“The distinctions of fine art bore me to death.”
Death
“Childhood is a tricky business. Usually, something goes wrong.”
BusinessAll Quotes by Maurice Sendak
“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“As a kid, all I thought about was death. But you can't tell your parents that.”
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“Childhood is a tricky business. Usually, something goes wrong.”
Business“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 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“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 don't need faith.”
Faith“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“My father could be very witty, even if the humor was always on the darker side of irony.”
Humor“My life in Brooklyn was in constant danger because of my bad health.”
Health“I hate those e-books. They cannot be the future. They may well be.”
Future“There are certain pieces of music that are always attached to certain books.”
Music“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“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“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“I mean, being a child was being a child, was being a creature without power, without pocket money, without escape routes of any kind. So I didn't want to be a child.”
Money“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.”
Experience“I adored Mickey Mouse when I was a child. He was the emblem of happiness and funniness.”
Happiness