--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: How great inexperience and innocence is…" description: "\"“How great inexperience and innocence is. On the authority of their parents they go to a place where they could meet their death; for the Zirder in flo..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e2/adalbert-stifter-32633_children_how-great-inexperience-and-innocence-is_1807232.jpg" --- # How great inexperience and innocence is. On the authority… ![“How great inexperience and innocence is. On the authority of their parents they go to a place where they could meet their death; for the Zirder in flood is very dangerous and, given the ignorance of the children, can be incalculably dangerous. But they know nothing of death. Even if they speak its…” quote by Adalbert Stifter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e2/adalbert-stifter-32633_children_how-great-inexperience-and-innocence-is_1807232.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e2/adalbert-stifter-32633_children_how-great-inexperience-and-innocence-is_1807232.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e2/adalbert-stifter-32633_children_how-great-inexperience-and-innocence-is_1807232.jpg) > ““How great inexperience and innocence is. On the authority of their parents they go to a place where they could meet their death; for the Zirder in flood is very dangerous and, given the ignorance of the children, can be incalculably dangerous. But they know nothing of death. Even if they speak its name, they do not know its essence and their aspiring life has no feeling for annihilation. If they were on the brink of death themselves, they would not know it and they would die before they found it out.”” [Adalbert Stifter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adalbert-stifter/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Children’s ignorance of mortality makes them vulnerable to unseen dangers. **In simple terms:** Kids don’t understand death’s reality. Key Takeaway Teach awareness of real risks. Themes innocence danger mortality Mood reflective somber Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - parental guidance - education - risk communication Key Concepts ignorance vulnerability existential risk Questions to Reflect On - How can we balance protection with learning? - What lessons arise from confronting danger early? A Different Perspective Over‑protectiveness may stifle growth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Inexperience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inexperience/) [Innocence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/innocence/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) ## Related quotes > [ When you see Liana \[Liberato\], who at the time was 14, there is an inexperience and innocence that you can't act and you can't fake. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-schwimmer/when-you-see-liana-liberato-who-at-the-time-was-14-there-is-an/) [David Schwimmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-schwimmer/) > [“Here for example the beautiful silver mirror of a river swells, a boy falls in, the water ripples sweetly around his locks, he sinks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adalbert-stifter/here-for-example-the-beautiful-silver-mirror-of-a-river-swells-a-boy/) [Adalbert Stifter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adalbert-stifter/) > [Thomas is racing for it, but McCovey is there and can't get his glove to it. That play shows the inexperience, not on Thomas'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-coleman/thomas-is-racing-for-it-but-mccovey-is-there-and-can-t-get-his-glove/) [Jerry Coleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-coleman/) > [Strum your guitar sing it kid Just write about your feelings not the things you never did Inexperience, it once had cursed me But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-chapin/strum-your-guitar-sing-it-kid-just-write-about-your-feelings-not-the/) [Harry Chapin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-chapin/) > [Men of high learning and abilities are few in every country; and by taking in those who are not so, the able part of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/men-of-high-learning-and-abilities-are-few-in-every-country-and-by/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [We blacks look for leadership in men and women of such youth and inexperience, as well as poverty of education and character, that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-ashe/we-blacks-look-for-leadership-in-men-and-women-of-such-youth-and/) [Arthur Ashe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-ashe/) > [ \[Ben Carson\] critics say that your inexperience shows. You've suggested that the Baltic States are not a part of NATO, you were unfamiliar with… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megyn-kelly/ben-carson-critics-say-that-your-inexperience-shows-you-ve-suggested/) [Megyn Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megyn-kelly/) > [Accept your lack of knowledge and use it as your asset.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-portman/accept-your-lack-of-knowledge-and-use-it-as-your-asset/) [Natalie Portman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-portman/) > [Do not be angry with an ungrateful person; probably they are confused or inexperienced.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chico-xavier/do-not-be-angry-with-an-ungrateful-person-probably-they-are-confused/) [Chico Xavier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chico-xavier/) > [I think you want to do as much as you can for your fans. I take as many opportunities as I can when it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wes-townley/i-think-you-want-to-do-as-much-as-you-can-for-your-fans-i-take-as/) John Wes Townley > [She cried out into his kiss, her hands clawing his shoulders, adrift now in a pleasure that threatened to consume her. In her sexual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lora-leigh/she-cried-out-into-his-kiss-her-hands-clawing-his-shoulders-adrift/) [Lora Leigh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lora-leigh/) > [I read recently in an article by G.K. Chesterton, that sex without gestation and parturition is like blowing the trumpets and waving the flags…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dora-russell/i-read-recently-in-an-article-by-g-k-chesterton-that-sex-without/) [Dora Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dora-russell/) > [But what is so headstrong as youth? What so blind as inexperience?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/but-what-is-so-headstrong-as-youth-what-so-blind-as-inexperience/) [Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [Cynicism is often the shamefaced product of inexperience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/cynicism-is-often-the-shamefaced-product-of-inexperience/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“These unwanted performance pressures are generated when new therapists frame what they don’t know or can’t do yet as a “deficit” or as evidence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-teyber/these-unwanted-performance-pressures-are-generated-when-new/) [Edward Teyber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-teyber/) ## More by Adalbert Stifter > [“People make themselves unhappy by desiring and praising only one thing, by becoming too one-sided in trying to find contentment. If we were just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adalbert-stifter/people-make-themselves-unhappy-by-desiring-and-praising-only-one/) [Adalbert Stifter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adalbert-stifter/) > [“Everything that now exists, no matter how great and good it is, lasts for a time, fulfills a purpose, and then passes on. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adalbert-stifter/everything-that-now-exists-no-matter-how-great-and-good-it-is-lasts/) [Adalbert Stifter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adalbert-stifter/) > [“Here for example the beautiful silver mirror of a river swells, a boy falls in, the water ripples sweetly around his locks, he sinks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adalbert-stifter/here-for-example-the-beautiful-silver-mirror-of-a-river-swells-a-boy/) [Adalbert Stifter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adalbert-stifter/) > [“While they were speaking of - in their opinion - great things, around about them only little things - also in their opinion -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adalbert-stifter/while-they-were-speaking-of-in-their-opinion-great-things-around/) [Adalbert Stifter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adalbert-stifter/) > [“. . . for us there still exists a serene, unfathomable abyss in which God and the spirits dwell. The soul, in moments of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adalbert-stifter/for-us-there-still-exists-a-serene-unfathomable-abyss-in-which-god/) [Adalbert Stifter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adalbert-stifter/) > [“In the old pieces of furniture almost as in the old paintings, dwells the charm of the past, of the faded which becomes stronger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adalbert-stifter/in-the-old-pieces-of-furniture-almost-as-in-the-old-paintings-dwells/) [Adalbert Stifter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adalbert-stifter/) > [“Everything that God sends us is beautiful, even though we may not understand it - and we only need to give it some proper…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adalbert-stifter/everything-that-god-sends-us-is-beautiful-even-though-we-may-not/) [Adalbert Stifter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adalbert-stifter/) > [“Everyone is out for himself. Not everyone will say so but everyone behaves so. 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The slabs overlapped so well that scarcely a joint could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adalbert-stifter/the-floor-consisted-of-the-most-colorful-marble-that-is-found-in-our/) [Adalbert Stifter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adalbert-stifter/) > [“On increasingly warm nice days I liked to sit toward noon on the bench encircling the cherry tree and look at the bare trees,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adalbert-stifter/on-increasingly-warm-nice-days-i-liked-to-sit-toward-noon-on-the/) [Adalbert Stifter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adalbert-stifter/) > [“Don't the overwhelming majority believe that mankind is the crowning achievement of Creation, that man is better than everything, even things we haven't yet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adalbert-stifter/don-t-the-overwhelming-majority-believe-that-mankind-is-the-crowning/) [Adalbert Stifter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adalbert-stifter/) [Explore all 12 Adalbert Stifter quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adalbert-stifter/) ## More Children quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [Behind every successful child is an adult who believed in him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-warren/behind-every-successful-child-is-an-adult-who-believed-in-him/) [Rick Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-warren/) > [I believe in freedom to do what you want if you aren't hurting others, but pictures of obese protesters giving their children big gulps.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-defranco/i-believe-in-freedom-to-do-what-you-want-if-you-aren-t-hurting-others/) [Philip DeFranco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-defranco/) > [If the audience likes your work, if they like you, they don't think whether you are married or have children or not. I made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dimple-kapadia/if-the-audience-likes-your-work-if-they-like-you-they-don-t-think/) [Dimple Kapadia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dimple-kapadia/) > [It doesnt seem to me strange that children should like the macabre, the sensational, and the forbidden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-hecht/it-doesnt-seem-to-me-strange-that-children-should-like-the-macabre/) [Anthony Hecht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-hecht/) > [Let children support their parents or be imprisoned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/let-children-support-their-parents-or-be-imprisoned/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Gratitude isn't just a feeling, it's an action. 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You are surrounded by nature - cats, dogs, birds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amala-akkineni/my-school-was-one-of-the-most-beautiful-places-a-child-can-grow-up-in/) [Amala Akkineni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amala-akkineni/) > [A lesser complaint: hair extensions. There are moments on 'All My Children' when half the women actors, young and old, seem to be afflicted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/a-lesser-complaint-hair-extensions-there-are-moments-on-all-my/) [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) > [As a child, I had a lot of older gay men taking care of me. There's a trust there. I feel like little girls…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-cho/as-a-child-i-had-a-lot-of-older-gay-men-taking-care-of-me-there-s-a/) [Margaret Cho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-cho/) > [If my child had prejudice in his head, I'd be ashamed. I would see it as my failure as a parent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/if-my-child-had-prejudice-in-his-head-i-d-be-ashamed-i-would-see-it/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [“Children's lives are always beginning and adults' lives are always ending. Or is it the opposite? 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