--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Man's maturity: to have regained the…" description: "\"Man's maturity: to have regained the seriousness that he had as a child at play.\" — Friedrich Nietzsche" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/51a/friedrich-nietzsche-15_aging_man-s-maturity-to-have-regained-the-seri_991409.jpg" --- # Man's maturity: to have regained the seriousness that he… ![“Man's maturity: to have regained the seriousness that he had as a child at play.” quote by Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/51a/friedrich-nietzsche-15_aging_man-s-maturity-to-have-regained-the-seri_991409.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/51a/friedrich-nietzsche-15_aging_man-s-maturity-to-have-regained-the-seri_991409.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/51a/friedrich-nietzsche-15_aging_man-s-maturity-to-have-regained-the-seri_991409.jpg) > “Man's maturity: to have regained the seriousness that he had as a child at play.” [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Maturity means regaining the earnestness of childhood play, blending seriousness with joy. **In simple terms:** Maturity is serious play. Key Takeaway Balance responsibility with childlike curiosity. Themes growth responsibility playfulness seriousness Mood thoughtful hopeful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - education - parenting - career development - creative projects Key Concepts existentialism psychology Questions to Reflect On - Can you be serious while playing? - How does play inform maturity? A Different Perspective Might overlook the value of carefree spontaneity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Aging](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aging/) [Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/child/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Man Maturity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man-maturity-2032663/) [Maturity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/maturity/) [Maturity Regained](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/maturity-regained-2032662/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Play](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/play/) [Regained Seriousness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/regained-seriousness-2032664/) [Seriousness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seriousness/) [Seriousness Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seriousness-child-649438/) ## Related quotes > [A person's maturity consists in having found again the seriousness one had as a child, at play](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/a-person-s-maturity-consists-in-having-found-again-the-seriousness/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Man is most nearly himself when he achieves the seriousness of a child at play.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heraclitus/man-is-most-nearly-himself-when-he-achieves-the-seriousness-of-a/) [Heraclitus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heraclitus/) > [“We are most nearly ourselves when we achieve the seriousness of the child at play.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heraclitus/we-are-most-nearly-ourselves-when-we-achieve-the-seriousness-of-the/) [Heraclitus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heraclitus/) > [“The maturity of man—that means, to have reacquired the seriousness that one had as a child at play”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-maturity-of-man-that-means-to-have-reacquired-the-seriousness/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“‎The struggle of maturity is to recover the seriousness of a child at play.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-struggle-of-maturity-is-to-recover-the-seriousness-of-a-child-at/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“Young Mr. Maxwell would make a very good match.” Camilla’s lovely face hardened just a little at the mention of Maxwell. Grey could have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-smith/young-mr-maxwell-would-make-a-very-good-match-camilla-s-lovely-face/) [Kathryn Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-smith/) > [Men should learn to live with the same seriousness with which children play.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/men-should-learn-to-live-with-the-same-seriousness-with-which/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [The "seriousness" of a mathematical theorem lies, not in its practical consequences, which are usually negligible, but in the significance of the mathematical ideas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-h-hardy/the-seriousness-of-a-mathematical-theorem-lies-not-in-its-practical/) [G. H. Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-h-hardy/) > [Maybe I've just been incredibly fortunate, but there's a level of dedication, devotion, intensity and seriousness around me every day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-riseborough/maybe-i-ve-just-been-incredibly-fortunate-but-there-s-a-level-of/) [Andrea Riseborough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-riseborough/) > [Seriousness is the only refuge of the shallow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/seriousness-is-the-only-refuge-of-the-shallow/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [It is important that Miers not be confirmed unless, in her 61st year, she suddenly and unexpectedly is found to have hitherto undisclosed interests…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-will/it-is-important-that-miers-not-be-confirmed-unless-in-her-61st-year/) [George Will](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-will/) > [The problem is that rap is so often a caricature of its own image. Nobody comes to the table with the seriousness of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/k-naan/the-problem-is-that-rap-is-so-often-a-caricature-of-its-own-image/) [K'naan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/k-naan/) > [“Despite the seriousness of the subject,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/despite-the-seriousness-of-the-subject/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We have this idea that seriousness is of higher value. But surely there is more human pleasure and delight in time spent with humour…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grayson-perry/we-have-this-idea-that-seriousness-is-of-higher-value-but-surely/) [Grayson Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grayson-perry/) > [Of Course God does not consider you hopeless. If He did, He would not be moving you to seek Him (and He obviously is)...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/of-course-god-does-not-consider-you-hopeless-if-he-did-he-would-not/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Friedrich Nietzsche > [Animals know nothing of themselves, and they also know nothing of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/animals-know-nothing-of-themselves-and-they-also-know-nothing-of-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“Every select man strives instinctively for a citadel and a privacy, where he is FREE from the crowd, the many, the majority-- where he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/every-select-man-strives-instinctively-for-a-citadel-and-a-privacy/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“It breaks my heart. Better than your words, your eye tells me all your peril. You are not yet free, you still search for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/it-breaks-my-heart-better-than-your-words-your-eye-tells-me-all-your/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“79. A soul which knows that it is loved, but does not itself love, betrays its sediment: its dregs come up.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/79-a-soul-which-knows-that-it-is-loved-but-does-not-itself-love/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [We deceive ourselves when giving respect to the person for whom we have surrendered ourselves, when we respectively expect them to be as we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/we-deceive-ourselves-when-giving-respect-to-the-person-for-whom-we/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“The great periods of our life occur when we gain the courage to rechristen what is bad about us as what is best.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-great-periods-of-our-life-occur-when-we-gain-the-courage-to/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“What is life? Life - that is: continually shedding something that wants to die. Life - that is: being cruel and inexorable against everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/what-is-life-life-that-is-continually-shedding-something-that-wants/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [It is thus only this personal feeling of misery that we get rid of by acts of pity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/it-is-thus-only-this-personal-feeling-of-misery-that-we-get-rid-of-by/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“Writers whose thoughts are expressed with clarity and precision are assumed by readers to be superficial. Where the meaning is obscured, then readers give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/writers-whose-thoughts-are-expressed-with-clarity-and-precision-are/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“he does not wear a twitching, mobile, human face, but rather a mask, as it were, with its features in dignified equilibrium; he does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/he-does-not-wear-a-twitching-mobile-human-face-but-rather-a-mask-as/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Chastity is a virtue with some, but with many it is almost a vice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/chastity-is-a-virtue-with-some-but-with-many-it-is-almost-a-vice/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [The earth is like the breasts of a woman: useful as well as pleasing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-earth-is-like-the-breasts-of-a-woman-useful-as-well-as-pleasing/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“Of all that is written I love only what a man has written in his own blood.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/of-all-that-is-written-i-love-only-what-a-man-has-written-in-his-own/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [No shepherd and one herd! Everybody wants the same, everybody is the same: whoever feels different goes voluntarily into a madhouse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/no-shepherd-and-one-herd-everybody-wants-the-same-everybody-is-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Pain makes hens and poets cackle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/pain-makes-hens-and-poets-cackle/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) [Explore all 3,486 Friedrich Nietzsche quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) ## More Aging quotes > [While we've youth in our hearts, we can never grow old.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/while-we-ve-youth-in-our-hearts-we-can-never-grow-old/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/) > [In the past 40 years, the United States lost more than a million farmers and ranchers. Many of our farmers are aging. Today, only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-vilsack/in-the-past-40-years-the-united-states-lost-more-than-a-million/) [Tom Vilsack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-vilsack/) > [We'll never be as young as we are tonight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/we-ll-never-be-as-young-as-we-are-tonight/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [“Prayer of an Anonymous Abbess: Lord, thou knowest better than myself that I am growing older and will soon be old. Keep me from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/prayer-of-an-anonymous-abbess-lord-thou-knowest-better-than-myself/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The more I produce, the less I am certain. On the road along which the artist walks, night falls ever more densely. Finally, he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/the-more-i-produce-the-less-i-am-certain-on-the-road-along-which-the/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [So often do you see collegians enter life with high resolve and lofty purpose and then watch them shrink and shrink to sordid, selfish,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-e-b-du-bois/so-often-do-you-see-collegians-enter-life-with-high-resolve-and-lofty/) [W. E. B. Du Bois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-e-b-du-bois/) > [Aging is like enlightenment at gunpoint. Before I had cancer, I lived my life for my art. After I had cancer, I lived my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-halprin/aging-is-like-enlightenment-at-gunpoint-before-i-had-cancer-i-lived/) [Anna Halprin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-halprin/) > [All the dangers in our world are like a blessed wake up call. They tell us to live life NOW... not tomorrow, not when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-jeffers/all-the-dangers-in-our-world-are-like-a-blessed-wake-up-call-they/) [Susan Jeffers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-jeffers/) > [“You could see the signs of female aging as diseased, especially if you had a vested interest in making women too see them your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-wolf/you-could-see-the-signs-of-female-aging-as-diseased-especially-if-you/) [Naomi Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-wolf/) > [“It takes maturity to be able to laugh like a child again.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moffat-machingura/it-takes-maturity-to-be-able-to-laugh-like-a-child-again/) [Moffat Machingura](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moffat-machingura/) > [Seek ye counsel of the aged for their eyes have looked on the faces of the years and their ears have hardened to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khalil-gibran/seek-ye-counsel-of-the-aged-for-their-eyes-have-looked-on-the-faces/) [Khalil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khalil-gibran/) > [Growing old-it's not nice, but it's interesting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/august-strindberg/growing-old-it-s-not-nice-but-it-s-interesting/) [August Strindberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/august-strindberg/) > [Anything is possible in the life of a man if he lives long enough. Even maturity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howell-raines/anything-is-possible-in-the-life-of-a-man-if-he-lives-long-enough/) [Howell Raines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howell-raines/) > [I just want to be Patty McCormack. I want to spend every year aging the way she has.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-varney/i-just-want-to-be-patty-mccormack-i-want-to-spend-every-year-aging/) [Janet Varney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-varney/) > [Maturity is reached the day we don't need to be lied to about anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-yerby/maturity-is-reached-the-day-we-don-t-need-to-be-lied-to-about-anything/) [Frank Yerby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-yerby/) [Browse all 2,792 Aging quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aging/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Man's maturity: to have regained the seriousness that he had as a child at play.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Friedrich Nietzsche" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/man-s-maturity-to-have-regained-the-seriousness-that-he-had-as-a/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Aging" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/man-s-maturity-to-have-regained-the-seriousness-that-he-had-as-a/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/51a/friedrich-nietzsche-15_aging_man-s-maturity-to-have-regained-the-seri_991409.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/51a/friedrich-nietzsche-15_aging_man-s-maturity-to-have-regained-the-seri_991409.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/51a/friedrich-nietzsche-15_aging_man-s-maturity-to-have-regained-the-seri_991409.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Man's maturity: to have regained the seriousness that he had as a child at play.” — Friedrich Nietzsche", "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": "Friedrich Nietzsche", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Man's maturity: to have regained the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/man-s-maturity-to-have-regained-the-seriousness-that-he-had-as-a/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/man-s-maturity-to-have-regained-the-seriousness-that-he-had-as-a/#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 } } ] } ```