--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: ...there is a fine line between wishing…" description: "\"...there is a fine line between wishing to produce child-like astonishment and treating people like infants.\" — Derren Brown" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/87b/derren-brown-3112_astonishment_there-is-a-fine-line-between-wishing-to_667333.jpg" --- # ...there is a fine line between wishing to produce… ![“...there is a fine line between wishing to produce child-like astonishment and treating people like infants.” quote by Derren Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/87b/derren-brown-3112_astonishment_there-is-a-fine-line-between-wishing-to_667333.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/87b/derren-brown-3112_astonishment_there-is-a-fine-line-between-wishing-to_667333.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/87b/derren-brown-3112_astonishment_there-is-a-fine-line-between-wishing-to_667333.jpg) > “...there is a fine line between wishing to produce child-like astonishment and treating people like infants.” [Derren Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derren-brown/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Balancing wonder and respect; avoid patronizing while inspiring curiosity. **In simple terms:** Treat adults with dignity while encouraging awe. Key Takeaway Inspire wonder without condescension. Themes respect wonder communication Mood thoughtful inspirational Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - education - public speaking - leadership - parenting Key Concepts psychology ethics engagement Questions to Reflect On - How can you spark curiosity without seeming condescending? - What signals show you’re respecting the audience? A Different Perspective People may feel belittled if awe is forced. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Astonishment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/astonishment/) [Astonishment Treating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/astonishment-treating-5305876/) [Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/child/) [Child Like](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/child-like/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Fine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fine/) [Fine line](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fine-line/) [Fine lines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fine-lines/) [Infant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/infant/) [Like Astonishment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-astonishment-5305877/) [Like Infants](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-infants-5305875/) [Lines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lines/) [Magic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/magic/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Produce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/produce/) [Treating People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/treating-people/) [Wish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wish/) ## Related quotes > [“Celebrities are like infants. 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Everyone takes different sunlight, different type of soil, different love, pruning care.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eva-marcille/each-child-is-like-a-flower-in-your-garden-everyone-takes-different/) [Eva Marcille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eva-marcille/) > [A child-like man is not a man whose development has been arrested; on the contrary, he is a man who has given himself a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/a-child-like-man-is-not-a-man-whose-development-has-been-arrested-on/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [It felt like being a child again, though it was not. Being a child is like nothing. It's only being. 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It immediately suggests all these horrendous cliches, let alone that you're a grown-up doing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derren-brown/there-s-something-a-bit-embarrassing-about-saying-you-re-a-magician/) [Derren Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derren-brown/) > [Our fascination with weather: its caprices and changes as an antidote to the eternal repetition of daily life; a helpful illusion of novelty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derren-brown/our-fascination-with-weather-its-caprices-and-changes-as-an-antidote/) [Derren Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derren-brown/) > [I have got friends that I have got to know and found out that, the first few times I was with them, they were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derren-brown/i-have-got-friends-that-i-have-got-to-know-and-found-out-that-the/) [Derren Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derren-brown/) > [Magic is a performance, and a performance should have an honesty, a relevance and a resonance if it is to be offered to spectators…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derren-brown/magic-is-a-performance-and-a-performance-should-have-an-honesty-a/) [Derren Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derren-brown/) > [I'm probably more persuasive than the next person if I want to be, but do I want to be? In my head, I just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derren-brown/i-m-probably-more-persuasive-than-the-next-person-if-i-want-to-be-but/) [Derren Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derren-brown/) > [I was part of a very uncool group. It was a group that liked classical music. They were known as the Music School Gang…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derren-brown/i-was-part-of-a-very-uncool-group-it-was-a-group-that-liked-classical/) [Derren Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derren-brown/) > [Guilt's too strong a word, but there is this niggling worry that I'm a grown-up doing a childish job and it would be nice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derren-brown/guilt-s-too-strong-a-word-but-there-is-this-niggling-worry-that-i-m-a/) [Derren Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derren-brown/) > [If someone does not have a specific charity they would like to donate to, that's OK. An undesignated donation would be split up evenly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derren-brown/if-someone-does-not-have-a-specific-charity-they-would-like-to-donate/) [Derren Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derren-brown/) > [If people have very big personalities, I find myself feeling I have nothing to offer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derren-brown/if-people-have-very-big-personalities-i-find-myself-feeling-i-have/) [Derren Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derren-brown/) [Explore all 139 Derren Brown quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derren-brown/) ## More Astonishment quotes > [“A writer lives, at least, in a state of astonishment. Beneath any feeling he has of the good or evil of the world lies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-sansom/a-writer-lives-at-least-in-a-state-of-astonishment-beneath-any/) [William Sansom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-sansom/) > [Rich men are resolved to be astonished at nothing. When they see a masterpiece, they must needs at one glance recognize some flaw to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/rich-men-are-resolved-to-be-astonished-at-nothing-when-they-see-a/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [A lot of what I am looking for is a moment of astonishment, he says. Those moments of pure consciousness when you involuntarily inhale…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-meyerowitz/a-lot-of-what-i-am-looking-for-is-a-moment-of-astonishment-he-says/) [Joel Meyerowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-meyerowitz/) > [If there be a skeptical star I was born under it. Yet I have lived all my days in complete astonishment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-macneile-dixon/if-there-be-a-skeptical-star-i-was-born-under-it-yet-i-have-lived-all/) [William Macneile Dixon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-macneile-dixon/) > [If you aren't constantly astonished at God's grace in your solitude, there's no way it can happen in public.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-keller/if-you-aren-t-constantly-astonished-at-god-s-grace-in-your-solitude/) [Timothy Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-keller/) > [“Witness each moment in astounded jubilation. Take every holy breath in gratitude. Rejoice in life!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryant-mcgill/witness-each-moment-in-astounded-jubilation-take-every-holy-breath-in/) [Bryant McGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryant-mcgill/) > [Those who have past much of their lives in this great city, look upon its opulence and its multitudes, its extent and variety, with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/those-who-have-past-much-of-their-lives-in-this-great-city-look-upon/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [“See? Nothing to it." "I see all right," Carly said, her tone full of awe. She gaped at him. "What?" "Um..." "Jesus, Carly, what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lissa-bryan/see-nothing-to-it-i-see-all-right-carly-said-her-tone-full-of-awe-she/) [Lissa Bryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lissa-bryan/) > [For a moment Clary thought she might fall; she felt as if something essential had been torn away from her, an arm or a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/for-a-moment-clary-thought-she-might-fall-she-felt-as-if-something/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [Both of you’ll just have to believe me. 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Gradually it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/it-was-only-when-i-lay-there-on-the-rotting-prison-straw-that-i/) [Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/) > [Sometimes, people trying to commit suicide manage it in a manner that leaves them breathless with astonishment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/sometimes-people-trying-to-commit-suicide-manage-it-in-a-manner-that/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [When I wake up, I wake to something worse. It’s the astonishment of being myself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/when-i-wake-up-i-wake-to-something-worse-it-s-the-astonishment-of/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) > [What shall I say! And how shall I describe this Birth to you? For this wonder fills me with astonishment. The Ancient of Days…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-john-chrysostom/what-shall-i-say-and-how-shall-i-describe-this-birth-to-you-for-this/) [Saint John Chrysostom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-john-chrysostom/) [Browse all 227 Astonishment quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/astonishment/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "...there is a fine line between wishing to produce child-like astonishment and treating people like infants.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Derren Brown" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derren-brown/there-is-a-fine-line-between-wishing-to-produce-child-like/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Astonishment" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derren-brown/there-is-a-fine-line-between-wishing-to-produce-child-like/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/87b/derren-brown-3112_astonishment_there-is-a-fine-line-between-wishing-to_667333.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/87b/derren-brown-3112_astonishment_there-is-a-fine-line-between-wishing-to_667333.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/87b/derren-brown-3112_astonishment_there-is-a-fine-line-between-wishing-to_667333.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“...there is a fine line between wishing to produce child-like astonishment and treating people like infants.” — Derren Brown", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Derren Brown", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derren-brown/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "...there is a fine line between...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derren-brown/there-is-a-fine-line-between-wishing-to-produce-child-like/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derren-brown/there-is-a-fine-line-between-wishing-to-produce-child-like/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```