--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I was never allowed to read the popular…" description: "\"I was never allowed to read the popular American children's books of my day because, as my mother said, the children spoke bad English without the auth..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/664/edith-wharton-512_book_i-was-never-allowed-to-read-the-popular_1693926.png" --- # I was never allowed to read the popular American… ![“I was never allowed to read the popular American children's books of my day because, as my mother said, the children spoke bad English without the author's knowing it.” quote by Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/664/edith-wharton-512_book_i-was-never-allowed-to-read-the-popular_1693926.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/664/edith-wharton-512_book_i-was-never-allowed-to-read-the-popular_1693926.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/664/edith-wharton-512_book_i-was-never-allowed-to-read-the-popular_1693926.png) > “I was never allowed to read the popular American children's books of my day because, as my mother said, the children spoke bad English without the author's knowing it.” [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Highlights how children's literature was censored for perceived poor language, reflecting cultural bias. **In simple terms:** Kids' books were banned for bad English. Key Takeaway Question language standards in education. Themes censorship language culture Mood critical thoughtful Type analytical historical When to use this quote - school curricula - library selection - parental guidance Key Concepts sociolinguistics education policy historical bias Questions to Reflect On - How do language standards affect inclusion? - What alternatives exist for diverse voices? A Different Perspective May overstate the issue. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Children 's books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children-s-books/) [Children'S Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children-s-books-2/) [Mother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mother/) ## Related quotes > [I did get myself into little scrapes when I was younger and a bit stupid, but there is only one manager I have worked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-bellamy/i-did-get-myself-into-little-scrapes-when-i-was-younger-and-a-bit/) [Craig Bellamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-bellamy/) > [“Children always spoke the truth, especially when it was inconvenient for everyone else.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/k-j-colt/children-always-spoke-the-truth-especially-when-it-was-inconvenient/) [K.J. Colt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/k-j-colt/) > [Whoa, lady, I only speak two languages, English and bad English.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-willis/whoa-lady-i-only-speak-two-languages-english-and-bad-english/) [Bruce Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-willis/) > [Modern English, especially written English, is full of bad habits which spread by imitation and which can be avoided if one is willing to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/modern-english-especially-written-english-is-full-of-bad-habits-which/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“With secret delight, he began teaching Bad Eye catastrophically bad English. From that day forward, when asked, “How are you?,” Bad Eye would smilingly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-hillenbrand/with-secret-delight-he-began-teaching-bad-eye-catastrophically-bad/) [Laura Hillenbrand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-hillenbrand/) > [The Bad English thing, everybody was playing at once and it was a big wall of sound.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-waite/the-bad-english-thing-everybody-was-playing-at-once-and-it-was-a-big/) [John Waite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-waite/) > [On the one hand, there is no question that English - frequently bad English - has become the universal language of scholarship. It is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-rosovsky/on-the-one-hand-there-is-no-question-that-english-frequently-bad/) [Henry Rosovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-rosovsky/) > ['When I See You Smile' - that was not what we should have been doing in Bad English.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-waite/when-i-see-you-smile-that-was-not-what-we-should-have-been-doing-in/) [John Waite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-waite/) > [The fight against bad English is not frivolous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/the-fight-against-bad-english-is-not-frivolous/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [~Im bad in English but I can tell you that I love you](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/im-bad-in-english-but-i-can-tell-you-that-i-love-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Good English, well spoken and well written will open more doors than a college degree... Bad English will slam doors you don't even know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-raspberry/good-english-well-spoken-and-well-written-will-open-more-doors-than-a/) [William Raspberry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-raspberry/) > [“What this have we done?” asked Stanislaw in very bad English, honestly bewildered. “Curfew?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-brazytis/what-this-have-we-done-asked-stanislaw-in-very-bad-english-honestly/) [Sarah Brazytis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-brazytis/) > [I really expected things to be different. But being in Bad English was too much of a compromise. Instead of being true to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-waite/i-really-expected-things-to-be-different-but-being-in-bad-english-was/) [John Waite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-waite/) > [I AM BAD in ENGLISH BUT i can tell you that I LOVE YOU. ... ... I am BAD in GEOGRAPHY BUT i can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-am-bad-in-english-but-i-can-tell-you-that-i-love-you-i-am-bad-in/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [After Bad English, I made three albums back-to-back that I still think is my best work, but it wasn't meant to be toured.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-waite/after-bad-english-i-made-three-albums-back-to-back-that-i-still-think/) [John Waite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-waite/) ## More by Edith Wharton > [“Suddenly the air was full of that deep clangor of bells which periodically covers Rome with a roof of silver.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/suddenly-the-air-was-full-of-that-deep-clangor-of-bells-which/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“Untrained human nature was not frank and innocent; it was full of the twists and defences of an instinctive guile. And he felt himself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/untrained-human-nature-was-not-frank-and-innocent-it-was-full-of-the/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“High Pasture Come up--come up: in the dim vale below The autumn mist muffles the fading trees, But on this keen hill-pasture, though the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/high-pasture-come-up-come-up-in-the-dim-vale-below-the-autumn-mist/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“Two ways to be a light for all, is to be a flaming candle or the mirror that reflects it”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/two-ways-to-be-a-light-for-all-is-to-be-a-flaming-candle-or-the/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“... no treasure-house of Atreus was ever as rich as a well-stored memory.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/no-treasure-house-of-atreus-was-ever-as-rich-as-a-well-stored-memory/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“...the endless labour of rolling human stupidity up the steep hill of understanding.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/the-endless-labour-of-rolling-human-stupidity-up-the-steep-hill-of/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“he saw his marriage becoming what most of the other marriages about him were: a dull association of material and social interests held together…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/he-saw-his-marriage-becoming-what-most-of-the-other-marriages-about/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [The real loneliness is living among all these kind people who only ask one to pretend!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/the-real-loneliness-is-living-among-all-these-kind-people-who-only/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [With a shiver of foreboding he saw his marriage becoming what most of the other marriages about him were: a dull association of material…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/with-a-shiver-of-foreboding-he-saw-his-marriage-becoming-what-most-of/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [Life is the saddest thing there is, next to death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/life-is-the-saddest-thing-there-is-next-to-death/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [A classic is classic not because it conforms to certain structural rules, or fits certain definitions (of which its author had quite probably never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/a-classic-is-classic-not-because-it-conforms-to-certain-structural/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [There is too much sour grapes for my taste in the present American attitude. The time to denounce the bankers was when we were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/there-is-too-much-sour-grapes-for-my-taste-in-the-present-american/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“But in a few years more perhaps there may be; for, deep within us as the ghost instinct lurks, I seem to see it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/but-in-a-few-years-more-perhaps-there-may-be-for-deep-within-us-as/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [Dialogue in fiction should be reserved for the culminating moments and regarded as the spray into which the great wave of narrative breaks in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/dialogue-in-fiction-should-be-reserved-for-the-culminating-moments/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“These Americans, under their forthcoming manner, their surface-gush, as some might call it, have an odd reticence about what goes on underneath.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/these-americans-under-their-forthcoming-manner-their-surface-gush-as/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) [Explore all 504 Edith Wharton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) ## More Book quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! 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