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Adults Quotes

Browse 2979 quotes about Adults.

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Adults Quotes

“You people who have survived childhood don't remeber any longer what it was like. You think children are whole, uncomplicated creatures, and if you split them in two with a handy axe there would be all one substance inside, hard candy. But it isn't hard candy so much as a hopeless seething lava of all kinds of things, a turmoil, a mess. And once the child starts thinking about this mess he begins to disintegrate as a child and turns into something else--an adult, an animal.”

PeopleIfsThinkingKindChildrenTwoHardWholeWould BeTurnsAnimalChildhoodLike YouCreaturesAdultsAll KindsMessSubstanceHopelessSplitsSurvivedCandyTurmoilHandyLavaUncomplicatedSeethingHard Candy
Author:Joyce Carol Oates
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“It is as if the soul of the continent is weeping. Why does it weep? It weeps for the bones of the buffalo. It weeps for magic that has been forgotten. It weeps for the decline of poets.It weepsfor the black people who think like white people.It weepsfor the Indians who think like settlers.It weepsfor the children who think like adults.It weepsfor the free who think like prisoners.Most of all, it weepsfor the cowgirls who think like cowboys.”

PeopleIfsThinkingChildrenDoeHas BeensSoulBlackWhiteMagicPoetAdultsForgottenBonesPrisonerBlack PeopleDeclineContinentsCowboyWeepingBuffaloSettlersCowgirls
Author:Tom Robbins
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“I love doing the readings. The readings are the fun bits... The readings are probably the things that actually keep me going on these. If I couldn't do the readings, I wouldn't do the [signing] tours. I get to stand up there and read to a bunch of adults who in many cases nobody's read to in years, since they were about five. They just squat on the floor. That's enormously enjoyable.”

IfsYearsReadingFunBitsCasesFiveAdultsBunchEnjoyableSigningSquat
Author:Neil Gaiman
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“Don't feel guilty if you don't immediately love your stepchildren as you do your own, or as much as you think you should. Everyoneneeds time to adjust to the new family, adults included. There is no such thing as an "instant parent." Actually, no concrete object lies outside of the poetic sphere as long as the poet knows how to use the object properly.”

IfsThinkingKnowsFeelsShouldLongUseLyingPoetryParentKnow HowLove YouObjectsPoetAdultsGuiltyInstantPoeticSpheresConcreteTime Of NeedStepchildStepchildrenNew Family
Author:Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
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“Witness the American ideal: the Self-Made Man. But there is no such person. If we can stand on our own two feet, it is because others have raised us up. If, as adults, we can lay claim to competence and compassion, it only means that other human beings have been willing and enabled to commit their competence and compassion to us--through infancy, childhood, and adolescence, right up to this very moment.”

IfsMenHumansMeanPersonsHas BeensMadeTwoSelfMomentsHuman BeingsCompassionFeetChildhoodWillingAdultsIdealsClaimsLaysRaisedCommitWitnessAdolescenceCompetenceInfancySelf MadeSelf Made Man
Author:Urie Bronfenbrenner
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“If the Russians have gone too far in subjecting the child and his peer group to conformity to a single set of values imposed by the adult society, perhaps we have reached the point of diminishing returns in allowing excessive autonomy and in failing to utilize the constructive potential of the peer group in developing social responsibility and consideration for others.”

IfsChildrenValuesSocialResponsibilityGoneFailingGroupsReturnAdultsDevelopingConsiderationConformityAllowingPeersSocial ResponsibilityAutonomyConstructivePeer GroupConsideration For OthersDiminishing Returns
Book:2 Wrlds Childhood
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“When we Chinese girls listened to the adults talk-story, we learned that we failed if we grew up to be but wives or slaves. We could be heroines, swordswomen. Even if she had to rage across all China, a swordswoman got even with anybody who hurt her family. Perhaps women were once so dangerous that they had to have their feet bound.”

IfsStoriesGirlHurtWifeFeetDangerousGrewGrew UpAdultsIndependenceSlaveBoundsChinaRageChineseHeroines
Book:The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts
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“It is one of the paradoxes of parenting, and often a painful paradox, that even as our children need us for love and trust, they also need us for honest differing. It's not only over limits and rules...[but also] about what we represent in the way of culture, traditions, and values. We owe it to our children to let them know what we believe, and if they differ with us, we owe it to them to be honest adversaries, for it is through this honest confrontation that children can grow into adults who have a firm sense of their place in the sequence of the generations.”

IfsKnowsWayNeedsBelieveChildrenValuesCultureGrowsGenerationsHonestLimitsAdultsTraditionOur ChildrenPainfulBeing HonestFirmParadoxSequenceAdversariesConfrontationLove And Trust
Author:Fred Rogers
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“Young children learn in a different manner from that of older children and adults, yet we can teach them many things if we adapt our materials and mode of instruction to their level of ability. But we miseducate young children when we assume that their learning abilities are comparable to those of older children and that they can be taught with materials and with the same instructional procedures appropriate to school-age children.”

IfsChildrenDifferentAgeSchoolYoungAbilityLevelsTeachChildhoodTaughtMaterialsAdultsAssumingAppropriateInstructionProceduresYoung ChildrenEarly ChildhoodEarly Childhood Education
Book:Miseducation: preschoolers at risk
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“Normal children of both sexes and all cultures will follow a more or less standard and universal developmental pattern and timetable, and reach approximately the same level of development at maturity. While a particular culture's need and expectations and teaching will shape the course of development and affect adult capabilities to some degree, normal individuals, whatever their native culture, if transplanted and taught, could learn to meet the normal demands of their adapted cultures.”

IfsNeedsChildrenCultureCoursesIndividualSexLevelsTeachingTaughtParticularDevelopmentShapesDemandDegreesNormalStandardsExpectationsAdultsUniversalPatternsMaturityNativeCapabilityAdaptedDevelopmentalTimetables
Book:Daughters: from infancy to independence
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“More and more I've come to understand that listening is one of the most important things we can do for one another. Whether the other be an adult or a child, our engagement in listening to who that person is can often be our greatest gift. Whether that person is speaking or playing or dancing, building or singing or painting, if we care, we can listen.”

IfsChildrenPersonsImportantCareCan DoBuildingPaintingListeningSingingAdultsImportant ThingsDancingEngagementGreatest GiftsOften Is
Book:Wisdom from the World According to Mister Rogers: Important Things to Remember
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“If I could summarize my suggestions to parents over the past twenty-five years it would be: worry less, criticize less, preach less, listen more, have more fun, be more honest with your own feelings, develop your own joys and friendships, and don't sweat the small stuff (which is nearly everything). The goal is not to be a perfect parent, because no such thing exists. The hope is to be a good enough parent so that your child leaves home a responsible adult who can take care of him or herself.”

IfsYearsChildrenEnoughFeelingsHomeWould BeCarePastJoyFunStuffParentGoalPerfectWorryFiveHonestAdultsTwentiesResponsibleOur ChildrenTake CareYour ChildrenFive YearsIf I CouldCriticizeGood EnoughSweatSuggestionsOver The PastTwenty FiveSmall StuffSweat The Small StuffWorry LessPerfect Parents
Author:Charlotte Sophia Kasl
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“Why am I more cautious as I age instead of the other way around? I wonder if it's all tied in to failure. I tend to forget my gains and remember only the losses. The failures have piled up, wreaking havoc with my confidence until, as an adult, I've become afraid to take chances.”

IfsWayAgeRememberChanceLossForgetWonderAdultsGainsTiedTake A ChanceCautiousHavoc
Book:A Year by the Sea: Thoughts of an Unfinished Woman
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“If you throw the baby away, that's garbage. But no, the heart's precious. You could get something, you could save a life. Well, you just threw away a baby but the heart's valuable. That's the horror and the terror and the hypocrisy that nobody can understand. We base communities on the idea of protecting children based on the sacrifice of adults. Adults work and die so that their next generation would grow and prosper.”

IfsWellsHeartChildrenIdeasDiesNextGrowsCommunityGenerationsSacrificeBabyHorrorAdultsTerrorValuableHypocrisyGarbageNext GenerationSave A LifeProtecting Children
Author:Greg Gutfeld
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“While the Western society gives total freedom to the individuals to do whatever "consenting adults" please, which admittedly is better than having the government poke into your private life and your bedroom, like in Islamic countries, there are no moral compasses to tell what is right from wrong. The very notion of right and wrong has come under question. The motto is "if it feels good do it". Hedonism rules!”

IfsGivingFeelsCountryGovernmentIndividualMoralPleaseAdultsWesternNotionFeel GoodIslamicBedroomMottoCompassPrivate LifePokeHedonismMoral CompassWestern Society
Author:Ali Sina
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“People just like the thrill of anything. Dangerous things and dark things are exciting. Like as a kid, I knew I wasn't going to get killed if I went into the Haunted House but you kind of feel like you are. And when it comes out the track the other side, it's like, "we're still alive"! And I find it really funny when adults get really scared because I've not been really scared since I saw Jaws when I was a little kid. I just think people like the thrill of it, they like to feel like they accomplished something, that they survived the movie.”

PeopleIfsThinkingFeelsKindLittlesStillsKidsHouseSidesDarkSawsAliveDangerousLike YouAdultsExcitingTrackScaredAccomplishedSurvivedThrillLittle KidGet RealDangerous ThingsDark ThingsHaunted Houses
Author:Rob Zombie
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“I've really dreamed of doing television. All of us do television, coming up. But when I was coming up, television was a black hole for actors. Now, television has a certain cache. Now everybody wants to be on TV because they're doing adult dramas. If you're an actor, it's like, "Well, get me on television," because it's the only place you can do it and also make a living at it. If my kids need shoes, I better do a TV show because I damn sure don't make any money with independent films.”

IfsWantNeedsWellsShowsKidsFilmCertainActorsBlackCan DoTelevisionTvsDramaAdultsIndependentShoesHolesDamnTv ShowsYou Can Do ItIndependent FilmBlack HoleCache
Author:Billy Bob Thornton
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“Writing from a teen's perspective is easy as pie. At least I've actually been a teen. I've never been a woman, or an ethnic minority, or a weary old man. If anything, writing from the perspective of a child is probably easier for me. When I was a kid everyone thought I was so clever and precocious. Now that I'm adult, everyone thinks that I'm kinda odd and childish.”

IfsThinkingMenWritingChildrenKidsEasyPerspectiveEasierAdultsCleverOddMinoritiesOld ManPieWearyPrecocious
Author:Patrick Rothfuss
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“As a Catholic, you can have two views on capital punishment. You can think, let Caesar do what Caesar needs to do, and the law says you can impose capital punishment, so you impose it. You can [also] be a Catholic who says we can't kill, we can't kill babies and we can't kill adults. If you let a decision be driven by your personal views, then you are not doing what a judge needs to do, which is enforce the laws of the society that you are in. But you can control your own behavior, and that is the choice that the church and God gives us - what kind of people are we going to be.”

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Author:Sonia Sotomayor
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“Kids, if anything, are harder to write for because they are a more discerning audience. They will not stay with you if you go off on a tangent or if you give them extraneous information that doesn't serve the story. You really have to tell a tight story. You have to give them humor and suspense and believable characters. All those things that adults want too, but you have to be really on your game when you're writing for kids.”

IfsWantGivingWritingCharacterStoriesKidsGamesAudienceInformationAdultsHarderSuspenseBelievableDiscerning
Author:Rick Riordan
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“Now, I don't mean to say that being wrong is the same thing as being creative. What we do know is, if you're not prepared to be wrong, you'll never come up with anything original. If you're not prepared to be wrong. And by the time they get to be adults, most kids have lost that capacity. They have become frightened of being wrong. And we run our companies like this, by the way, we stigmatize mistakes. And we're now running national education systems where mistakes are the worst thing you can make.”

IfsKnowsWayMeanRunningKidsLostBusinessMistakeCompanyCreativeWorstAdultsCapacityOriginalsPreparedCome UpFrightenedWorst ThingsBe CreativeEducation SystemBeing Wrong
Author:Ken Robinson
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“Much of the message that I try to put across to students is that they have to figure out what they really like to do and find a way to do that as an adult for their jobs. A lot of people have jobs they don't like, and it makes for very unhappy people. So I tell them if you like to write, or run around, or dig in the dirt, then find a job that will allow you to do that, and you'll be happy.”

PeopleIfsWayWritingTryingRunningJobsFiguresStudentsMessagesAdultsUnhappyDirtHappy PeopleUnhappy People
Author:Kadir Nelson
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“The children are our future. And that is why, ultimately, we're screwed unless we do something about it. If you haven't noticed, the children who are our future are good-looking, but they aren't all that bright. As dense as they might be, they will eventually notice that adults have spent all the money, spread disease, and turned the planet into a smoky, filthy ball of death. We're raising an entire generation of dumb, pissed-off kids who know where the handguns are kept. This is not a good recipe for a happy future.”

IfsKnowsChildrenMightKidsGenerationsHavensPlanetsFutureDiseaseAdultsBallsSpreadDumbOur FutureRecipesLooking GoodDenseFilthyPissed OffHandguns
Author:Scott Adams
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“I like movies that work on two levels - like The Simpsons, kids can watch it and adults can watch it. Teenagers can watch Hostel and if they want to see a blood and guts violent movie they're going to have a great time. They're going to scream and yell, it's a great date movie because they're going to squeeze their date and their date is probably going to be too scared to go home... so you take them home and put on Dirty Dancing and everybody wins.”

IfsWantTwoHomeKidsWinningLevelsWatchesBloodAdultsDancingScaredViolentTeenagerDirtyGutsScreamGreat TimesDate MovieViolent Movies
Author:Eli Roth
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“My dad and mom were more like World War II-era parents, even though it was the 1960s, because they were both born in the '40s. They were young adults before the '60s even happened, and married, and already having kids. But by the time we were adolescents in the '70s, the whole culture was screaming at parents, "You're a good parent if you're open with your kids about sex." They attempted to be open with us about sex, and it made them want to die, and consequently, it made us want to die.”

IfsWorldWantMadeWarWholeKidsYoungDiesCultureSexParentBornHappenedMomDadMarriedAdultsMy DadYoung AdultErasWar Of The WorldsWorld War IiWorld War I1960sWanting To DieHaving KidsGood Parent
Author:Dan Savage
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“You don't need Little League. You don't even need nine kids. Four is plenty-a pitcher, a batter, and a couple of shaggers. You can play ball all day long. My kids used to try to get me out there, but I'd just say, "Go play with your brothers." If kids want to do something, they'll do it. They don't need adults to do it for them.”

IfsWantNeedsTryingLittlesLongPlayKidsUsedFourBrotherCoupleAdultsBallsNinePlentyLeaguePitcherYour BrotherLittle League
Author:Yogi Berra
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