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Quote by Louise J. Kaplan

“It is a human circumstance that when we are born we have not yet come into existence. We are lured into our special human existence by a mothering presence that gratifies our innate urges to be suckled, held, rocked, caressed. But that same gratifying presence puts limits on desire and rations satisfaction. In this sense the mother is also the first lawgiver.”

Quote by Louise J. Kaplan

Book:Adolescence: The Farewell to Childhood

Work

Adolescence: The Farewell to Childhood

This book delves into the complexities of adolescence, examining the psychological, social, and emotional changes experienced during this transformative period in life. It provides insights into the challenges and milestones that young people encounter as they navigate the transition from childhood to adulthood. more

Author

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 invisible bond that gives the baby rein to discover his place in the world also brings the creeping baby back to home base....In this way he recharges himself. He refuels on the loving energies that flow to him from his mother. Then he's off for another foray of adventure and exploration.”

World Way Giving Home Mother Energy Adventure Baby Flow Invisible Exploration Places In The World Reins Home Base

Author:Louise J. Kaplan

“Normally an infant learns to use his mother as a "beacon of orientation" during the first five months of life. The mother's presence is like a fixed light that gives the child the security to move out safely to explore the world and then return safely to harbor.”

World Giving Firsts Children Use Light Moving Mother Five Security Months Return Fixed Infant Harbors Orientation Beacons

Book:Oneness and separateness: from infant to individual

Source: Oneness and separateness: from infant to individual

“Fathers have a special excitement about them that babies find intriguing. At this time in his life an infant counts on his motherfor rootedness and anchoring. He can count on his father to be just different enough from a mother. Fathers embody a delicious mixture of familiarity and novelty. They are novel without being strange or frightening.”

Different Enough Mother Father Novel Special Strange Baby Excitement Frightening Delicious Infant Mixtures Novelty Familiarity Intriguing Being A Father Rootedness

Book:Oneness and separateness: from infant to individual

Source: Oneness and separateness: from infant to individual

“Another reason for the increased self-centeredness of an adolescent is her susceptibility to humiliation. This brazen, defiant creature is also something tender, raw, thin-skinned, poignantly vulnerable. Her entire sense of personal worth can be shattered by a frown. An innocuous clarification of facts can be heard as a monumental criticism.”

Self Reason Facts Heard Creatures Criticism Vulnerable Adolescence Humiliation Shattered Brazen Self Centeredness Centeredness Susceptibility Clarification Personal Worth

Book:Adolescence: The Farewell to Childhood

Source: Adolescence: The Farewell to Childhood

“It is an odd fact that what we now know of the mental and emotional life of infants surpasses what we comprehend about adolescents. . . . That they do not confide in us is hardly surprising. They use wise discretion in disguising themselves with the caricatures we design for them. And unfortunately for us, as for them, too often adolescents retain the caricatured personalities they had merely meant to try on for size.”

Knows Trying Facts Use Wise Design Emotional Personality Size Odd Surprising Adolescence Infant Discretion Caricatures Emotional Life

Author:Louise J. Kaplan

“Adolescence is a time of active deconstruction, construction, reconstruction--a period in which past, present, and future are rewoven and strung together on the threads of fantasies and wishes that do not necessarily follow the laws of linear chronology.”

Together Past Law Wish Fantasy Periods Future Active Construction Thread Adolescence Linear Reconstruction Past Present Past Present And Future Deconstruction Chronology

Book:Adolescence: The Farewell to Childhood

Source: Adolescence: The Farewell to Childhood

“During adolescence imagination is boundless. The urge toward self-perfection is at its peak. And with all their self- absorption and personalized dreams of glory, youth are in pursuit of something larger than personal passions, some values or ideals to which they might attach their imaginations.”

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Author: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.”

“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.”

Firsts Children Doe Form Order Sin Existence Moral Steps Break Journey Authority Standards Conscience Reasonable Ethical First Steps Questioning Minors Adolescence Harsh Mundane Omission

Author:Louise J. Kaplan

“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.”