Simone Elkeles Quotes

There must always be a struggle between a father and son, while one aims at power and the other at independence.

I got older - 16, 17 - I was like, "I want to do my own thing." I wasn't seeing eye to eye with my parents. It wasn't what they wanted for me.

Do you remember when you were 10 or 11 years old and you really thought your folks were the best? They were completely omniscient and you took their word for everything. And then you got older and you went through this hideous age when suddenly they were the devil, they were bullies, and they didn't know anything.

As a teenager, I ached to grow up even more than I dreaded to. I craved escape from my parents' impositions on what I believed.

It's natural to want to rebel against what your parents do.

Your being born makes your parents God. You owe them your life, and they can control you. Then puberty makes you Satan, just because you want something better.

She and I just don't see eye to eye together. She's a square. She keeps telling me that I'm too interested in chess, that I should get friends outside of chess, you can't make a living from chess, that I should finish high school and all that nonsense. She keeps in my hair and I don't like people in my hair, you know, so I had to get rid of her.

I'm interested in youth culture - when your parents are running your life, but you think you're the big man - but I'm not trying to make a statement.

I like writing about teenagers because it's a time of great change and conflict. Up to then, you accept what your parents tell you.

I was a rebel. I went to Carmel Convent in Delhi where I was a complete rebel. I thought I was 12 going on 18. I wanted to go out with friends older to me, stay out late - my parents were horrified. It was then that we began having our first disagreements.

You have to give kids something to rebel against. You can't like their music - you have to call it noise. It's incumbent on a parent.

My mother did all she could to control me, but at age 14 she sent me to a military school.

When you're 15 whatever your parents tell you you should do, you're not going to do it.

My rebellion was telling my dad, "No, you're wrong, you don't know what's best for me. I'm not gonna waste my time in college." You know the story. He thought he was an abject failure 'cause he didn't convince me to go to college. I didn't rebel against my dad's economic status. I didn't rebel against what I thought were old-fashioned, archaic moral values. I didn't rebel by going out and wrecking the car and getting drunk and being irresponsible. I rebelled against their assumption they knew better than I did, what I wanted, and what I needed.

I still don’t get why I have to eat breakfast if you don’t,” Josie muttered. “Because you have to be a certain age to earn the right to ruin your own life.

I don't think I gave my mom too much trouble as a teenager.

I've never really been a rebellious teen.

My mom wouldn't let me dye my hair for the longest time.

It seemed like my father and I were always fighting. I know a lot of kids go through that with their families, but it was hard for me.

The generation that comes next is always going to rebel against the generation that came before, and they're always going to be at odds with each other.

My mother was very strict, and though I was reserved, I did give in to certain demands of my age, like sneaking out of the house to hit Dublin.

My mom and stepdad were strict. I couldn't date; I couldn't go out. And I was a kid who was never good at just taking no for an answer. I needed to understand why. And sometimes they weren't interested in explaining.

Governments don't like harmony.

We are all rebellious teenagers. Sometimes we grow out of it, and sometimes we don't.

My father used to say, 'What the hell are you listening to? Put that bloody rubbish off.' And it was The Beatles.