--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Children are all more or less little…" description: "\"Children are all more or less little monkeys in that they imitate everything they see. If their mother treats them exactly as she does her visitors the..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/acc/emily-post-9638_able_children-are-all-more-or-less-little-mon_2075816.png" --- # Children are all more or less little monkeys in that they… ![“Children are all more or less little monkeys in that they imitate everything they see. If their mother treats them exactly as she does her visitors they in turn play "visitor" to perfection. Nothing hurts the feelings of children more than not being allowed to behave like grown persons when they…” quote by Emily Post](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/acc/emily-post-9638_able_children-are-all-more-or-less-little-mon_2075816.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/acc/emily-post-9638_able_children-are-all-more-or-less-little-mon_2075816.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/acc/emily-post-9638_able_children-are-all-more-or-less-little-mon_2075816.png) > “Children are all more or less little monkeys in that they imitate everything they see. If their mother treats them exactly as she does her visitors they in turn play "visitor" to perfection. Nothing hurts the feelings of children more than not being allowed to behave like grown persons when they think they are able.” [Emily Post](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-post/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Children imitate adult behavior; they learn social norms by copying what they observe. **In simple terms:** Kids copy what they see. Key Takeaway Model respectful behavior for children. Themes parenting social learning imitation Mood thoughtful educational Type philosophical advice When to use this quote - family dinner - school interactions - playdates - media consumption Key Concepts role modeling behavioral norms Questions to Reflect On - How does parental behavior shape child values? - What limits exist on imitation? A Different Perspective Children also need guidance to develop independent judgment. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Able](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/able/) [Behave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/behave/) [Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/child/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Children Allowed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children-allowed-617421/) [Doe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doe/) [Feelings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feelings/) [Feelings Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feelings-children-784175/) [Grown Persons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grown-persons-2477026/) [Hurt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hurt/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Imitate Mother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imitate-mother-4030621/) [Little Monkeys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/little-monkeys-1133771/) [Littles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/littles/) [Money](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/money/) [Monkeys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/monkeys/) [Mother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mother/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) [Perfection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perfection/) [Persons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/persons/) [Play](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/play/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Treats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/treats/) [Turns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/turns/) [Visitors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/visitors/) ## Related quotes > [When grown-up persons indulge in practical jokes, the fact gauges them. They have lived narrow, obscure, and ignorant lives, and at full manhood they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/when-grown-up-persons-indulge-in-practical-jokes-the-fact-gauges-them/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [The plays and sports of children are as salutary to them as labor and work are to grown persons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-richardson/the-plays-and-sports-of-children-are-as-salutary-to-them-as-labor-and/) [Samuel Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-richardson/) > [When we reverence anything in the mature, it is their virtues or their wisdom, and this is an easy matter. But we reverence the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/when-we-reverence-anything-in-the-mature-it-is-their-virtues-or-their/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Monkey will be monkeys little monkeys but if you take their banana they going take yours](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mrawesome/monkey-will-be-monkeys-little-monkeys-but-if-you-take-their-banana/) [MrAwesome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mrawesome/) > [I have a toy poodle, Shadow. She's a little whippersnapper! And I love little monkeys.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vanessa-hudgens/i-have-a-toy-poodle-shadow-she-s-a-little-whippersnapper-and-i-love/) [Vanessa Hudgens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vanessa-hudgens/) > [A very painful part of being a parent is having really negative feelings about your children when you love them so much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-c-k/a-very-painful-part-of-being-a-parent-is-having-really-negative/) [Louis C. K](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-c-k/) > [“Can forgivenes for the crimes done to a child be not just ineffective but actively harmful? It certainly can because the body does not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-miller/can-forgivenes-for-the-crimes-done-to-a-child-be-not-just-ineffective/) [Alice Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-miller/) > [Now run along and play, but don't get into trouble. George promised to be good. But it is easy for little monkeys to forget.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-a-rey/now-run-along-and-play-but-don-t-get-into-trouble-george-promised-to/) [H. A. Rey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-a-rey/) > [I don't envy guards. They're quick little monkeys, those guys.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-adams/i-don-t-envy-guards-they-re-quick-little-monkeys-those-guys/) [Steven Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-adams/) > [Green Day is politically brain-dead but I love the little monkeys.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-nugent/green-day-is-politically-brain-dead-but-i-love-the-little-monkeys/) [Ted Nugent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-nugent/) > [“People with an entertaining rigid structure are brought up in environments in which the parents are uncomfortable with expressing feelings. This is not to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliot-greene/people-with-an-entertaining-rigid-structure-are-brought-up-in/) [Elliot Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliot-greene/) > [“You were a child, you didn't mean to hurt my feelings. Children are ignorant. It takes an adult to choose to be cruel.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jan-strnad/you-were-a-child-you-didn-t-mean-to-hurt-my-feelings-children-are/) [Jan Strnad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jan-strnad/) > [Of course, I get angry. Of course, I get sad. I have a full range of emotions. I also have a whole smorgasbord of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-rogers/of-course-i-get-angry-of-course-i-get-sad-i-have-a-full-range-of/) [Fred Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-rogers/) > [In popular houses where visitors like to go again and again, there is always a happy combination of some attention on the part of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-post/in-popular-houses-where-visitors-like-to-go-again-and-again-there-is/) [Emily Post](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-post/) > [“Our children were allowed to help when they were little, urged to help when they grew a little older, and sometimes ordered to help…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boyd-k-packer/our-children-were-allowed-to-help-when-they-were-little-urged-to-help/) [Boyd K. Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boyd-k-packer/) ## More by Emily Post > [Manners are a sensitive awareness of the feelings of others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-post/manners-are-a-sensitive-awareness-of-the-feelings-of-others/) [Emily Post](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-post/) > [Manners are a sensitive awareness of the feelings of others. If you have that awareness, you have good manners, no matter what fork you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-post/manners-are-a-sensitive-awareness-of-the-feelings-of-others-if-you/) [Emily Post](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-post/) > [An overdose of praise is like 10 lumps of sugar in coffee; only a very few people can swallow it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-post/an-overdose-of-praise-is-like-10-lumps-of-sugar-in-coffee-only-a-very/) [Emily Post](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-post/) > [“Persons under the shock of genuine affliction are not only upset mentally but are all unbalanced physically. 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Other houses are filled with things of little intrinsic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-post/houses-without-personality-are-a-series-of-walled-enclosures-with/) [Emily Post](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-post/) > [Manners are made up of trivialities of deportment which can be easily learned if one does not happen to know them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-post/manners-are-made-up-of-trivialities-of-deportment-which-can-be-easily-2/) [Emily Post](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-post/) [Explore all 71 Emily Post quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-post/) ## More Able quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [There is something about the South that accepts the supernatural. If you don't accept it and you're having a conversation with someone who does,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-englert/there-is-something-about-the-south-that-accepts-the-supernatural-if/) [Alice Englert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-englert/) > [In the '80s, the way radio was programmed, if you didn't have a hit record you weren't going to be able to make any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huey-lewis/in-the-80s-the-way-radio-was-programmed-if-you-didn-t-have-a-hit/) [Huey Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huey-lewis/) > [I think I've had the longest career of strength, focus, and still being able to sell records. I think I'm that guy. I'm still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nas/i-think-i-ve-had-the-longest-career-of-strength-focus-and-still-being/) [Nas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nas/) > [I have that need in me, I want everyone to love me, but I'm embarrassed by that need, so I wanted to cover it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-jeselnik/i-have-that-need-in-me-i-want-everyone-to-love-me-but-i-m-embarrassed/) [Anthony Jeselnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-jeselnik/) > [Thinking about the things that happened, I don't know any other ball player would could have done what he (Jackie Robinson) did. 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