Clifton Fadiman Quotes

A child should be a child for as long as possible.

Play is really the work of childhood.

I still learn, but I think it's the best thing in life to have a kid.

You learn a lot from kids.

I really, really love children and I think probably among children is when I feel mostly berated. It's not like I feel like oh, there's some children here. I have to tone it down. I go nuts with children especially when I ain't got none. So when I'm round my mates' children, I jest them kids up first. I swear at them, I get more worked up, I say crazy stuff to them, fill their heads with nonsense and then I leave them.

If you sit kids down, hour after hour, doing low-grade clerical work, don't be surprised if they start to fidget. Children are not, for the most part, suffering from a psychological condition, they're suffering from childhood.

Play is the royal road to childhood happiness and adult brilliance.

I play with children so that I can learn from them.

It is indeed a mistake to confuse children with angels

The essence of childhood, of course, is play.

Children change you. They really do.

A child's greatest achievements are possible in play, achievements that tomorrow will become her basic level of real action.

Why we play as children is not because it is our work or because it is how we learn, though both statements are true; we play because we are wired for joy, it is imperative as human beings.

I think it's hard to write about children and to have an idea of innocence.

When I approach a child, he inspires in me two sentiments; tenderness for what he is, and respect for what he may become.

You can never spend enough time with children.

Kids teach you a lot of patience.

I don't know, maybe I'm overly paranoid that they're going to be spoiled, but I want to keep them going as kids for as long as I can. I want to keep them innocent and free.

Kids have been a great clarifier - incredibly rewarding.

Kids may only be 25 percent of our population but they are 100 percent of our future.

At a child's birth, if a mother could ask a fairy godmother to endow it with the most useful gift, that gift would be curiosity.

Children live in a world filled with possibilities. Their thoughts roam without boundaries, like dreams – full of images, places and actions. Unlike adults, they can’t temper their imaginations with experience. So, when a child plays with a toy or reads a story, it becomes an adventure, a new reality to them.

Kids are important.

I love being around kids, and I love to see them happy.