Anthony Hecht Quotes

I was a little ham and was a very open kid, probably because I was around adults all the time. That also forced me to grow up fast, and I learned at an early age about how people lie and deceive each other.

A child learns to discard his ideals, whereas a grown-up never wears out his short pants.

Heaven lies about us in our infancy and the world begins lying about us pretty soon afterward.

Childhood has its secrets and its mysteries; but who can tell or who can explain them!

One of the most obvious facts about grown-ups, to a child, is that they have forgotten what it is like to be a child.

Age merely shows what children we remain.

It's kind of a Peter Pan thing: I want to stay a kid. I love it. But I guess you have to grow up someday. Everybody does.

There's this assumption that all children have the luxury of a childhood where their innocence is always respected and their main occupation is pleasant play - at the age of 18 or 21, they are then thrust into the real world and shown its uglier side, but not before.

When you're eight years old nothing is your business.

Children - if you think back really what it was like to be a child and what it was like to know other children - children lie all the time.

I'm never going to grow up. Staying young is what it is all about for me.

I've been able to play a kid up to this point and pretend that I'm not a grown-up - well, at least for two hours a night!

A grownup is a child with layers on.

Adults are obsolete children.

Nature makes boys and girls lovely to look upon so they can be tolerated until they acquire some sense.

Secrets are very intriguing - I always think that's an interesting theme.

Age does not make us childish, as some say; it finds us true children.

I realise I'm still a child, though I do feel older.

I feel like I'm going backwards, actually, as I get older. I'm regressing. I feel more and more like a kid, which is kind of a fun feeling.

Well, most grown-ups forget what it was like to be a kid. I vowed that I would never forget.

Not all things are to be discovered; many are better concealed.

So many people try to grow up too fast, and it's not fun! You should stay a kid as long as possible!

I find it strange when people can't relate to kids, because you were a kid once, you know?

Whoever wishes to keep a secret must hide the fact that he possesses one.

You're only young once, but you can be immature forever.