--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Adults are just obsolete children and the…" description: "\"Adults are just obsolete children and the hell with them.\" — Dr. Seuss" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c2/dr-seuss-1224_adulthood_adults-are-just-obsolete-children-and-th_1153607.png" --- # Adults are just obsolete children and the hell with them. ![“Adults are just obsolete children and the hell with them.” quote by Dr. Seuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c2/dr-seuss-1224_adulthood_adults-are-just-obsolete-children-and-th_1153607.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c2/dr-seuss-1224_adulthood_adults-are-just-obsolete-children-and-th_1153607.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c2/dr-seuss-1224_adulthood_adults-are-just-obsolete-children-and-th_1153607.png) > “Adults are just obsolete children and the hell with them.” [Dr. Seuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-seuss/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Adults retain childlike traits, making them outdated compared to youthful freedom. **In simple terms:** Adults are like old children. Key Takeaway Value youthful curiosity. Themes age childhood obsolescence Mood playful critical Type satirical philosophical When to use this quote - parenting - education - workplace culture Key Concepts sociology psychology Questions to Reflect On - What childlike qualities can adults keep? - How does society view aging? A Different Perspective Generalizing adults ignores maturity and growth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Adulthood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adulthood/) [Adults](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adults/) [Adults Just](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adults-just-710657/) [Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/child/) [Childhood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/childhood/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Just Obsolete](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/just-obsolete-3271761/) [Obsolete](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obsolete/) [Obsolete Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obsolete-children-1895492/) ## Related quotes > [Adults are only obsolete children.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-seuss/adults-are-only-obsolete-children/) [Dr. Seuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-seuss/) > [Adults are obsolete children.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-seuss/adults-are-obsolete-children/) [Dr. Seuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-seuss/) > [Adults are just outdated children.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-seuss/adults-are-just-outdated-children/) [Dr. Seuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-seuss/) > [Adults are just kids who have spent a little more time on this earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valentin-chmerkovskiy/adults-are-just-kids-who-have-spent-a-little-more-time-on-this-earth/) [Valentin Chmerkovskiy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/valentin-chmerkovskiy/) > [“Sometimes I think the only difference between the two groups is that kids have legitimate excuses for their ignorance while adults just invent them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kyra-davis/sometimes-i-think-the-only-difference-between-the-two-groups-is-that/) [Kyra Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kyra-davis/) > [Adults are just children who earn money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-branagh/adults-are-just-children-who-earn-money/) [Kenneth Branagh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-branagh/) > [Children, I always think, are just putting on a performance of being naive and not understanding anything. I have worked with children in films,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-shawn/children-i-always-think-are-just-putting-on-a-performance-of-being/) [Wallace Shawn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-shawn/) > [I think it's funny how people think they are adults just because they're over 18. It's not about your age, it's about how you act.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nishan-panwar/i-think-it-s-funny-how-people-think-they-are-adults-just-because-they/) [Nishan Panwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nishan-panwar/) > [“Adults are just making things up as they go along. And when they’re scared, adults have no more answers than us kids”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-a-lancaster/adults-are-just-making-things-up-as-they-go-along-and-when-they-re/) [Mike A. Lancaster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-a-lancaster/) > [My children are now adults and just kind of guide them while they allow you to have input in their lives without controlling them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-d-jakes/my-children-are-now-adults-and-just-kind-of-guide-them-while-they/) [T. D. Jakes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-d-jakes/) > [“The only difference between a child and an adult is... as adults we are just better at playing grown-up. Can we please play a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-p-stadtlander/the-only-difference-between-a-child-and-an-adult-is-as-adults-we-are/) [Jason P. Stadtlander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-p-stadtlander/) > [“what's normal, she said. adults are all just weird in different ways. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-wittlinger/what-s-normal-she-said-adults-are-all-just-weird-in-different-ways/) [Ellen Wittlinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-wittlinger/) > [“Most adults are just hollowed out. You watch them try to fill themselves up with booze or money or God or fame or whatever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/most-adults-are-just-hollowed-out-you-watch-them-try-to-fill/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [Adults are just kids with money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danialla/adults-are-just-kids-with-money/) [DaniAlla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danialla/) > [“Most adults are just hollowed out. You watch them try to fill themselves up with booze or money or God or fame or whatever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/most-adults-are-just-hollowed-out-you-watch-them-try-to-fill-2/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) ## More by Dr. Seuss > [ \[A\]s you partake of the world's bill of fare, that's darned good advice to follow. Do a lot of spitting out the hot air.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-seuss/a-s-you-partake-of-the-world-s-bill-of-fare-that-s-darned-good-advice/) [Dr. Seuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-seuss/) > [And this mess is so big And so deep and so tall, We cannot pick it up. There is no way at all!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-seuss/and-this-mess-is-so-big-and-so-deep-and-so-tall-we-cannot-pick-it-up/) [Dr. Seuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-seuss/) > [Even though we may all become extinct, we can still leave our footprint in the sand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-seuss/even-though-we-may-all-become-extinct-we-can-still-leave-our/) [Dr. Seuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-seuss/) > [My alphabet starts with this letter called yuzz. It s the letter I use to spell yuzz a ma tuzz. You ll be sort…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-seuss/my-alphabet-starts-with-this-letter-called-yuzz-it-s-the-letter-i-use/) [Dr. Seuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-seuss/) > [Things may happen and often do to people as brainy and footsy as you](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-seuss/things-may-happen-and-often-do-to-people-as-brainy-and-footsy-as-you/) [Dr. Seuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-seuss/) > [If I were invited to a dinner party with my characters, I wouldn't show up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-seuss/if-i-were-invited-to-a-dinner-party-with-my-characters-i-wouldn-t/) [Dr. Seuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-seuss/) > [And what would you do if you met a jibboo?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-seuss/and-what-would-you-do-if-you-met-a-jibboo/) [Dr. Seuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-seuss/) > [Being crazy isn't enough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-seuss/being-crazy-isn-t-enough/) [Dr. Seuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-seuss/) > [Remember me and smile, for it's better to forget than to remember me and cry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-seuss/remember-me-and-smile-for-it-s-better-to-forget-than-to-remember-me/) [Dr. Seuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-seuss/) > [Fame you'll be famous, as famous as can be, with everyone watching you win on TV, Except when they don't because sometimes they won't..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-seuss/fame-you-ll-be-famous-as-famous-as-can-be-with-everyone-watching-you/) [Dr. Seuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-seuss/) > [Did you ever fly a kite in bed? Did you ever walk with ten cats on your head? Did you ever milk this kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-seuss/did-you-ever-fly-a-kite-in-bed-did-you-ever-walk-with-ten-cats-on/) [Dr. Seuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-seuss/) > [With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet, you're too smart to go down any not-so-good street.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-seuss/with-your-head-full-of-brains-and-your-shoes-full-of-feet-you-re-too/) [Dr. Seuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-seuss/) > [Through three cheese trees three free fleas flew. While these fleas flew, freezy breeze blew. Freezy breeze made these three trees freeze. Freezy trees…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-seuss/through-three-cheese-trees-three-free-fleas-flew-while-these-fleas/) [Dr. Seuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-seuss/) > [Oh, the places you'll go! There is fun to be done! There are points to be scored. There are games to be won. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-seuss/oh-the-places-you-ll-go-there-is-fun-to-be-done-there-are-points-to/) [Dr. Seuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-seuss/) > [Oh, the thinks you can think!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-seuss/oh-the-thinks-you-can-think/) [Dr. Seuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-seuss/) [Explore all 270 Dr. Seuss quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-seuss/) ## More Adulthood quotes > [Age is an accumulation of life and loss. Adulthood is a series of lines crossed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-goodman/age-is-an-accumulation-of-life-and-loss-adulthood-is-a-series-of/) [Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/) > [People often say that you should never work with child actors. I think that's all wrong. Children have not had the imagination kicked out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolas-cage/people-often-say-that-you-should-never-work-with-child-actors-i-think/) [Nicolas Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolas-cage/) > [Two things suck about becoming an adult male - paying taxes and getting a finger in your butt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-code/two-things-suck-about-becoming-an-adult-male-paying-taxes-and-getting/) [Guy Code](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-code/) > [You can only pretend for so long before reality hits and you realize he/she is not who you thought or what you truly want.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhishek-tiwari/you-can-only-pretend-for-so-long-before-reality-hits-and-you-realize/) [Abhishek Tiwari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhishek-tiwari/) > [If I were entering adulthood now instead of in the environment of fifty years ago, I would choose a career that kept me in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lindbergh/if-i-were-entering-adulthood-now-instead-of-in-the-environment-of/) [Charles Lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lindbergh/) > [“English: "Being an adult doesn't mean killing the child we once were; it means being able to protect him." Česky: „Být dospělým neznamená zabít…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebasti-n-wortys/english-being-an-adult-doesn-t-mean-killing-the-child-we-once-were-it/) [Sebastián Wortys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebasti-n-wortys/) > [“I wondered what a man I had encountered the day before on the plane en route to Chicago's O'Hare airport would have made of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-moss/i-wondered-what-a-man-i-had-encountered-the-day-before-on-the-plane/) [Robert Moss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-moss/) > [“Sometimes your kids will say the nastiest things, won't they, Rose? You want to ask,'Whose child is this?'" Rose chuckled. "But usually, they're just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/sometimes-your-kids-will-say-the-nastiest-things-won-t-they-rose-you/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [No one, it has been said, will ever look at the Moon in the same way again. More significantly can one say that no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-morrow-lindbergh/no-one-it-has-been-said-will-ever-look-at-the-moon-in-the-same-way/) [Anne Morrow Lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-morrow-lindbergh/) > [Being an adult is the ability to postpone a want for the sake of a family need.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hogan/being-an-adult-is-the-ability-to-postpone-a-want-for-the-sake-of-a/) [Chris Hogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hogan/) > [“one Secret of Adulthood is “Never start a sentence with the words ‘No offense’”? “And”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretchen-rubin/one-secret-of-adulthood-is-never-start-a-sentence-with-the-words-no/) [Gretchen Rubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretchen-rubin/) > [In their youth, mortals behave more like nymphs. Adulthood seems impossibly distant, let alone the enfeeblement of old age. But ponderously, inevitably, it overtakes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brandon-mull/in-their-youth-mortals-behave-more-like-nymphs-adulthood-seems/) [Brandon Mull](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brandon-mull/) > [Public schools were designed as the great equalizers of our society - the place where all children could have access to educational opportunities to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-napolitano/public-schools-were-designed-as-the-great-equalizers-of-our-society/) [Janet Napolitano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-napolitano/) > [“Yet GenX'er teens didn't slow down--they were just as likely to drive, drink alcohol, and date as their Boomer peers and more likely to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-m-twenge/yet-genx-er-teens-didn-t-slow-down-they-were-just-as-likely-to-drive/) [Jean M. Twenge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-m-twenge/) > [“The entrepreneurs are only about my age, probably younger, but they don't seem so. Their tailored clothes and unbending hairdos, their clipboards and laser…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-baume/the-entrepreneurs-are-only-about-my-age-probably-younger-but-they-don/) [Sara Baume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-baume/) [Browse all 651 Adulthood quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adulthood/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Adults are just obsolete children and the hell with them.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Dr. Seuss" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-seuss/adults-are-just-obsolete-children-and-the-hell-with-them/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Adulthood" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-seuss/adults-are-just-obsolete-children-and-the-hell-with-them/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c2/dr-seuss-1224_adulthood_adults-are-just-obsolete-children-and-th_1153607.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c2/dr-seuss-1224_adulthood_adults-are-just-obsolete-children-and-th_1153607.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c2/dr-seuss-1224_adulthood_adults-are-just-obsolete-children-and-th_1153607.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Adults are just obsolete children and the hell with them.” — Dr. Seuss", "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": "Dr. Seuss", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-seuss/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Adults are just obsolete children and...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-seuss/adults-are-just-obsolete-children-and-the-hell-with-them/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-seuss/adults-are-just-obsolete-children-and-the-hell-with-them/#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 } } ] } ```