--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: that a child is not an event, alleged or…" description: "\"“that a child is not an event, alleged or otherwise, a mistake or accident or crime. . . he is by definition more than this, sum rather than division, ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/120/john-burnham-schwartz-22392_child_that-a-child-is-not-an-event-alleged-or_2943648.jpg" --- # that a child is not an event, alleged or otherwise, a… ![“that a child is not an event, alleged or otherwise, a mistake or accident or crime. . . he is by definition more than this, sum rather than division, a living promissory note.” quote by John Burnham Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/120/john-burnham-schwartz-22392_child_that-a-child-is-not-an-event-alleged-or_2943648.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/120/john-burnham-schwartz-22392_child_that-a-child-is-not-an-event-alleged-or_2943648.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/120/john-burnham-schwartz-22392_child_that-a-child-is-not-an-event-alleged-or_2943648.jpg) > ““that a child is not an event, alleged or otherwise, a mistake or accident or crime. . . he is by definition more than this, sum rather than division, a living promissory note.”” [John Burnham Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burnham-schwartz/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A child transcends simplistic labels, embodying potential and promise beyond mistakes. **In simple terms:** Children are more than errors. Key Takeaway Recognize a child's inherent worth. Themes identity potential humanity Mood empathetic inspirational Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - parenting - education - social work - mentoring Key Concepts existentialism psychology ethics Questions to Reflect On - How do you see a child's promise? - What biases limit our view of youth? A Different Perspective Children can be defined by mistakes. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/child/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Living Promissory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/living-promissory-4400878/) [Note](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/note/) [Promissory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/promissory-3479859/) [Promissory Note](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/promissory-note-3206349/) ## Related quotes > [Love is not a promissory note.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/todd-may/love-is-not-a-promissory-note/) [Todd May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/todd-may/) > [Summer is a promissory note signed in June, its long days spent and gone before you know it, and due to be repaid next…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-borland/summer-is-a-promissory-note-signed-in-june-its-long-days-spent-and/) [Hal Borland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-borland/) > [To use a telling phrase of the Reverend Martin Luther King, we can say that we have defaulted on a promissory note and now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/to-use-a-telling-phrase-of-the-reverend-martin-luther-king-we-can-say/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [Yesterday is a cancelled check. Today is cash on the line. Tomorrow is a promissory note.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/yesterday-is-a-cancelled-check-today-is-cash-on-the-line-tomorrow-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The man who is wantonly profuse of his promises ought to sink his credit as much as a tradesman would by uttering a great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fielding/the-man-who-is-wantonly-profuse-of-his-promises-ought-to-sink-his/) [Henry Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fielding/) > [“People are like “I’m going to do this, or I’m going to do that one day”. Can you give me that promissory note God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-wallace/people-are-like-i-m-going-to-do-this-or-i-m-going-to-do-that-one-day/) [Carlos Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-wallace/) > [Yesterday is a cancelled check; Tomorrow is a promissory note; Today is the only cash you have, so spend it wisely.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/yesterday-is-a-cancelled-check-tomorrow-is-a-promissory-note-today-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/it-is-obvious-today-that-america-has-defaulted-on-this-promissory/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [Yesterday is a canceled check: Forget it. Tomorrow is a promissory note: Don't count on it. Today is ready cash: Use it!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/yesterday-is-a-canceled-check-forget-it-tomorrow-is-a-promissory-note/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I don't know one note from another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hank-williams/i-don-t-know-one-note-from-another/) [Hank Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hank-williams/) > [“You were...are...what I heard. Every note.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gina-marinello-sweeney/you-were-are-what-i-heard-every-note/) [Gina Marinello-Sweeney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gina-marinello-sweeney/) > [If there was a wrong note, it didn't matter as long as it was rocking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-young/if-there-was-a-wrong-note-it-didn-t-matter-as-long-as-it-was-rocking/) [Malcolm Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-young/) > [I'm definitely a note taker.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-randolph/i-m-definitely-a-note-taker/) [Marc Randolph](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-randolph/) > [“Where none sees another, where it is all One, there is none to be miserable, none to be unhappy (note 48).”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/where-none-sees-another-where-it-is-all-one-there-is-none-to-be/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [We must, however, note that what are usually called the high religions made their appearance within about twenty-five hundred years - most of them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-scott-latourette/we-must-however-note-that-what-are-usually-called-the-high-religions/) [Kenneth Scott Latourette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-scott-latourette/) ## More by John Burnham Schwartz > [There's no backward and no forward, no day other than this. You fill your cart as you go, and that's that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burnham-schwartz/there-s-no-backward-and-no-forward-no-day-other-than-this-you-fill/) [John Burnham Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burnham-schwartz/) > [Beyond the terrace, a light breeze stirred the reeds at the edge of the pond. Looking out at this intimate vista, one could see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burnham-schwartz/beyond-the-terrace-a-light-breeze-stirred-the-reeds-at-the-edge-of/) [John Burnham Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burnham-schwartz/) > [Men had suddenly become a scarce commodity, if not quite as sought after as rice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burnham-schwartz/men-had-suddenly-become-a-scarce-commodity-if-not-quite-as-sought/) [John Burnham Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burnham-schwartz/) > [“Inaction is not the same thing as patience. 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My father was his lawyer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burnham-schwartz/for-a-couple-of-years-at-the-end-of-the-1970s-dustin-hoffman-was-a/) [John Burnham Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burnham-schwartz/) > [I have long admired the visceral storytelling and moral complexity of John Vaillant’s brilliant non-fiction about humankind’s tragically ambivalent relationship with the natural world.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burnham-schwartz/i-have-long-admired-the-visceral-storytelling-and-moral-complexity-of/) [John Burnham Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burnham-schwartz/) > [“Why? What had she ever done? What had any of them ever done? To give a child only to take him away. To make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burnham-schwartz/why-what-had-she-ever-done-what-had-any-of-them-ever-done-to-give-a/) [John Burnham Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burnham-schwartz/) > [Anyone who loved Tuesdays with Morrie should delight in reading The Five People You Meet in Heaven. Mitch Albom has populated his larger-than-life tale…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burnham-schwartz/anyone-who-loved-tuesdays-with-morrie-should-delight-in-reading-the/) [John Burnham Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burnham-schwartz/) > [It is one thing to recognise certain potentially useful affinities, and another to act on them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burnham-schwartz/it-is-one-thing-to-recognise-certain-potentially-useful-affinities/) [John Burnham Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burnham-schwartz/) > [In Japan, more than in any other country I've ever been in, one is not supposed to write about the people in the glass…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burnham-schwartz/in-japan-more-than-in-any-other-country-i-ve-ever-been-in-one-is-not/) [John Burnham Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burnham-schwartz/) > [The difference between great actors and the rest of us isn't simply that they know how to make more out of less, but that,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burnham-schwartz/the-difference-between-great-actors-and-the-rest-of-us-isn-t-simply/) [John Burnham Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burnham-schwartz/) > [“I sat thinking. How it was she who'd mentioned love first. 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Or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natasha-lyonne/i-would-have-done-well-as-a-gypsy-child-i-think-a-circus-baby-i/) [Natasha Lyonne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natasha-lyonne/) > [We're raising children who have little tolerance for disappointment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bren-brown/we-re-raising-children-who-have-little-tolerance-for-disappointment/) [Brené Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bren-brown/) > [I'm a weirdo and an only child. That comes together to create one-woman shows.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-seales/i-m-a-weirdo-and-an-only-child-that-comes-together-to-create-one/) [Amanda Seales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-seales/) > [“Every child is born as angel.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/every-child-is-born-as-angel/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [To assist a child we must provide him with an environment which will enable him to develop freely.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-montessori/to-assist-a-child-we-must-provide-him-with-an-environment-which-will/) [Maria Montessori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-montessori/) > [Almost everywhere we find . . . the use of various coercive measures, to rid ourselves as quickly as possible of the child withinus--i.e.,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-miller/almost-everywhere-we-find-the-use-of-various-coercive-measures-to-rid/) [Alice Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-miller/) > [Since I was a little child, my nose - I think it's too big.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/celine-dion/since-i-was-a-little-child-my-nose-i-think-it-s-too-big/) [Celine Dion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/celine-dion/) > [if we center our lives on BMWs, RVs, VCRs, PCs and the other acronyms of consumerism, we cannot expect our children to do otherwise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnnetta-b-cole/if-we-center-our-lives-on-bmws-rvs-vcrs-pcs-and-the-other-acronyms-of/) [Johnnetta B. 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