Adolescence Quote by Elizabeth Enright
“Grownups! Everyone remembers them. How strange and even sad it is that we never became what they were: beings noble, infallible, and free. We never became them. One of the things we discover as we live is that we never become anything different from what we are. We are no less ourselves at forty than we were at four, and because of this we know grownups as Grownups only once in life: during our own childhood. We never meet them in our lives again, and we will miss them always.”
About This Quote
Source Book: The Grown-Up's Guide to Growing Up, Elizabeth Enright, 1975
We idealize adult perfection but realize we remain the same person throughout life, missing the idealized version only in childhood memories.
In simple terms: Adults are imagined as perfect, but we stay the same person.
Key Takeaway
Accept yourself at every age.
Themes
identity
growth
nostalgia
Mood
reflective
melancholy
Type
philosophical
inspirational
When to use this quote
- childhood reflections
- adult self‑assessment
- intergenerational expectations
Key Concepts
self‑acceptance
life stages
Questions to Reflect On
- How does nostalgia shape your view of adulthood?
- What expectations do you hold for your future self?
A Different Perspective
Idealized adults are unattainable, leading to disappointment.
![“I remember realizing, when I did Little Women [1994], that that was the only time girls that age were being written about. It was always boys - from David Copperfield to Lord of the Flies to Holden Caulfield. There were never young women going through adolescence or teen years; there were only…” quote by Winona Ryder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/666/winona-ryder-1469_adolescence_i-remember-realizing-when-i-did-little-w_41784.jpg)