--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Babies aren't savages. Toddlers…" description: "\"Babies aren't savages. Toddlers understand language long before they can talk.\" — Pamela Druckerman" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/586/pamela-druckerman-3030_babies_babies-aren-t-savages-toddlers-understan_2737060.png" --- # Babies aren't savages. Toddlers understand language long… ![“Babies aren't savages. Toddlers understand language long before they can talk.” quote by Pamela Druckerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/586/pamela-druckerman-3030_babies_babies-aren-t-savages-toddlers-understan_2737060.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/586/pamela-druckerman-3030_babies_babies-aren-t-savages-toddlers-understan_2737060.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/586/pamela-druckerman-3030_babies_babies-aren-t-savages-toddlers-understan_2737060.png) > “Babies aren't savages. Toddlers understand language long before they can talk.” [Pamela Druckerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pamela-druckerman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Children absorb language before they can speak, showing early cognitive abilities. **In simple terms:** Kids learn language before talking. Key Takeaway Observe and nurture early communication. Themes child development language acquisition early learning Mood curious encouraging Type educational observational When to use this quote - parenting - early education - speech therapy - playtime Key Concepts cognitive development social interaction Questions to Reflect On - How can adults support this early learning? - What signs indicate language readiness? A Different Perspective Assumes all children develop uniformly. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Babies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/babies/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Toddlers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/toddlers/) ## Related quotes > [Babies aren't really born of their parents. They are born of every kind word, loving gesture, hope, and dream their parents ever had.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-roberts/babies-aren-t-really-born-of-their-parents-they-are-born-of-every/) [Julia Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-roberts/) > [Babies aren't dishwasher-safe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-tosh/babies-aren-t-dishwasher-safe/) [Daniel Tosh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-tosh/) > [Babies, babies, babies! They're everywhere, aren't they? In our eyes, in our thoughts, in our arms, in our dreams. Sometimes, in our dreams, they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-klausner/babies-babies-babies-they-re-everywhere-aren-t-they-in-our-eyes-in/) [Julie Klausner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-klausner/) > [“Babies aren't born cruel or filled with sick desire. Evil is not intrinsic. It's fashioned”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-hopkins/babies-aren-t-born-cruel-or-filled-with-sick-desire-evil-is-not/) [Ellen Hopkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-hopkins/) > [Babies aren't made from scratch, they're made from snatch.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikhil-saluja/babies-aren-t-made-from-scratch-they-re-made-from-snatch/) [Nikhil Saluja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikhil-saluja/) > [You can't control babies, they aren't robots and we don't have them all figured out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whitney-port/you-can-t-control-babies-they-aren-t-robots-and-we-don-t-have-them/) [Whitney Port](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whitney-port/) > [Here's a thought... why don't you go fuck yourself, that way you don't have to worry about anymore babies you aren't going to support](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-moores/here-s-a-thought-why-don-t-you-go-fuck-yourself-that-way-you-don-t/) [Sarah Moores](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-moores/) > [Babies aren't born knowing differences in color, gender, religions. They're taught those things. They're taught them at home. They're taught in the schools. They're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geraldine-ferraro/babies-aren-t-born-knowing-differences-in-color-gender-religions-they/) [Geraldine Ferraro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geraldine-ferraro/) > [My sister has three kids so I've spent a lot of time around children and I've always really liked them and wanted my own.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bode-miller/my-sister-has-three-kids-so-i-ve-spent-a-lot-of-time-around-children/) [Bode Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bode-miller/) > [“Babies are designed to cry when they need something and mothers are designed to respond.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pamela-druckerman/babies-are-designed-to-cry-when-they-need-something-and-mothers-are/) [Pamela Druckerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pamela-druckerman/) > [“The average adult hates being treated like a child, unless it suits them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/the-average-adult-hates-being-treated-like-a-child-unless-it-suits/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [“Toddlers are germ-warfare machines in a cute package" - Debora Geary”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debora-geary/toddlers-are-germ-warfare-machines-in-a-cute-package-debora-geary/) [Debora Geary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debora-geary/) > [“Story time isn't much better. Imagine sitting in a circle with acquaintances, chanting spells and being drilled on a variety of subjects. "What sound…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bunmi-laditan/story-time-isn-t-much-better-imagine-sitting-in-a-circle-with/) [Bunmi Laditan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bunmi-laditan/) > [For infants and toddlers learning and living are the same thing. If they feel secure, treasured, loved, their own energy and curiosity will bring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-laura-dombro/for-infants-and-toddlers-learning-and-living-are-the-same-thing-if/) Amy Laura Dombro > [We explore our environment, more than we are compelled to utter poetry, when we're toddlers. We start doing that later. Before that happens, every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/we-explore-our-environment-more-than-we-are-compelled-to-utter-poetry/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) ## More by Pamela Druckerman > [“if you act (and dress) as if you have a fascinating inner life, you may soon find that you actually do—and that you feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pamela-druckerman/if-you-act-and-dress-as-if-you-have-a-fascinating-inner-life-you-may/) [Pamela Druckerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pamela-druckerman/) > [Practically every time I speak up at a school conference, a political event, or my apartment building association's annual meeting, I'm met with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pamela-druckerman/practically-every-time-i-speak-up-at-a-school-conference-a-political/) [Pamela Druckerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pamela-druckerman/) > [The French talk about education, the education of their children. They don't talk about raising kids. They talk about education. And that has nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pamela-druckerman/the-french-talk-about-education-the-education-of-their-children-they/) [Pamela Druckerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pamela-druckerman/) > [It's refreshing to have some time off from wondering whether I look fat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pamela-druckerman/it-s-refreshing-to-have-some-time-off-from-wondering-whether-i-look/) [Pamela Druckerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pamela-druckerman/) > [“Within a few hours of meeting him, I realized that "love at first sight" just means feeling immediately and extremely calm with someone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pamela-druckerman/within-a-few-hours-of-meeting-him-i-realized-that-love-at-first-sight/) [Pamela Druckerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pamela-druckerman/) > [When I tell French parents that I know lots of American kids who will eat only pasta or only white rice, they can't believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pamela-druckerman/when-i-tell-french-parents-that-i-know-lots-of-american-kids-who-will/) [Pamela Druckerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pamela-druckerman/) > [I was scared to say I was in my 40s because at that point, it sounded really old, and to out myself as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pamela-druckerman/i-was-scared-to-say-i-was-in-my-40s-because-at-that-point-it-sounded/) [Pamela Druckerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pamela-druckerman/) > [The whole point of a commencement speech is to say something encouraging.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pamela-druckerman/the-whole-point-of-a-commencement-speech-is-to-say-something/) [Pamela Druckerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pamela-druckerman/) > [My husband is so upset by President Trump's scapegoating of immigrants and Muslims, he refuses to even visit the United States.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pamela-druckerman/my-husband-is-so-upset-by-president-trump-s-scapegoating-of/) [Pamela Druckerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pamela-druckerman/) > [If you worry less about what people think of you, you can pick up an astonishing amount of information about them. You no longer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pamela-druckerman/if-you-worry-less-about-what-people-think-of-you-you-can-pick-up-an/) [Pamela Druckerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pamela-druckerman/) > [I guess we're all supposed to get used to living in a more dangerous world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pamela-druckerman/i-guess-we-re-all-supposed-to-get-used-to-living-in-a-more-dangerous/) [Pamela Druckerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pamela-druckerman/) > [One of the maddening things about being a foreigner in France is that hardly anyone in the rest of the world knows what's really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pamela-druckerman/one-of-the-maddening-things-about-being-a-foreigner-in-france-is-that/) [Pamela Druckerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pamela-druckerman/) > [America's parenting customs can shock foreigners.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pamela-druckerman/america-s-parenting-customs-can-shock-foreigners/) [Pamela Druckerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pamela-druckerman/) > [“But in real life, the ideal Parisian woman is calm, discreet, a bit remote, and extremely decisive.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pamela-druckerman/but-in-real-life-the-ideal-parisian-woman-is-calm-discreet-a-bit/) [Pamela Druckerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pamela-druckerman/) > [In your 40s, you kind of know how things are likely to go, and you're better at saying, 'You know what? 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I have a marginally higher opinion of them than Herod, she said.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-mcgown/you-like-babies-don-t-you-he-asked-i-have-a-marginally-higher-opinion/) Jill McGown > [God looks out for fools and babies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meshell-ndegeocello/god-looks-out-for-fools-and-babies/) [Meshell Ndegeocello](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meshell-ndegeocello/) > [“Babies who do not sleep ‘through the night’ alone in a cot, as soon as possible after birth, are seen as a ‘problem’.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-palmer/babies-who-do-not-sleep-through-the-night-alone-in-a-cot-as-soon-as/) [Gabrielle Palmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-palmer/) > [Babies don't need a vacation, but I still see them at the beach... it pisses me off! I'll go over to a little baby…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-wright/babies-don-t-need-a-vacation-but-i-still-see-them-at-the-beach-it/) [Steven Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-wright/) > [“...For having a baby's sweet face so close to your own, for so long a time as it takes to nurse 'em, is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-eisdorfer/for-having-a-baby-s-sweet-face-so-close-to-your-own-for-so-long-a/) [Erica Eisdorfer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-eisdorfer/) > [Babies like fat. Like to bury they face up in you armpit and go to sleep. They like big fat legs too. That I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-stockett/babies-like-fat-like-to-bury-they-face-up-in-you-armpit-and-go-to/) [Kathryn Stockett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-stockett/) > [Some women just skip having babies or adopt because they don't want to get fat or they haven't put in the time to find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaime-pressly/some-women-just-skip-having-babies-or-adopt-because-they-don-t-want/) [Jaime Pressly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaime-pressly/) > [“Even lizard + baby can be director.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-robert/even-lizard-baby-can-be-director/) Robert Robert > [People who make babies surrender their right to behave like them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-hax/people-who-make-babies-surrender-their-right-to-behave-like-them/) [Carolyn Hax](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-hax/) > [Babies are great but I am not ready to have one. Maybe ten years from now but not yet. I want to keep my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lady-gaga/babies-are-great-but-i-am-not-ready-to-have-one-maybe-ten-years-from/) [Lady Gaga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lady-gaga/) [Browse all 814 Babies quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/babies/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Babies aren't savages. 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