Anna Torv Quotes

I had an idyllic childhood with the freedom to go and play.

I was the feral, mud-bathing, tree-climbing variety of child. Why would I want to read about pirates when I could build a raft and terrorise sheep along the riverbanks?

I grew up in the countryside, so I had quite a feral life up until the age of about fourteen.

I lived the first five years of my life on a farm in Union City, Michigan, with my mom and grandparents. It was the most magical time of my life.

I worry about kids today not having time to build a tree house or ride a bike or go fishing. I worry that life is getting faster and faster.

I have had the most wonderful childhood, and I was raised in a very loving family. And it was nothing short of an amazing privilege because I was incredibly lucky to be able to play up in trees and make it like silly dens in a bush and stuff like that.

My parents wanted me to grow up around horses and open spaces.

My mom used to call us 'free range kids,' like free range chickens... We roamed the countryside.

My parents had us very young. We lived in a modest house. We built forts, we hiked, we went camping and they wanted us to be independent. It's how children grew up in the 1940s and 50s: outside all the time, playing in the dirt, riding your bike around.

Leave part of the yard rough. Don't manicure everything. Small children in particular love to turn over rocks and find bugs, and give them some space to do that. Take your child fishing. Take your child on hikes.

I was born in 1940 in Minnesota and grew up in the country... dirt roads, swamps, lakes, woods.

As a kid, I was just led out in the morning to go spend my day with my friends and just run in the woods. And I'd only come home to eat or when I was thirsty.

Growing up, it was about finding a way to entertain myself outdoors. We spent all the summers on the beach, camping with my family a bunch, and traveling as much as we could. My parents wouldn't let me watch too much TV growing up or play video games, or anything like that.

You know what I worry about? I worry that kids today don't have enough time to just sit and daydream.

As a parent, I tell my boys to keep away their smartphones and go outdoors and play. I take them to our farm where my father does a bit of farming, where they get their hands dirty. It is their digital detox.

I grew up with a big backyard that led to the sand dunes of Lake Michigan.

I like to camp and to not have to check in to airports and hotels and I love to just drive, man.

I never followed a band, I never followed a - nothing. I think maybe it's because my mom and dad were not like that, and it was just me and mom and dad. We were very close; we spent a lot of time just together, just enjoying each other's company.

The school holidays were always an exciting time in the Brownlee household. This was the opportunity for my brother Alistair and me to escape from the classroom and enjoy the great outdoors. Our childhood was jam-packed with fun family games and activities.

People ask what message I have for kids, and it's simple: Just go outside.

We used to tie a skipping rope to a pitchfork and try to spear big carp. We never got one. My kids love that story, very 'Lord of the Flies.'

When my mom travelled, she would bring me basketball tapes.

Wading River was a gorgeous place to grow up and I feel very lucky there was a wood by our house where I could go explore when I was a kid.

My mum, who comes from Goa, wanted us to develop our minds when we were kids, so she used to turn the electricity off at weekends so we couldn't sit watching the telly.

When I was a young boy, I would watch my mom apply her makeup, so one day, I took a lipstick she had and put it on my mouth, trying to imitate her. It ended up all over my face.