--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I’m telling you, Dena, when you live long…" description: "\"“I’m telling you, Dena, when you live long enough to see your children begin to look at you with different eyes, and you can look at them not as your c..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b15/fannie-flagg-3065_children_i-m-telling-you-dena-when-you-live-long_2741019.png" --- # I’m telling you, Dena, when you live long enough to see… ![“I’m telling you, Dena, when you live long enough to see your children begin to look at you with different eyes, and you can look at them not as your children, but as people, it’s worth getting older with all the creaks and wrinkles.” quote by Fannie Flagg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b15/fannie-flagg-3065_children_i-m-telling-you-dena-when-you-live-long_2741019.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b15/fannie-flagg-3065_children_i-m-telling-you-dena-when-you-live-long_2741019.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b15/fannie-flagg-3065_children_i-m-telling-you-dena-when-you-live-long_2741019.png) > ““I’m telling you, Dena, when you live long enough to see your children begin to look at you with different eyes, and you can look at them not as your children, but as people, it’s worth getting older with all the creaks and wrinkles.”” [Fannie Flagg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-flagg/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Aging lets you see children as adults, and that perspective makes the physical signs of aging worthwhile. **In simple terms:** Seeing kids as adults makes aging worth it. Key Takeaway Value the deeper relationships that come with age. Themes family aging perspective Mood nostalgic reflective warm Type personal inspirational When to use this quote - parenting - grandparenting - caregiving - reflecting on aging - celebrating longevity Key Concepts intergenerational empathy life stages Questions to Reflect On - How can you shift your view of aging? - What actions deepen your connection with adult children? A Different Perspective Physical aging can bring health challenges and societal ageism. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Getting older](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/getting-older/) [Youth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/youth/) ## Related quotes > [“And might I live long enough to see the world yet again as a place completely different, through eyes that see another truth not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-shinn/and-might-i-live-long-enough-to-see-the-world-yet-again-as-a-place/) [Sharon Shinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-shinn/) > [Getting older is no problem. You just have to live long enough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/groucho-marx/getting-older-is-no-problem-you-just-have-to-live-long-enough/) [Groucho Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/groucho-marx/) > [Men... look back on the children who were once themselves, and attempt to reconstruct them. But they can no longer think like the child...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-roberts-rinehart/men-look-back-on-the-children-who-were-once-themselves-and-attempt-to/) [Mary Roberts Rinehart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-roberts-rinehart/) > [The humorous look of children is perhaps the most endearing of all the bonds that hold the Cosmos together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/the-humorous-look-of-children-is-perhaps-the-most-endearing-of-all-2/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Movies will continue one way or another. Maybe on video. Even on video games. You have to look at it, if you have children,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-luc-godard/movies-will-continue-one-way-or-another-maybe-on-video-even-on-video/) [Jean-Luc Godard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-luc-godard/) > [“It was important to look confident, he realized that very early on. 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They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nishan-panwar/when-i-start-to-feel-broken-on-the-inside-all-i-have-to-do-is-turn-my/) [Nishan Panwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nishan-panwar/) > [I look at my books the way parents look at their children. The fact that one becomes more successful than the others doesn't make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-haley/i-look-at-my-books-the-way-parents-look-at-their-children-the-fact/) [Alex Haley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-haley/) > [Look at your children's faces there is never a day you can't look to them for a smile.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-mccarty/look-at-your-children-s-faces-there-is-never-a-day-you-can-t-look-to/) [Kevin McCarty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-mccarty/) > [The world tips away when we look into our children's faces.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-erdrich/the-world-tips-away-when-we-look-into-our-children-s-faces/) [Louise Erdrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-erdrich/) ## More by Fannie Flagg > [“Oh it don't make no kind of sense. Big ol' ox like Grady won't sit next to a colored child. But he eats eggs-…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-flagg/oh-it-don-t-make-no-kind-of-sense-big-ol-ox-like-grady-won-t-sit-next/) [Fannie Flagg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-flagg/) > [“Lately, it had been an endless procession of long, black nights and gray mornings, when her sense of failure swept over her like a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-flagg/lately-it-had-been-an-endless-procession-of-long-black-nights-and/) [Fannie Flagg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-flagg/) > [“The little girl knew if she bit any member of her family, they would get rabies too, and she died without ever having been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-flagg/the-little-girl-knew-if-she-bit-any-member-of-her-family-they-would/) [Fannie Flagg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-flagg/) > [Albert and I would spend hours and hours looking at them. Cleo had this big magnifying glass on his desk, and we'd find centipedes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-flagg/albert-and-i-would-spend-hours-and-hours-looking-at-them-cleo-had/) [Fannie Flagg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-flagg/) > [There Lives More Faith in Honest Doubt, Believe Me, Than Half the Creeds. - Alfred, Lord Tennyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-flagg/there-lives-more-faith-in-honest-doubt-believe-me-than-half-the/) [Fannie Flagg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-flagg/) > [“Harris had done exactly what he had been told to do by the sexy dame from Oklahoma. 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We were happy and didn't know it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-flagg/depression-years-come-back-to-me-now-as-the-happy-times-even-though/) [Fannie Flagg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-flagg/) > [One gal drank a can of floor wax and topped it off with a cup of Clorox, trying to separate herself from the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-flagg/one-gal-drank-a-can-of-floor-wax-and-topped-it-off-with-a-cup-of/) [Fannie Flagg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-flagg/) [Explore all 137 Fannie Flagg quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-flagg/) ## More Children 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/) > [Behind every successful child is an adult who believed in him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-warren/behind-every-successful-child-is-an-adult-who-believed-in-him/) [Rick Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-warren/) > [I believe in freedom to do what you want if you aren't hurting others, but pictures of obese protesters giving their children big gulps.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-defranco/i-believe-in-freedom-to-do-what-you-want-if-you-aren-t-hurting-others/) [Philip DeFranco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-defranco/) > [If the audience likes your work, if they like you, they don't think whether you are married or have children or not. 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