“What I do as best I can is out of a deep respect for children, for how difficult their world is.”
Respect
“I'd like to believe an accumulation of experience has made me a sort of a grown-up person, so I can have judgment and taste and whatever.”
ExperienceAll Quotes by Maurice Sendak
“As a kid, all I thought about was death.”
Death“I think people should be given a test much like driver's tests as to whether they're capable of being parents! It's an art form. I talk a lot. And I think a lot. And I draw a lot. But never in a million years would I have been a parent. That's just work that's too hard.”
Art“My life in Brooklyn was in constant danger because of my bad health.”
Health“The distinctions of fine art bore me to death.”
Death“I hate those e-books. They can not be the future... they may well be... I will be dead.”
Future“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.”
Trust“I hate those e-books. They cannot be the future. They may well be.”
Future“Girls are infinitely more complicated than boys and women more than men. And there's no doubt about that. We just don't like to think about it. Certainly the men don't like to think about it.”
Women“I don't need faith.”
Faith“Most children - I know I did when I was a kid - fantasize another set of parents. Or fantasize no parents. They don't tell their real parents about that - you don't want to tell Mom and Dad. Kids lead a very private life. And I was a typical child, I think. I was a liar.”
Dad“I'm not afraid of death.”
Death“In plain terms, a child is a complicated creature who can drive you crazy. There's a cruelty to childhood, there's an anger.”
Anger“I adored Mickey Mouse when I was a child. He was the emblem of happiness and funniness.”
Happiness“My father could be very witty, even if the humor was always on the darker side of irony.”
Humor“When I did 'Bumble-ardy,' I was so intensely aware of death. Eugene, my friend and partner, was dying here in the house when I did 'Bumble-ardy'. I did 'Bumble-ardy' to save myself. I did not want to die with him. I wanted to live, as any human being does.”
Death“Oh, I adored Mickey Mouse when I was a child. He was the emblem of happiness and funniness. You went to the movies then, you saw two movies and a short. When Mickey Mouse came on the screen and there was his big head, my sister said she had to hold onto me. I went berserk.”
Happiness“Do parents sit down and tell their kids everything? I don't know. I don't know. I've convinced myself - I hope I'm right - that children despair of you if you don't tell them the truth.”
Hope“I became a set designer for opera. I'm a great opera buff, I love classical music, and I needed a time-out.”
Music“I've convinced myself - I hope I'm right - that children despair of you if you don't tell them the truth.”
Hope