“I think the benefit of a Catholic childhood is your belief in visual symbols as transmitters of information and clues about life, whether it's the mystery of life or life in general.” ThinkingBeliefMysteryChildhoodInformationBenefitsCatholicSymbolsVisualsClueMystery Of Life Author:Robert Gober
“In early childhood, children develop a set of symbols that 'stand for' things they see in the world around them... Children are happy with symbolic drawing until about the age of eight or nine... when children develop a passion for realism. Our schools do not provide drawing instruction. Children try on their own to discover the secrets of realistic drawing, but nearly always fail and, sadly, give up on trying.” WorldGivingTryingChildrenAgeSchoolPassionSecretFailingChildhoodGiving UpEightDrawingNineSymbolsRealisticInstructionRealismSymbolicEarly Childhood Author:Betty Edwards
“It's Aslan, the lion from The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe. It's a symbol of my hellish childhood. I struggled through my oppressive teenage years and when I turned 18 I escaped. Like Aslan I was finally free.” YearsChildhoodSymbolsWitchLionsTeenageWardrobeTeenage YearsLion Witch WardrobeLion The Witch And The Wardrobe Author:Christina Ricci
“Children became an obsessive theme in Victorian culture at the same time that they were being exploited as never before. As the horrors of life multiplied for some children, the image of childhood was increasingly exalted. Children became the last symbols of purity in a world which was seen as increasingly ugly.” WorldChildrenLastsCultureChildhoodHorrorUglySymbolsPurityThemeObsessiveExaltedVictorian Author:C. Sommerville
“Over time we are able to undermine habitual modes of thinking formed by our self-made self in early childhood, which tries to squeeze happiness from the gratification of our desires for the symbols in our culture of survival and security, power and control, and affection and esteem.” ThinkingTryingMadeSelfAbleDesireCultureChildhoodSecuritySurvivalAffectionEsteemSymbolsGratificationHabitualSelf MadeEarly ChildhoodPower And Control Author:Thomas Keating
“My audience is made up of two groups of people. The first group includes people whose roots are deep in the Christian faith, but for whom the traditional symbols, as traditionally understood, no longer make sense. The other audience is the audience that has left. I call them the Church Alumni Association, citizens of the secular city. They are a bit nostalgic about this faith of their childhood, but they aren't really interested in trotting it out or becoming involved with it again as it is presently organized.” PeopleFirstsMadeTwoChristianLeftBitsChurchCitiesAudienceGroupsChildhoodBecomingCitizensInvolvedUnderstoodRootsTraditionalSymbolsMake SenseOrganizedAssociationSecularNostalgicChristian FaithAlumniTrottingBecoming Involved Author:John Shelby Spong
“The kindly God who lovingly fashioned each and every one of us and sprinkled the sky with shining stars for our delight - that God is, like Santa Claus, a myth of childhood, not anything [that] a sane, undeluded adult could literally believe in. That God must either be turned into a symbol for something less concrete or abandoned altogether.” BelieveReligionStarsSkyAtheismChildhoodAdultsShiningDelightMythSymbolsAbandonedConcreteSaneSantaSanta ClausShining Star Book:Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meaning of Life Source: Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meaning of Life