American author born on November 18, 1929, and passed away on January 9, 2012. She was known for her diverse body of work, which included novels, poetry, and essays. more

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“The adolescent frequently supposes that she is breaking out of the confines of her mundane, schoolgirl existence simply in order to break rules and defy authority. . . . She rids herself of the "oughts" and "musts" that convert every minor infraction into a sin of omission or commission. It certainly does not occur to her or to her family that by questioning the moral standards she erected as a child she is taking the first steps in her journey toward a firmer, more reasonable, less harsh, more ethical form of conscience.”

FirstsChildrenDoeFormOrderSinExistenceMoralStepsBreakJourneyAuthorityStandardsConscienceReasonableEthicalFirst StepsQuestioningMinorsAdolescenceHarshMundaneOmission
Author:Louise J. Kaplan
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“The most significant change wrought by adolescence is the taming of the ideals by which a person measures himself. . . . Love of oneself becomes love of the species. Conscience is pointed to the future, whispering permission to reach beyond the safety net of our ordinary and finite human existence.”

HumansPersonsExistenceSelf LoveFutureOrdinaryConscienceIdealsSafetySpeciesOneselfSignificantPermissionAdolescenceFiniteHuman ExistenceWhisperingSafety NetTamingSignificant Change
Author:Louise J. Kaplan
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“The purpose of adolescence is to revise the past, not to obliterate it. . . . Adolescence entails the deployment of family passions to the passions and ideals that bind individuals to new family units, to their communities, to the species, to nature, to the cosmos. Therefore, given half a chance, the revolution at issue in adolescence becomes a revolution of transformation, not of annihilation.”

PastPurposePassionIndividualGivenCommunityChanceHalfIssuesRevolutionIdealsTransformationSpeciesCosmosAdolescenceUnitsAnnihilationDeploymentFamily UnitNew Family
Author:Louise J. Kaplan
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“When a child becomes an adult . . . the elders are fearful. And for good reason . . . not we but they are the germinators of future generations. Will they leave us behind as we did our parents? Consign us to neatly paved retirement villages? Trample us in the dust as they go flying out to their new galaxies? We had better tie them down, flagellate them, isolate them in the family cocoon, . . . indoctrinate them into the tribal laws and make sure they kneel before the power of the elders.”

ChildrenReasonLawParentBehindsGenerationsAdultsFlyingDustTiesVillageRetirementFearfulAdolescenceGalaxyEldersFuture GenerationCocoons
Author:Louise J. Kaplan
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“Adolescence is the time to enlarge the natural sentiments of pity, friendship, and generosity, the time to develop an understanding of human nature and the varieties of human character, the time to gain insight into the strengths and weaknesses of all men and to study the history of mankind.”

MenHumansCharacterTimeUnderstandingNaturalStudyMankindStrengthHuman NatureWeaknessGainsInsightPityVarietyGenerositySentimentsAdolescenceStrength And Weakness
Book:Adolescence: The Farewell to Childhood
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“We belong to that order of mammals, the primates, distinguished by its propensity for repeated single litters, intense parental care, long life-spans, late sexual maturity, and a complex and extensive social existence... Our protracted biological and psychological helplessness, which extends well into the third year of life, intensifies the bond between infant and parents, making possible a sense of generational continuity. In contrast to other primates these bonds are not obliterated after sexual maturity.”

YearsWellsLongCareOrderSocialParentExistenceLateThirdsComplexesIntensePsychologicalMaturityContrastInfantLong LifeDistinguishedContinuityHelplessnessParentalBondingPropensityMammalsPrimatesLife SpanYears Of Life
Book:Adolescence: The Farewell to Childhood
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“A man's fatherliness is enriched as much by his acceptance of his feminine and childlike strivings as it is by his memories of tender closeness with his own father. A man who has been able to accept tenderness from his father is able later in life to be tender with his own children.”

MenChildrenHas BeensAbleFatherMemoriesAcceptingStyleAcceptanceStriveFeminineTendernessChildlikeClosenessLater In LifeParenting Styles
Book:Oneness and separateness: from infant to individual
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“As he walks away on his own two feet--the toddler's body-mind has reached its moment of perfection. The world is his and he the mighty conqueror of all he beholds.... As long as mother sticks around in the wings, the mighty acrobat confidently performs his trick of twirling in circles, walking on tiptoe, jumping, climbing, staring, naming. He is joyous, filled with his grandeur and wondrous omnipotence.”

WorldMindLongTwoMomentsBodyMotherWalksFeetWalkingPerfectionFilledWingsSticksCirclesTricksStaringClimbingJumpingJoyousGrandeurConquerorWondrousOmnipotenceToddlerTiptoesTwirling
Author:Louise J. Kaplan
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“We humans undergo two major growth spurts: one during infancy and another from eleven to twelve until fifteen or sixteen--pubescence. Between the two is a relatively quiescent growth period in which most of the body takes a rest from growing while the brain continues to mature. This period of life is general referred to as childhood or, sometimes, latency.”

HumansTwoSometimesBodyLife IsGrowthBrainGrowingChildhoodPeriodsMajorsMatureTwelveFifteenElevenSixteenInfancy
Author:Louise J. Kaplan
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