--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It's rather hard to decide just when…" description: "\"“It's rather hard to decide just when people are grown up,' laughed Anne. 'That's a true word, dearie. Some are grown up when they're born, and others ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c1d/l-m-montgomery-567_l-m-montgomery_it-s-rather-hard-to-decide-just-when-peo_1734881.jpg" --- # It's rather hard to decide just when people are grown up,'… ![“It's rather hard to decide just when people are grown up,' laughed Anne. 'That's a true word, dearie. Some are grown up when they're born, and others ain't grown up when they're eighty, believe me. That same Mrs. Roderick I was speaking of never grew up. She was as foolish when she was hundred as…” quote by L.M. Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c1d/l-m-montgomery-567_l-m-montgomery_it-s-rather-hard-to-decide-just-when-peo_1734881.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c1d/l-m-montgomery-567_l-m-montgomery_it-s-rather-hard-to-decide-just-when-peo_1734881.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c1d/l-m-montgomery-567_l-m-montgomery_it-s-rather-hard-to-decide-just-when-peo_1734881.jpg) > ““It's rather hard to decide just when people are grown up,' laughed Anne. 'That's a true word, dearie. Some are grown up when they're born, and others ain't grown up when they're eighty, believe me. That same Mrs. Roderick I was speaking of never grew up. She was as foolish when she was hundred as when she was ten.' 'Perhaps that was why she lived so long,' suggested Anne.”” [L.M. Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-m-montgomery/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Maturity is not tied to age; some remain childlike forever, others age early. **In simple terms:** Age doesn't equal maturity. Key Takeaway Judge by behavior, not years. Themes growth age perception Mood thoughtful nostalgic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - parenting - education - intergenerational relationships Key Concepts developmental psychology social expectations lifelong learning Questions to Reflect On - What defines true maturity? - How does society label age and wisdom? A Different Perspective Maturity can be misjudged by stereotypes. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [L-m-montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/l-m-montgomery/) ## Related quotes > [That doesn't sound very attractive," laughed Anne. "I like people to have a little nonsense about them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/that-doesn-t-sound-very-attractive-laughed-anne-i-like-people-to-have/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Oh, here we are at the bridge. I'm going to shut my eyes tight. I’m always afraid going over bridges. I can't help imagining…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-m-montgomery/oh-here-we-are-at-the-bridge-i-m-going-to-shut-my-eyes-tight-i-m/) [L.M. Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-m-montgomery/) > [“Heaven must be very beautiful, of course, the Bible says so — but, Anne, it won't be what I've been used to.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-m-montgomery/heaven-must-be-very-beautiful-of-course-the-bible-says-so-but-anne-it/) [L.M. Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-m-montgomery/) > [“Life may be a vale of tears, all right, but there are some folks who enjoy weeping, I reckon.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-m-montgomery/life-may-be-a-vale-of-tears-all-right-but-there-are-some-folks-who/) [L.M. Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-m-montgomery/) > [“Anne looked at the white young mother with a certain awe that had never entered into her feelings for Diana before. Could this pale…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-m-montgomery/anne-looked-at-the-white-young-mother-with-a-certain-awe-that-had/) [L.M. Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-m-montgomery/) > [“I don't believe Old Nick can be so very ugly,' said Aunt Jamesina reflectively. 'He wouldn't do so much harm if he was. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-m-montgomery/i-don-t-believe-old-nick-can-be-so-very-ugly-said-aunt-jamesina/) [L.M. Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-m-montgomery/) > [“…unwitting that those who can soar to the highest heights can also plunge to the deepest depths, and that the natures which enjoy most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-m-montgomery/unwitting-that-those-who-can-soar-to-the-highest-heights-can-also/) [L.M. Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-m-montgomery/) > [“But maybe everything'll go all right. In this world you've just got to hope for the best and prepare for the worst and take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-m-montgomery/but-maybe-everything-ll-go-all-right-in-this-world-you-ve-just-got-to/) [L.M. Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-m-montgomery/) > [“I'm afraid you'll find out all too soon that life's a melancholy business.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-m-montgomery/i-m-afraid-you-ll-find-out-all-too-soon-that-life-s-a-melancholy/) [L.M. Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-m-montgomery/) > [“Mr. Harrison was certainly different from other people…and that is the essential characteristic of a crank, as everybody knows.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-m-montgomery/mr-harrison-was-certainly-different-from-other-people-and-that-is-the/) [L.M. Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-m-montgomery/) > [“It isn't fair she should have everything and I nothing. She isn't better or cleverer or much prettier than me…only luckier.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-m-montgomery/it-isn-t-fair-she-should-have-everything-and-i-nothing-she-isn-t/) [L.M. Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-m-montgomery/) > [“After Davy had gone to bed Anne wandered down to Victoria Island and sat there alone, curtained with fine-spun, moonlit gloom, while the water…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-m-montgomery/after-davy-had-gone-to-bed-anne-wandered-down-to-victoria-island-and/) [L.M. Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-m-montgomery/) > [“Nothing seems worthwhile. My very thoughts are old. I've thought them all before. What is the use of living after all, Anne?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-m-montgomery/nothing-seems-worthwhile-my-very-thoughts-are-old-i-ve-thought-them/) [L.M. Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-m-montgomery/) > [“I suppose that's how it looks in prose. But it's very different if you look at it through poetry…and I think it's nicer…' Anne…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-m-montgomery/i-suppose-that-s-how-it-looks-in-prose-but-it-s-very-different-if-you/) [L.M. Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-m-montgomery/) > [“It's a very bad habit to put off disagreeable things...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-m-montgomery/it-s-a-very-bad-habit-to-put-off-disagreeable-things/) [L.M. Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-m-montgomery/) ## More by L.M. Montgomery > [“The other day Nan said, 'Nothing can ever be quite the same for any of us again.' It made me feel rebellious. Why shouldn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-m-montgomery/the-other-day-nan-said-nothing-can-ever-be-quite-the-same-for-any-of/) [L.M. Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-m-montgomery/) > [“It's a very bad habit to put off disagreeable things...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-m-montgomery/it-s-a-very-bad-habit-to-put-off-disagreeable-things/) [L.M. Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-m-montgomery/) > [“Who was it said, ‘We forget because we must’? He was right.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-m-montgomery/who-was-it-said-we-forget-because-we-must-he-was-right/) [L.M. Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-m-montgomery/) > [“I don't think it's any help that it's your habit. What would you think of a person who went about sticking pins and needles…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-m-montgomery/i-don-t-think-it-s-any-help-that-it-s-your-habit-what-would-you-think/) [L.M. Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-m-montgomery/) > [“What a splendid day! Isn't it good just to be alive on a day like this? I pity the people who aren't born yet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-m-montgomery/what-a-splendid-day-isn-t-it-good-just-to-be-alive-on-a-day-like-this/) [L.M. Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-m-montgomery/) > [“I told you the Bible was more to be depended on than newspapers!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-m-montgomery/i-told-you-the-bible-was-more-to-be-depended-on-than-newspapers/) [L.M. Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-m-montgomery/) > [“On a day like this there's no such word as fail in my bright lexicon.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-m-montgomery/on-a-day-like-this-there-s-no-such-word-as-fail-in-my-bright-lexicon/) [L.M. Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-m-montgomery/) > [“I took the brooch because I was too overcome with irresistible temptation. I was imagining I was Lady Cordelia Fitzgerald, and I just had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-m-montgomery/i-took-the-brooch-because-i-was-too-overcome-with-irresistible/) [L.M. Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-m-montgomery/) > [“…she made a poem on it at once, the lines singing themselves through her consciousness without effort. With one side of her nature she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-m-montgomery/she-made-a-poem-on-it-at-once-the-lines-singing-themselves-through/) [L.M. Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-m-montgomery/) > [“I think there are two kinds of TRUE THINGS-- true things that ARE, and true things that ARE NOT, but MIGHT be.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-m-montgomery/i-think-there-are-two-kinds-of-true-things-true-things-that-are-and/) [L.M. Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-m-montgomery/) > [“when the darkness is close to us it is a friend. But when we sorter push it away from us—divorce ourselves from it, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-m-montgomery/when-the-darkness-is-close-to-us-it-is-a-friend-but-when-we-sorter/) [L.M. Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-m-montgomery/) > [“Yesterday she had been all her own. Now she was this man's.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-m-montgomery/yesterday-she-had-been-all-her-own-now-she-was-this-man-s/) [L.M. Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-m-montgomery/) > [“I suppose that's how it looks in prose. But it's very different if you look at it through poetry…and I think it's nicer…' Anne…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-m-montgomery/i-suppose-that-s-how-it-looks-in-prose-but-it-s-very-different-if-you/) [L.M. Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-m-montgomery/) > [“Ilse and I hunted all over the old orchard today for a four-leaved clover and couldn't find one. Then I found one in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-m-montgomery/ilse-and-i-hunted-all-over-the-old-orchard-today-for-a-four-leaved/) [L.M. Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-m-montgomery/) > [“Nothing seems worthwhile. My very thoughts are old. I've thought them all before. What is the use of living after all, Anne?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-m-montgomery/nothing-seems-worthwhile-my-very-thoughts-are-old-i-ve-thought-them/) [L.M. Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-m-montgomery/) [Explore all 463 L.M. Montgomery quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-m-montgomery/) ## More Eighty quotes > [When you have counted eighty years and more, Time and Fate will batter at your door; But if you should survive to be a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khushwant-singh/when-you-have-counted-eighty-years-and-more-time-and-fate-will-batter/) [Khushwant Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khushwant-singh/) > [Eighty percent of language lies to us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deena-metzger/eighty-percent-of-language-lies-to-us/) [Deena Metzger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deena-metzger/) > [“True, science has conquered many diseases, broken the genetic code, and even placed human beings on the moon, and yet when a man of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woody-allen/true-science-has-conquered-many-diseases-broken-the-genetic-code-and/) [Woody Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woody-allen/) > [It wasn't really touching to be young; it was touching not to be young, because you had less of life left. Touching to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-macaulay/it-wasn-t-really-touching-to-be-young-it-was-touching-not-to-be-young/) [Rose Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-macaulay/) > [One-tenth of the folks run the world. One-tenth watch them run it, and the other eighty percent don't know what the hell's going on.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jake-simmons-jr/one-tenth-of-the-folks-run-the-world-one-tenth-watch-them-run-it-and/) Jake Simmons, Jr > [At seventy-three I learned a little about the real structure of animals, plants, birds, fishes and insects. Consequently when I am eighty I'll have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hokusai/at-seventy-three-i-learned-a-little-about-the-real-structure-of/) [Hokusai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hokusai/) > [“You're missing a whole demographic of Katherines by not chasing the over-eighty market.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/you-re-missing-a-whole-demographic-of-katherines-by-not-chasing-the/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [Sex can be fun after eighty, after ninety, and after lunch!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-burns/sex-can-be-fun-after-eighty-after-ninety-and-after-lunch/) [George Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-burns/) > [We're told cars cause pollution. A hundred years ago city streets were ankle deep in horse excrement. What kind of pollution do you want?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/we-re-told-cars-cause-pollution-a-hundred-years-ago-city-streets-were/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [Brain research tells us that only twenty percent of human beings have a sense of irony, which means that eighty percent of the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/brain-research-tells-us-that-only-twenty-percent-of-human-beings-have/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [The dear good people don't know how long it takes to learn to read. I've been at it eighty years, and can't say yet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/the-dear-good-people-don-t-know-how-long-it-takes-to-learn-to-read-i/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [“If an eighty-year-old wants to skydive, then so be it. If I want to blow soap bubbles in the park, then why not? Why…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-scott/if-an-eighty-year-old-wants-to-skydive-then-so-be-it-if-i-want-to/) [Angela Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-scott/) > [“Everyone should realize that today the average person lives to be about eighty years of age, the first twenty to twenty-five of which are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-carson/everyone-should-realize-that-today-the-average-person-lives-to-be/) [Ben Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-carson/) > [One hundred and eighty, divided by three, is one dart at a time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sid-waddell/one-hundred-and-eighty-divided-by-three-is-one-dart-at-a-time/) [Sid Waddell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sid-waddell/) > [“I believe it's never too late to change. I'm eighty-one years old, but I still think I can be a better person tomorrow than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-hiaasen/i-believe-it-s-never-too-late-to-change-i-m-eighty-one-years-old-but/) [Carl Hiaasen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-hiaasen/) Browse all 414 Eighty quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It's rather hard to decide just when people are grown up,' laughed Anne. 'That's a true word, dearie. Some are grown up when they're born, and others ain't grown up when they're eighty, believe me. That same Mrs. Roderick I was speaking of never grew up. She was as foolish when she was hundred as when she was ten.' 'Perhaps that was why she lived so long,' suggested Anne.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "L.M. 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