Quotes from Maurice Sendak

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

I would infinitely prefer a daughter.

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

I know that if there's a purpose for life, it was for me to hear Mozart.

I wish you all good things. Live your life, live your life, live your life.

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

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.

I'm sick of 'Wild Things.'

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

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

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.

I stress character, character, character.

That's what art is. You don't make up stories. You live your life.

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

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

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

It is a blessing to get old. It is a blessing to find the time to do the things, to read the books, to listen to the music. I have nothing now but praise for my life.

Children surviving childhood is my obsessive theme and my life's concern.

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.

I remember my own childhood vividly...I knew terrible things. But I knew I mustn't let adults know I knew. It would scare them

Life has only gotten better personally for me as I've gotten older. I mean, being young was such a gross waste of time. I was just such a miserable, miserable person.

Kids lead a very private life.

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

I never can satisfy some need in me to achieve something of incredible hight. For my sake. It puzzles me deeply. And it sours my life. So there is a permanent dissatisfaction.