--- title: "8 Adult Quotes By Alison Gopnik" description: "8 Adult quotes by Alison Gopnik. Plus more from Alison Gopnik and more Adult sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c12/alison-gopnik-4163_adult_becoming-an-adult-means-leaving-the-worl_606526.png" --- > [Becoming an adult means leaving the world of your parents and starting to make your way toward the future that you will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-gopnik/becoming-an-adult-means-leaving-the-world-of-your-parents-and/) [Alison Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-gopnik/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c12/alison-gopnik-4163_adult_becoming-an-adult-means-leaving-the-worl_606526.png) > [We learn differently as children than as adults. For grown-ups, learning a new skill is painful, attention-demanding, and slow. Children learn unconsciously…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-gopnik/we-learn-differently-as-children-than-as-adults-for-grown-ups/) [Alison Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-gopnik/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ee/alison-gopnik-4163_adult_we-learn-differently-as-children-than-as_1594342.png) > [If you just casually look at a baby, it doesn't look like there's very much going on there, but they know more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-gopnik/if-you-just-casually-look-at-a-baby-it-doesn-t-look-like-there-s-very/) [Alison Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-gopnik/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf3/alison-gopnik-4163_adult_if-you-just-casually-look-at-a-baby-it-d_1755190.jpg) > [Even the very youngest children already are perfectly able to discriminate between the imaginary and the real, whether in books or movies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-gopnik/even-the-very-youngest-children-already-are-perfectly-able-to/) [Alison Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-gopnik/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/49c/alison-gopnik-4163_able_even-the-very-youngest-children-already_2041510.jpg) > [Siblings are the guarantors that the private childhood world - so unlike the adult world that scientists are only just beginning to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-gopnik/siblings-are-the-guarantors-that-the-private-childhood-world-so/) [Alison Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-gopnik/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a0f/alison-gopnik-4163_adult_siblings-are-the-guarantors-that-the-pri_2169686.png) > [As adults, when we attend to something in the world we are vividly conscious of that particular thing, and we shut out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-gopnik/as-adults-when-we-attend-to-something-in-the-world-we-are-vividly/) [Alison Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-gopnik/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/516/alison-gopnik-4163_adult_as-adults-when-we-attend-to-something-in_2814325.png) > [If you just got enough expertise and enough special techniques and read up enough, then you could shape a child into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-gopnik/if-you-just-got-enough-expertise-and-enough-special-techniques-and/) [Alison Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-gopnik/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/04f/alison-gopnik-4163_adult_if-you-just-got-enough-expertise-and-eno_3107224.png) > [Successful creative adults seem to combine the wide-ranging exploration and openness we see in children with the focus and discipline we see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-gopnik/successful-creative-adults-seem-to-combine-the-wide-ranging/) [Alison Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-gopnik/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c7/alison-gopnik-4163_adult_successful-creative-adults-seem-to-combi_3130839.png) ## Other authors on Adult ## More by Alison Gopnik > [Philosophers and psychologists have long puzzled over the question of how we know as much as we do despite our limited experiences. One way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-gopnik/philosophers-and-psychologists-have-long-puzzled-over-the-question-of/) [Alison Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-gopnik/) > [Adults often assume that most learning is the result of teaching and that exploratory, spontaneous learning is unusual. But actually, spontaneous learning is more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-gopnik/adults-often-assume-that-most-learning-is-the-result-of-teaching-and/) [Alison Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-gopnik/) > [Adults tend to think they have much free will. Kids younger than six are less sure. They may be more realistic!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-gopnik/adults-tend-to-think-they-have-much-free-will-kids-younger-than-six/) [Alison Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-gopnik/) > [From an evolutionary perspective children are, literally, designed to learn. Childhood is a special period of protected immaturity. It gives the young breathing time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-gopnik/from-an-evolutionary-perspective-children-are-literally-designed-to/) [Alison Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-gopnik/) > [We don't wife our husbands and we don't child our parents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-gopnik/we-don-t-wife-our-husbands-and-we-don-t-child-our-parents/) [Alison Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-gopnik/) > [There is a tension between our desire to get our kids to turn out a particular way versus letting them develop to be their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-gopnik/there-is-a-tension-between-our-desire-to-get-our-kids-to-turn-out-a/) [Alison Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-gopnik/) > [“Instead, it may be that experience itself has changed our brains so that we perceive and interpret the world in a certain way. Once…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-gopnik/instead-it-may-be-that-experience-itself-has-changed-our-brains-so/) [Alison Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-gopnik/) > [Caring for children has always been one of the deepest and most satisfying things that a human being does, and yet it is hard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-gopnik/caring-for-children-has-always-been-one-of-the-deepest-and-most/) [Alison Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-gopnik/) > [Imaginary friends are one of the weirder forms of pretend play in childhood. But the research shows that imaginary friends actually help children understand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-gopnik/imaginary-friends-are-one-of-the-weirder-forms-of-pretend-play-in/) [Alison Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-gopnik/) > [“Like their parents, the Korean children used more verbs than the English-speaking kids, while the English-speaking kids used more nouns. But in addition, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-gopnik/like-their-parents-the-korean-children-used-more-verbs-than-the/) [Alison Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-gopnik/) > [“We decided to become development psychologists and study children because there aren't any Martians. These brilliant beings with the little bodies and big heads…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-gopnik/we-decided-to-become-development-psychologists-and-study-children/) [Alison Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-gopnik/) > [Each new generation of children grows up in the new environment its parents have created, and each generation of brains becomes wired in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-gopnik/each-new-generation-of-children-grows-up-in-the-new-environment-its/) [Alison Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-gopnik/) > [I'm the oldest of six children and I had my own first baby when I was 23. So I've always been interested in babies,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-gopnik/i-m-the-oldest-of-six-children-and-i-had-my-own-first-baby-when-i-was/) [Alison Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-gopnik/) > [“‎Literature is the equivalent of the climate scientist’s computer simulations: set up some new starting conditions, run the whole complicated process and see what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-gopnik/literature-is-the-equivalent-of-the-climate-scientist-s-computer/) [Alison Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-gopnik/) > [The brain knows the real secret of seduction, more effective than even music and martinis. Just keep whispering, 'Gee, you are really special' to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-gopnik/the-brain-knows-the-real-secret-of-seduction-more-effective-than-even/) [Alison Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-gopnik/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adult/alison-gopnik/#itemlist", "name": "8 Adult Quotes By Alison Gopnik", "numberOfItems": 8, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Becoming an adult means leaving the world of your parents and starting to make your way toward the future that you will share with your peers.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alison Gopnik" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-gopnik/becoming-an-adult-means-leaving-the-world-of-your-parents-and/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c12/alison-gopnik-4163_adult_becoming-an-adult-means-leaving-the-worl_606526.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c12/alison-gopnik-4163_adult_becoming-an-adult-means-leaving-the-worl_606526.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c12/alison-gopnik-4163_adult_becoming-an-adult-means-leaving-the-worl_606526.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Becoming an adult means leaving the world of your parents and starting to make your way toward the future…” — Alison Gopnik", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We learn differently as children than as adults. 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There's almost this kind of competitive enterprise. 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