--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The clash between child and adult is…" description: "\"The clash between child and adult is never as stubborn as when the child within us confronts the adult in our child.\" — Robert Breault" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/24c/robert-breault-304_adults_the-clash-between-child-and-adult-is-nev_1886976.png" --- # The clash between child and adult is never as stubborn as… ![“The clash between child and adult is never as stubborn as when the child within us confronts the adult in our child.” quote by Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/24c/robert-breault-304_adults_the-clash-between-child-and-adult-is-nev_1886976.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/24c/robert-breault-304_adults_the-clash-between-child-and-adult-is-nev_1886976.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/24c/robert-breault-304_adults_the-clash-between-child-and-adult-is-nev_1886976.png) > “The clash between child and adult is never as stubborn as when the child within us confronts the adult in our child.” [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The internal conflict between our childlike spontaneity and adult responsibilities creates tension. **In simple terms:** Child vs. adult inner conflict. Key Takeaway Balance youthful curiosity with mature responsibility. Themes inner conflict growth self-awareness psychology identity Mood introspective thoughtful balanced Type philosophical psychological motivational When to use this quote - Personal decision making - Creative problem solving - Therapeutic work - Parenting challenges Key Concepts Developmental psychology Self-integration Maturity Questions to Reflect On - How can we honor inner child without compromising adult duties? - What practices help integrate both aspects? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on childlike traits may hinder adult effectiveness. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Adult Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adult-child-689413/) [Adult Stubborn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adult-stubborn-2701038/) [Adults](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adults/) [Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/child/) [Child Adult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/child-adult-231859/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Clash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clash/) [Confronts Adult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/confronts-adult-2701037/) [Our children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/our-children/) [Parent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parent/) [Stubborn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stubborn/) [Stubborn Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stubborn-child-923403/) ## Related quotes > [If you treat a sick child as an adult and a sick adult as a child, it usually works out pretty well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/black-hawk/if-you-treat-a-sick-child-as-an-adult-and-a-sick-adult-as-a-child-it/) [Black Hawk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/black-hawk/) > [A child is not an adult, a child didn't ask to be here. 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There is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-piaget/in-certain-circumstances-where-he-experiments-in-new-types-of-conduct/) [Jean Piaget](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-piaget/) > [Life is a stubborn child who teases you and make you bound to play with it.If you didnt,it will cry and cries are going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zarnab/life-is-a-stubborn-child-who-teases-you-and-make-you-bound-to-play/) [Zarnab](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zarnab/) > [The best punishment to give a stubborn child is not a thorough beating, but a nice quantity of Love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-mark/the-best-punishment-to-give-a-stubborn-child-is-not-a-thorough/) [Terry Mark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-mark/) > [Tears of love and equality in the tears of childhood: stubborn as a child are not met Would cry over the lack of love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/tears-of-love-and-equality-in-the-tears-of-childhood-stubborn-as-a/) [Mak\_786](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mak-786/) > [“If you could stay as stubborn as when you were a child then you need not to compromise on your dreams.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/if-you-could-stay-as-stubborn-as-when-you-were-a-child-then-you-need/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [Perception is a clash of mind and eye, the eye believing what it sees, the mind seeing what it believes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/perception-is-a-clash-of-mind-and-eye-the-eye-believing-what-it-sees/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [The child who would be an adult must give up any lingering childlike sense of parental power, either the magical ability to solveyour problems…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-pittman/the-child-who-would-be-an-adult-must-give-up-any-lingering-childlike/) [Frank Pittman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-pittman/) > [“A normal child is an adult”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/safir-kassim-booudjelal/a-normal-child-is-an-adult/) [Safir Kassim Booudjelal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/safir-kassim-booudjelal/) > [A child becomes an adult when he realizes that he has a right not only to be right but also to be wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-szasz/a-child-becomes-an-adult-when-he-realizes-that-he-has-a-right-not/) [Thomas Szasz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-szasz/) > [Given love and opportunity, every child and adult can recover. All who know this and have the capacity to help others should assist as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dallin-h-oaks/given-love-and-opportunity-every-child-and-adult-can-recover-all-who/) [Dallin H. Oaks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dallin-h-oaks/) > [To a child, and to an adult, too, what you discover by yourself, or what you think you discover by yourself, is what stays.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norton-juster/to-a-child-and-to-an-adult-too-what-you-discover-by-yourself-or-what/) [Norton Juster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norton-juster/) > [Something very unique about Germany is that once you are suspected or accused of having worked for the Stassi, it doesn't matter if you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-schwochow/something-very-unique-about-germany-is-that-once-you-are-suspected-or/) [Christian Schwochow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-schwochow/) > [Behind every successful child is an adult who believed in him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-warren/behind-every-successful-child-is-an-adult-who-believed-in-him/) [Rick Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-warren/) ## More by Robert Breault > [You will not find a soulmate in the quiet of your room. You must go to a noisy place and look in the quiet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/you-will-not-find-a-soulmate-in-the-quiet-of-your-room-you-must-go-to/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [Never mind the odds against you. If you doubled your effort, what would the odds against you do — send for reinforcements?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/never-mind-the-odds-against-you-if-you-doubled-your-effort-what-would/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [Of course I doubt. I do not practice a certainty. I practice a faith.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/of-course-i-doubt-i-do-not-practice-a-certainty-i-practice-a-faith/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [Retirement is having nothing to do and someone always keeping you from it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/retirement-is-having-nothing-to-do-and-someone-always-keeping-you/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [There is in art the notion of less is more, which is to say, you don't torture a painting that has already confessed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/there-is-in-art-the-notion-of-less-is-more-which-is-to-say-you-don-t/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [One's dream is defeated not by unsolvable problems, but by all the more-or-less satisfactory solutions that kill it forever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/one-s-dream-is-defeated-not-by-unsolvable-problems-but-by-all-the/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [I cultivate my garden, and my garden cultivates me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/i-cultivate-my-garden-and-my-garden-cultivates-me/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [In the end you regret less the things you believed that weren't true than the things that never came true because you didn't believe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/in-the-end-you-regret-less-the-things-you-believed-that-weren-t-true/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [The trick to getting ahead is to give it the same effort you give to getting even.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/the-trick-to-getting-ahead-is-to-give-it-the-same-effort-you-give-to/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [Man will have replicated his own intelligence not when he teaches a computer to reason but when he teaches a computer to have a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/man-will-have-replicated-his-own-intelligence-not-when-he-teaches-a/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [To hurt someone you know will forgive you is the unkindiest thing of all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/to-hurt-someone-you-know-will-forgive-you-is-the-unkindiest-thing-of/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [For every person who atones, a hundred others find regret sufficient.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/for-every-person-who-atones-a-hundred-others-find-regret-sufficient/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [As a means to success, determination has this advantage over talent - that it does not have to be recognized by others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/as-a-means-to-success-determination-has-this-advantage-over-talent/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [As a gardener, I wonder if flowers really can't speak or just exercise unfailing good judgment in the matter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/as-a-gardener-i-wonder-if-flowers-really-can-t-speak-or-just-exercise/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [Genius is a plodding intellect, incapable of dreaming up the obstacles that stop the rest of us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/genius-is-a-plodding-intellect-incapable-of-dreaming-up-the-obstacles/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) [Explore all 710 Robert Breault quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) ## More Adults quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [Behind every successful child is an adult who believed in him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-warren/behind-every-successful-child-is-an-adult-who-believed-in-him/) [Rick Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-warren/) > [Gratitude isn't just a feeling, it's an action. 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Hitting your kid is really the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zach-braff/the-thing-about-hitting-kids-is-think-about-if-you-were-doing-the/) [Zach Braff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zach-braff/) > [Plainly, the environment must be a living one, directed by a higher intelligence, arranged by an adult who is prepared for his mission.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-montessori/plainly-the-environment-must-be-a-living-one-directed-by-a-higher/) [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/) > [Education, for most people, means trying to lead the child to resemble the typical adult of his society . . . but for me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-piaget/education-for-most-people-means-trying-to-lead-the-child-to-resemble/) [Jean Piaget](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-piaget/) > [I do not believe in public shaming. 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