Maurice Sendak Quotes

Powerful Maurice Sendak for Daily Growth

About Maurice Sendak

**Maurice Bernard Sendak** (June 10, 1928 – May 8, 2012) was an illustrious American writer and artist, renowned for his poignant and imaginative children's literature that continues to enchant generations. Born in Brooklyn, New York, Sendak was the son of Polish Jewish immigrants. His early years were deeply influenced by his grandmother who shared tales from Yiddish folklore, sparking a lifelong passion for storytelling. In 1948, he began working as a window dresser at a toy store, where he created elaborate scenes inspired by his dreams and imagination. This experience led him to illustrate children's books. In 1957, Sendak published his first book, 'Alligators All Around', but it was the following year that he gained widespread acclaim with 'Where the Wild Things Are'. The story of Max's imaginative adventure and the love expressed through a simple sentence, "I'll eat you up! I love you so!", resonated profoundly with children and adults alike. In 1971, Sendak published 'In the Night Kitchen', another beloved tale that featured dreamlike imagery and a spirited young hero named Mickey. Throughout his career, he continued to create captivating stories that delved into themes of childhood, fear, and the power of imagination, including 'Outside Over There' (1981) and 'Brundibar' (1973). Despite facing adversities such as censorship and personal challenges, Sendak remained dedicated to creating books that reflected the emotional complexities of childhood. He was a five-time recipient of the Caldecott Medal for most distinguished American picture book for children, an achievement that solidified his place among the greatest authors in children's literature. Maurice Sendak passed away in 2012, leaving behind a timeless body of work that continues to inspire and captivate readers worldwide.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"There's more than one way across a forest."

The quote "There's more than one way across a forest" suggests that there are multiple solutions, paths, or approaches to achieving a goal or navigating through life's challenges. It encourages us to be creative, adaptable, and open-minded in finding our own unique journey towards success or understanding. This wisdom can inspire us to not feel stuck or discouraged when faced with obstacles, and to believe that there are always different paths we can take to reach our destination.

"I remember my own childhood and I remember the books that helped me then, and I try to write the books I needed most."

This quote by Maurice Sendak reflects his belief in the power of literature, especially children's books, as a source of comfort, understanding, and inspiration during one's formative years. By writing stories that resonate with his own childhood experiences and emotions, he aims to provide similar solace and learning opportunities for future generations of young readers. This approach is not just about creating art, but about contributing to the emotional growth and well-being of children through storytelling.

"Children have an innate capacity to fall in love with books. They need to be taken very seriously."

This quote by Maurice Sendak emphasizes the profound emotional connection children can form with books, suggesting that this bond is not a mere pastime but a significant aspect of their development. It underscores the importance of treating children's literary interests with respect and seriousness, as it plays a crucial role in fostering their imagination, empathy, and overall intellectual growth.

"The forest is a place where the wild things are. It's not a tame place."

The quote emphasizes that nature, symbolized by the forest, is not a domesticated or controlled environment, but rather a realm of untamed wildness. It suggests that within nature lies an inherent wildness that we as humans may find intimidating, challenging, or even exciting, yet it also reminds us of the raw beauty and power that exists beyond our tame human-built worlds.

"We're never really comfortable, and perhaps that's why we like stories about wild places and dangerous animals and brave adventures."

Maurice Sendak's quote suggests that humans have an innate longing for the unfamiliar, the wild, and the daring – elements often found in stories of far-off lands, wild creatures, and heroic journeys. This desire may stem from our discomfort with the predictability and routine of everyday life, seeking escape and excitement through narratives that push us beyond our own boundaries and comfort zones. By immersing ourselves in such tales, we can vicariously experience adventure, confront danger, and explore the unknown – all while remaining safe within the pages of a book.

I adored Mickey Mouse when I was a child. He was the emblem of happiness and funniness.

- Maurice Sendak

Happiness, Mouse, He, Mickey

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.

- Maurice Sendak

Big, Screen, Had, Mickey

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.

- Maurice Sendak

Kind, Want, Being, Routes

I did not know how to paint a mural. I did not know how to prepare the surface. There was nobody from the Renaissance around who could advise me, and I did the best I could.

- Maurice Sendak

Prepare, Surface, Mural, Advise

Newt Gingrich is an idiot of great renown... There's something so hopelessly gross and vile about him it's hard to take him seriously.

- Maurice Sendak

Idiot, Gross, Newt, Renown

My parents were ignorant peasants from the Old World.

- Maurice Sendak

World, Peasants, Were, Old World

You know who my gods are, who I believe in fervently? Herman Melville, Emily Dickinson - she's probably the top - Mozart, Shakespeare, Keats. These are wonderful gods who have gotten me through the narrow straits of life.

- Maurice Sendak

Through, Gods, Gotten, Emily

I had a brother who was my savior, made my childhood bearable.

- Maurice Sendak

Childhood, Made, Had, Savior

Certainly we want to protect our children from new and painful experiences that are beyond their emotional comprehension and that intensify anxiety; and to a point we can prevent premature exposure to such experiences.

- Maurice Sendak

New, Want, Certainly, Premature

I remember how much - when I was a small boy I was taken to see a version of 'Peter Pan.' I detested it. I mean, the sentimental idea that anybody would want to remain a boy.

- Maurice Sendak

Small, I Remember, Idea, Pan

'Hansel and Gretel' is one of the scariest stories ever written! Psychotic mother; stupid, inane father.

- Maurice Sendak

Mother, Stupid, Ever, Scariest

When Mozart is playing in my room, I am in conjunction with something I can't explain... I don't need to. I know that if there's a purpose for life, it was for me to hear Mozart.

- Maurice Sendak

Purpose, Need, Explain, Mozart

I write books that seem more suitable for children, and that's OK with me. They are a better audience and tougher critics. Kids tell you what they think, not what they think they should think.

- Maurice Sendak

Think, Audience, I Write, OK

I have this idiot name tag which says 'controversial.'

- Maurice Sendak

Idiot, Name, Which, Controversial

I want to be alone and work until the day my heads hits the drawing table and I'm dead. Kaput. I feel very much like I want to be with my brother and sister again. They're nowhere. I know they're nowhere and they don't exist, but if nowhere means that's where they are, that's where I want to be.

- Maurice Sendak

Dead, Feel, Very, Table

I don't believe in an afterlife but I still fully expect to see my brother again.

- Maurice Sendak

See, Expect, Still, Fully

I became a set designer for opera. I'm a great opera buff, I love classical music, and I needed a time-out.

- Maurice Sendak

Love, Set, Became, Buff

I'm not Hans Christian Anderson. Nobody's gonna make a statue in the park with a lot of scrambling kids climbing up me. I won't have it, okay?

- Maurice Sendak

Okay, Anderson, Gonna, Climbing

I'm scared of watching a TV show about vampires. I can't fall asleep.

- Maurice Sendak

Fall, TV, TV Show, Scared

Parents shouldn't assume children are made out of sugar candy and will break and collapse instantly. Kids don't. We do.

- Maurice Sendak

Will, Candy, Break, Assume

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.

- Maurice Sendak

Myself, Tell, Them, Despair

I've convinced myself - I hope I'm right - that children despair of you if you don't tell them the truth.

- Maurice Sendak

Myself, Tell, Them, Despair

Parents shouldn't assume children are made out of sugar candy and will break and collapse instantly.

- Maurice Sendak

Will, Candy, Break, Assume

It's no fun being lonely.

- Maurice Sendak

Fun, Lonely, Being, No Fun

We're animals. We're violent. We're criminal.

- Maurice Sendak

Animals, Violent, Criminal

I do not remember any proper children's books in my childhood. I was not exposed to them.

- Maurice Sendak

Childhood, Remember, Books, Exposed

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.

- Maurice Sendak

Trust, May, Very, Tales

My work is not great, but it's respectable. I have no false illusions.

- Maurice Sendak

Work, False, Respectable, Illusions

I have a little tiny Emily Dickinson so big that I carry in my pocket everywhere. And you just read three poems of Emily. She is so brave. She is so strong. She is such a sexy, passionate, little woman. I feel better.

- Maurice Sendak

Strong, Woman, Big, Emily

My being gay was something of not great interest to me.

- Maurice Sendak

Me, Interest, Being, Gay

Finding out that I was gay when I was older was a shock and a disappointment.

- Maurice Sendak

Disappointment, Older, Shock, Gay

That always seemed to be the most critical test that a child was confronted with - loss of parents, loss of direction, loss of love. Can you live without a mother and a father?

- Maurice Sendak

Love, Always, Critical, Confronted

People from New York have been calling, to see if I'm still alive. When I answer the phone, you can hear the disappointment in their voice.

- Maurice Sendak

Voice, New, Been, Hear

Kids don't know about best sellers. They go for what they enjoy. They aren't star chasers and they don't suck up. It's why I like them.

- Maurice Sendak

Star, Like, About, Suck

I'm a lucky buck.

- Maurice Sendak

Lucky, Buck

The distinctions of fine art bore me to death.

- Maurice Sendak

Art, Death, Fine, Distinctions

I can't believe I've turned into a typical old man. I can't believe it. I was young just minutes ago.

- Maurice Sendak

Young, Old, Turned, Old Man

I can't believe I've turned into a typical old man.

- Maurice Sendak

Old, Turned, Typical, Old Man

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.

- Maurice Sendak

Private, I Think, Very, Liar

I have to accept my role. I will never kill myself like Vincent Van Gogh. Nor will I paint beautiful water lilies like Monet. I can't do that. I'm in the idiot role of being a kiddie book person.

- Maurice Sendak

Book, Role, Van Gogh, Gogh

In plain terms, a child is a complicated creature who can drive you crazy. There's a cruelty to childhood, there's an anger.

- Maurice Sendak

Anger, Childhood, Cruelty, Creature

I'm still as enamored and turned on by work as I was when I was young.

- Maurice Sendak

Young, Still, Turned, Enamored

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.

- Maurice Sendak

Parent, Been, I Think, Art Form

My father could be very witty, even if the humor was always on the darker side of irony.

- Maurice Sendak

Always, Very, Side, Darker

My father belonged to a Jewish social club.

- Maurice Sendak

Father, Club, Social, Belonged

Mothers and children are human beings, and they will sometimes do the wrong thing.

- Maurice Sendak

Children, Mom, Mothers, Beings

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.

- Maurice Sendak

Grown-Up, Like, Made, Accumulate

I grew up in a house that was in a constant state of mourning.

- Maurice Sendak

Constant, Up, State, Mourning

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.

- Maurice Sendak

Death, Die, Here, Intensely

There are certain pieces of music that are always attached to certain books.

- Maurice Sendak

Music, Pieces, Always, Attached

I'm writing a poem right now about a nose. I've always wanted to write a poem about a nose. But it's a ludicrous subject. That's why, when I was younger, I was afraid of something that didn't make a lot of sense. But now I'm not. I have nothing to worry about. It doesn't matter.

- Maurice Sendak

Why, About, Subject, Ludicrous

I would infinitely prefer a daughter.

- Maurice Sendak

Infinitely, Would, Prefer, Daughter

I'm sick of 'Wild Things.'

- Maurice Sendak

Sick, Things, Wild

I've always loved pigs: the shape of them, the look of them, and the fact that they are so intelligent.

- Maurice Sendak

Loved, Fact, Always, Pigs

If life is so critical, if Anne Frank could die, if my friend could die, children were as vulnerable as adults, and that gave me a secret purpose to my work, to make them live. Because I wanted to live. I wanted to grow up.

- Maurice Sendak

Die, Critical, Frank, Adult

I feel extremely vulnerable.

- Maurice Sendak

Feel, I Feel, Extremely, Vulnerable

I cry a lot because I miss people.

- Maurice Sendak

Cry, Because, Lot, Miss

I think people should be given a test much like driver's tests as to whether they're capable of being parents!

- Maurice Sendak

Think, I Think, Given, Driver

I'm not obsessed with angels but I do adore angels.

- Maurice Sendak

Obsessed, Adore, Angels

We're supposed to do all these things which trouble us deeply because it's so against what we naturally would want to do.

- Maurice Sendak

Want, Against, Which, Trouble

You cannot write for children They're much too complicated. You can only write books that are of interest to them.

- Maurice Sendak

Children, Them, Books, Complicated

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.

- Maurice Sendak

Think, Infinitely, Certainly, Complicated

Kids lead a very private life.

- Maurice Sendak

Lead, Private, Very, Private Life

I refuse to lie to children.

- Maurice Sendak

Children, Lie, Refuse

Childhood is a tricky business. Usually, something goes wrong.

- Maurice Sendak

Business, Childhood, Goes, Tricky

Kids are so shrewd.

- Maurice Sendak

Kids, Shrewd

I wanted to be acknowledged as an artist, not just some kiddie-book artist.

- Maurice Sendak

Artist, Some, Wanted, Acknowledged

Things come to you without you necessarily knowing what they mean.

- Maurice Sendak

Mean, Come, Things, Knowing

I don't have kids at all and I thank God that I never did.

- Maurice Sendak

God, Never, Thank, Thank God

My work is not great, but it's respectable.

- Maurice Sendak

Work, Great, Respectable

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.

- Maurice Sendak

Set, Mom And Dad, Dad, Fantasize

Grown-ups are afraid for children. It's not children who are afraid.

- Maurice Sendak

Children, Afraid, Who, Grown-Ups

Yes, there have to be places for safe wonderful stories.

- Maurice Sendak

Places, Yes, Stories, Safe

I'm an illustrator. I have to accept my role.

- Maurice Sendak

Role, Illustrator, Accept

I became a set designer for opera.

- Maurice Sendak

Opera, Set, Became, Designer

I want to write something so simple, so short and so silly... and I want it to be for my brother.

- Maurice Sendak

Simple, Short, Want, Silly

I was miserable as a kid.

- Maurice Sendak

Kid, Miserable

My life in Brooklyn was in constant danger because of my bad health.

- Maurice Sendak

My Life, Bad, Constant, Brooklyn

All I wanted was to be straight so my parents could be happy. They never, never, never knew.

- Maurice Sendak

Never, Straight, Wanted, Be Happy

You can't write masterpieces in your 80s and be happy too.

- Maurice Sendak

Happy, Too, Masterpieces, Be Happy

All I wanted was to be straight so my parents could be happy.

- Maurice Sendak

Could, Straight, Wanted, Be Happy

I only have one subject. The question I am obsessed with is: How do children survive?

- Maurice Sendak

I Am, Survive, How, Obsessed

I'm totally crazy, I know that.

- Maurice Sendak

Crazy, Know, Totally

It dawned on me that art was the way I could survive.

- Maurice Sendak

Art, Survive, Could, Dawned

I am not a religious person, nor do I have any regrets.

- Maurice Sendak

I Am, Religious, Nor, Regrets

I didn't have much confidence in myself... never.

- Maurice Sendak

Myself, Never, Much, Confidence

I hate people.

- Maurice Sendak

People, Hate

There's something in this country that is so opposed to understanding the complexity of children.

- Maurice Sendak

Country, Complexity, Opposed

There's so much more to a book than just the reading.

- Maurice Sendak

Reading, More, Than, Book

You don't want to do something that's all terrifying.

- Maurice Sendak

Want, You, Something, Terrifying

I don't write for children. I write and someone says it's for children.

- Maurice Sendak

Children, Someone, I Write, Says

I hate those e-books. They can not be the future... they may well be... I will be dead.

- Maurice Sendak

Future, Will, May, Dead

The world is twice as crazy as it's ever been.

- Maurice Sendak

World, Been, Ever, Twice

I stress character, character, character.

- Maurice Sendak

Character, Stress

My therapies went on forever.

- Maurice Sendak

Forever

I'm not a religious person.

- Maurice Sendak

Person, Religious, Religious Person

I have a good life.

- Maurice Sendak

Life, Good, Good Life

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