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Portrait of Maurice Sendak

Maurice Sendak

(1928–2012) Picture Book Writer United States

262 quotes in 991 categories

Maurice Sendak’s imagination turned ordinary moments into magical adventures. This set of quotes reveals the playful yet profound voice that enchanted generations.

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Maurice Sendak was a picture book writer from the United States, best known for Where the Wild Things Are.

Quick Facts About Maurice Sendak

Born: June 10, 1928
Died: May 8, 2012
Nationality: United States
Profession: Picture Book Writer
Notable works: Where the Wild Things Are
Known for: Where the Wild Things Are, In the Night Kitchen

About Maurice Sendak

Maurice Bernard Sendak was an American author and illustrator of children's books. Born to Polish-Jewish parents, his childhood was impacted by the death of many of his family members during the Holocaust. Sendak illustrated his own books as well as those by other authors, such as the Little Bear series by Else Holmelund Minarik. He achieved acclaim with Where the Wild Things Are (1963), the first of a trilogy followed by In the Night Kitchen (1970) and Outside Over There (1981). He also designed sets for operas, notably Mozart's The Magic Flute.

Biography source: Wikipedia

Awards & Honors

Children's Literature Legacy Award Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award National Book Award Caldecott Medal National Medal of Arts Library of Congress Living Legend Hans Christian Andersen Award for illustration Q59783532

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Q137392788

Quotes by Maurice Sendak

My therapies went on forever.

Forever

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Art has always been my salvation.

Art

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I refuse to lie to children.

Children

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I feel extremely vulnerable.

Extremely

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“I'll eat you up I love you so.”

Love

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My parents were very indiscrete.

Father

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A book is a book is a book.

Book

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I don't want to lose hope.

Hope

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“Never fear. When this rose blooms, you will be with me again.”

Blooms

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Childhood is a tricky business. Usually, something goes wrong.

Business

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My father belonged to a Jewish social club.

Belonged

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I'm gay. I just didn't think it was anybody's business.

Business

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Make it dangerous or it's not worth doing.

Dangerous

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Dreams raise the emotional level of what I'm doing at the moment.

Dream

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“There's so much more to book than just reading”

Book

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We've educated children to think spontaneity is inappropriate.

Child

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I never set out to write books for children. I don't have a feeling that I'm gonna save children or my life…

Book

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How do you write for children? I really have never figured that out. So I decided to just ignore it

Children

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Bumble-Ardy is a very wicked little child as far as I'm concerned. He's not to be trusted.

Bumble

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I want to see me to the end working, living for myself. Ripeness is all.

Ends

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We're animals. We're violent. We're criminal. And if I've done anything, I've had kids express themselves as they are.

Animal

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Kids don't know about best sellers. They go for what they enjoy. They aren't star chasers and they don't suck up. It's…

Best sellers

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“F**k them is what I say. I hate those ebooks. They can not be the future. They may well be. I will…

Books

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Grown-ups are afraid for children. It's not children who are afraid.

Afraid

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I remember how much - when I was a small boy I was taken to see a version of 'Peter Pan.' I…

Boys

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As a child, I felt that books were holy objects, to be caressed, rapturously sniffed, and devotedly provided for. I gave my…

Book

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One of the beauties of being an artist is that you can create a whole new world, with circumstances that are better…

Art

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I thought that if I were going into old age I would want to do what [Giuseppe] Verdi did, which is to…

Age

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We're supposed to be civilized. We're supposed to go to work every day. We're supposed to be nice to our friends and…

Being nice

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As an aspiring artist, you should strive for originality of vision. Have something to say and a fresh way of saying it.…

Art

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I feel it in me like a woman having a baby, all that life churning inside me. I feel it every day;…

Baby

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I was a very sickly child. My parents were immigrants. They were not decorous. They were not discreet. They always thought I…

Children

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. . .from their earliest years children live on familiar terms with disrupting emotions, fear and anxiety are an intrinsic part of…

Achieve

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I think it is unnatural to think that there is such a thing as a blue-sky, white-clouded happy childhood for anybody. Childhood…

Anything goes

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I believe there is no part of our lives, our adult as well as child life, when we're not fantasizing, but we…

Adults

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I said anything I wanted because I don't believe in children I don't believe in childhood. I don't believe that there's a…

Believe

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“May I ask what you have in your black leather bag with gold buckles?" "Everything." They were climbing a narrow staircase. Rhoda…

Staircase

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I'm writing a poem right now about a nose. I've always wanted to write a poem about a nose. But it's a…

Matter

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My sister had her own room. She also had innumerable boyfriends. I had a yo-yo collection that was beyond belief, and the…

Belief

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“The qualities that make for excellence in children's literature can be summed up in a single word: imagination. And imagination as it…

Books

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Maurice Sendak by topic

Children (75) Life (31) Kids (28) Parenting (27) Books (27) Book (25) Writer (21) Childhood (21) Want (20) Child (19) Ifs (17) Writing (16) Wild things (16) Thinking (16) Love (16) Artist (15) World (14) Way (14) People (14) Inspirational (14) Believe (14) Art (14) Parents (13) Parent (12) Knows (12)