--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Who knows whether there may not be a…" description: "\"Who knows whether there may not be a moment in childhood when the world changes forever, like making a face when the clock strikes?\" — Graham Greene" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eac/graham-greene-441_childhood_who-knows-whether-there-may-not-be-a-mom_1390980.jpg" --- # Who knows whether there may not be a moment in childhood… ![“Who knows whether there may not be a moment in childhood when the world changes forever, like making a face when the clock strikes?” quote by Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eac/graham-greene-441_childhood_who-knows-whether-there-may-not-be-a-mom_1390980.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eac/graham-greene-441_childhood_who-knows-whether-there-may-not-be-a-mom_1390980.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eac/graham-greene-441_childhood_who-knows-whether-there-may-not-be-a-mom_1390980.jpg) > “Who knows whether there may not be a moment in childhood when the world changes forever, like making a face when the clock strikes?” [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Childhood moments can abruptly reshape perception, like a sudden realization that changes one’s worldview. **In simple terms:** A childhood moment can change everything. Key Takeaway Stay open to transformative experiences. Themes growth perception childhood Mood nostalgic curious Type reflective philosophical When to use this quote - education - parenting - creative work - personal crisis Key Concepts psychology epiphany Questions to Reflect On - What childhood event altered your view? - How do you recognize a pivotal moment? A Different Perspective Not all moments lead to positive change. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Childhood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/childhood/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Clock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clock/) [Faces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faces/) [Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments/) [Strikes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strikes/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [There is always one moment in childhood when the door opens and lets the future in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/there-is-always-one-moment-in-childhood-when-the-door-opens-and-lets-2/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [There is always one moment in childhood when the door opens and lets the future in...We should be thankful we cannot see the horrors…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/there-is-always-one-moment-in-childhood-when-the-door-opens-and-lets/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [~That moment when your childhood has Ended~](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/she-s-broken-2/that-moment-when-your-childhood-has-ended/) [She's Broken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/she-s-broken-2/) > [Whatever became of the moment when one first knew about death? There must have been one. A moment. In childhood. When it first occurred…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/whatever-became-of-the-moment-when-one-first-knew-about-death-there-2/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [If kids've been overprotected from failure in childhood, they get out into the world and they really get thrown off.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-tough/if-kids-ve-been-overprotected-from-failure-in-childhood-they-get-out/) [Paul Tough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-tough/) > [Childhood is the world of miracle and wonder; as if creation rose, bathed...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eug-ne-ionesco/childhood-is-the-world-of-miracle-and-wonder-as-if-creation-rose-2/) [Eugene Ionesco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eug-ne-ionesco/) > [Siblings are the guarantors that the private childhood world - so unlike the adult world that scientists are only just beginning to understand it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-gopnik/siblings-are-the-guarantors-that-the-private-childhood-world-so/) [Alison Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-gopnik/) > [Childhood is the world of miracle and wonder; as if creation rose, bathed in the light, out of the darkness, utterly new and fresh…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eug-ne-ionesco/childhood-is-the-world-of-miracle-and-wonder-as-if-creation-rose/) [Eugene Ionesco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eug-ne-ionesco/) > [Childhood is the world of miracle or of magic: it is as if creation rose luminously out of the night, all new and fresh…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eug-ne-ionesco/childhood-is-the-world-of-miracle-or-of-magic-it-is-as-if-creation/) [Eugene Ionesco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eug-ne-ionesco/) > [“Lena squeezed her eyes shut until white flashes popped. And in that moment she knew: nothing would ever be the same again. Childhood was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slava-pilotoff/lena-squeezed-her-eyes-shut-until-white-flashes-popped-and-in-that/) [Slava Pilotoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slava-pilotoff/) > [I had a very dysfunctional family, and a very hard childhood. So I made a world out of words. And it was my salvation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/i-had-a-very-dysfunctional-family-and-a-very-hard-childhood-so-i-made/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [Hate builds up from the childhood when your world was a slum, but you haven't got the right to blow it to kingdom come.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-davies/hate-builds-up-from-the-childhood-when-your-world-was-a-slum-but-you/) [Ray Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-davies/) > [“An old soul changed the changes of all changes, forever.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/petra-hermans/an-old-soul-changed-the-changes-of-all-changes-forever/) [Petra Hermans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/petra-hermans/) > [Unfortunately I lost my father quite early, it changes you. It changes you forever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-leclerc/unfortunately-i-lost-my-father-quite-early-it-changes-you-it-changes/) [Charles Leclerc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-leclerc/) > [Sometimes the littlest thing in life changes something forever and there will be times when you wish you can go back to how things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu/sometimes-the-littlest-thing-in-life-changes-something-forever-and/) [Ritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu/) ## More by Graham Greene > [“Time gives poetry to a battlefield...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/time-gives-poetry-to-a-battlefield/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“What is cowardice in the young is wisdom in the old, but all the same one can be ashamed of wisdom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/what-is-cowardice-in-the-young-is-wisdom-in-the-old-but-all-the-same/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Pity is cruel. Pity destroys.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/pity-is-cruel-pity-destroys/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Hate is a lack of imagination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/hate-is-a-lack-of-imagination/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Despair is the price one pays for setting oneself an impossible aim. It is, one is told, the unforgivable sin, but it is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/despair-is-the-price-one-pays-for-setting-oneself-an-impossible-aim/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“Knowledge was the great thing--not abstract knowledge in which Dr. Forester had been so rich, the theories which lead one enticingly on with their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/knowledge-was-the-great-thing-not-abstract-knowledge-in-which-dr/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [With Your great schemes, You ruin our happiness like a harvester ruins a mouse's nest: I hate You, God, I hate You as though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/with-your-great-schemes-you-ruin-our-happiness-like-a-harvester-ruins/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Heresy is only another word for freedom of thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/heresy-is-only-another-word-for-freedom-of-thought/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“He had thought that home was something one possessed, but the things one had possessed were cursed with change; it was what one didn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/he-had-thought-that-home-was-something-one-possessed-but-the-things/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Perhaps the comparison is closer to the Chinese cook who leaves hardly any part of a duck unserved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/perhaps-the-comparison-is-closer-to-the-chinese-cook-who-leaves/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“He said, ‘Oh god, help her. Damn me, I deserve it, but let her live forever.’ This was the love he should have felt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/he-said-oh-god-help-her-damn-me-i-deserve-it-but-let-her-live-forever/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“A police photograph is like a passport photograph: the intelligence which casts a veil over the crude common shape is never recorded by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/a-police-photograph-is-like-a-passport-photograph-the-intelligence/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [ “I tossed up whether I'd see \[the critic\] or not: I knew too well the pompous phrases of his article, the buried significance he… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/i-tossed-up-whether-i-d-see-the-critic-or-not-i-knew-too-well-the/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Success is more dangerous than failure, the ripples break over a wider coastline.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/success-is-more-dangerous-than-failure-the-ripples-break-over-a-wider/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“But we do not love people for what they do for us. Love happens to us; it isn't created.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/but-we-do-not-love-people-for-what-they-do-for-us-love-happens-to-us/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) [Explore all 550 Graham Greene quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) ## More Childhood quotes > [“Children's lives are always beginning and adults' lives are always ending. Or is it the opposite? Your childhood is always ending and your adult…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-espach/children-s-lives-are-always-beginning-and-adults-lives-are-always/) [Alison Espach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-espach/) > [“From childhood’s hour I have not been As others were—I have not seen As others saw—I could not bring My passions from a common…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/from-childhood-s-hour-i-have-not-been-as-others-were-i-have-not-seen/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [We were so poor as kids. I didn't even see a bathtub, running water, hot water, commode - we didn't have any of that.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-robertson/we-were-so-poor-as-kids-i-didn-t-even-see-a-bathtub-running-water-hot/) [Phil Robertson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-robertson/) > [I had a rough upbringing. Group homes. Foster homes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-shamrock/i-had-a-rough-upbringing-group-homes-foster-homes/) [Frank Shamrock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-shamrock/) > [When I talk about my childhood I used to say it as if it was scripted and I'd make jokes because it was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerry-katona/when-i-talk-about-my-childhood-i-used-to-say-it-as-if-it-was-scripted/) [Kerry Katona](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerry-katona/) > [Every man remembers his childhood as a kind of mythical age, just as every nation's childhood is its mythical age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giacomo-leopardi/every-man-remembers-his-childhood-as-a-kind-of-mythical-age-just-as/) [Giacomo Leopardi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giacomo-leopardi/) > [It's a very familiar type of place where people either go to their house on the lake or they get together in different places.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-carell/it-s-a-very-familiar-type-of-place-where-people-either-go-to-their/) [Steve Carell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-carell/) > [Ideal for the child and society in the best of times, Rudolf Steiner's brilliant process of education is critically needed and profoundly relevant now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-chilton-pearce/ideal-for-the-child-and-society-in-the-best-of-times-rudolf-steiner-s/) [Joseph Chilton Pearce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-chilton-pearce/) > [Downstairs in my house, I have a museum room. I keep all of my awards down there, and childhood photos, and even all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-kelly/downstairs-in-my-house-i-have-a-museum-room-i-keep-all-of-my-awards/) [R. Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-kelly/) > [Childhood is Last Chance Gulch for happiness. After that, you know too much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/childhood-is-last-chance-gulch-for-happiness-after-that-you-know-too/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [On paper, it looks rough, but I had a great childhood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samantha-morton/on-paper-it-looks-rough-but-i-had-a-great-childhood/) [Samantha Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samantha-morton/) > [Let positive, strong, helpful thoughts enter into your brains from very childhood. Lay yourselves open to these thoughts, and not to weakening and paralysing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/let-positive-strong-helpful-thoughts-enter-into-your-brains-from-very/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [I always knew that I was kind of bored; the regular life of a child didn't fit me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-ricci/i-always-knew-that-i-was-kind-of-bored-the-regular-life-of-a-child/) [Christina Ricci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-ricci/) > [Children are not a zoo of entertainingly exotic creatures, but an array of mirrors in which the human predicament leaps out at us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/children-are-not-a-zoo-of-entertainingly-exotic-creatures-but-an/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [I'm not sure I would have ever started to draw, let alone write, if my childhood hadn't been so happy. It was a mixture…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tove-jansson/i-m-not-sure-i-would-have-ever-started-to-draw-let-alone-write-if-my/) [Tove Jansson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tove-jansson/) [Browse all 5,837 Childhood quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/childhood/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Who knows whether there may not be a moment in childhood when the world changes forever, like making a face when the clock strikes?", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Graham Greene" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/who-knows-whether-there-may-not-be-a-moment-in-childhood-when-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Childhood" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/who-knows-whether-there-may-not-be-a-moment-in-childhood-when-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eac/graham-greene-441_childhood_who-knows-whether-there-may-not-be-a-mom_1390980.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eac/graham-greene-441_childhood_who-knows-whether-there-may-not-be-a-mom_1390980.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eac/graham-greene-441_childhood_who-knows-whether-there-may-not-be-a-mom_1390980.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Who knows whether there may not be a moment in childhood when the world changes forever, like making a face…” — Graham Greene", "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": "Graham Greene", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Who knows whether there may not...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/who-knows-whether-there-may-not-be-a-moment-in-childhood-when-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/who-knows-whether-there-may-not-be-a-moment-in-childhood-when-the/#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 } } ] } ```