--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A child becomes an adult when he realizes…" description: "\"A child becomes an adult when he realizes that he has a right not only to be right but also to be wrong.\" — Thomas Szasz" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3fd/thomas-szasz-3801_adult_a-child-becomes-an-adult-when-he-realize_569822.jpg" --- # A child becomes an adult when he realizes that he has a… ![“A child becomes an adult when he realizes that he has a right not only to be right but also to be wrong.” quote by Thomas Szasz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3fd/thomas-szasz-3801_adult_a-child-becomes-an-adult-when-he-realize_569822.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3fd/thomas-szasz-3801_adult_a-child-becomes-an-adult-when-he-realize_569822.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3fd/thomas-szasz-3801_adult_a-child-becomes-an-adult-when-he-realize_569822.jpg) > “A child becomes an adult when he realizes that he has a right not only to be right but also to be wrong.” [Thomas Szasz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-szasz/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Maturity includes recognizing the right to be both correct and mistaken. **In simple terms:** Adults accept they can be right and wrong. Key Takeaway Embrace humility and openness. Themes growth self‑awareness rights Mood thoughtful encouraging Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - education - personal development - parenting Key Concepts philosophy of self psychology Questions to Reflect On - How does admitting error foster growth? - What rights are essential for self‑acceptance? A Different Perspective Some may view rights as absolute, not nuanced. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Adulthood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adulthood/) [Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/child/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) ## Related quotes > [Your traditions change from when you a child to when you become an adult.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katharine-mcphee/your-traditions-change-from-when-you-a-child-to-when-you-become-an/) [Katharine McPhee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katharine-mcphee/) > [“A normal child is an adult”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/safir-kassim-booudjelal/a-normal-child-is-an-adult/) Safir Kassim Booudjelal > [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/) > [I've heard this before from people: early 20s kind of screws with your head a little bit because you're transitioning into adulthood and actually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-byrd/i-ve-heard-this-before-from-people-early-20s-kind-of-screws-with-your/) [Dan Byrd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-byrd/) > [To most of us, adulthood means being able to earn a living, possess a home, get married and rear children, and this implies having…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-ridley/to-most-of-us-adulthood-means-being-able-to-earn-a-living-possess-a/) [Jane Ridley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-ridley/) > [“Well, if this is what being an adult feels like, give me back my juice box and crayons any day.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruby-blaylock/well-if-this-is-what-being-an-adult-feels-like-give-me-back-my-juice/) Ruby Blaylock > [Being an adult is the ability to postpone a want for the sake of a family need.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hogan/being-an-adult-is-the-ability-to-postpone-a-want-for-the-sake-of-a/) [Chris Hogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hogan/) > [“How do you explain to a child who likes everyone in the world that adult life consists to a great extent of cutting people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miranda-emmerson/how-do-you-explain-to-a-child-who-likes-everyone-in-the-world-that/) [Miranda Emmerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miranda-emmerson/) > [“In Your Early Years people Tell You, Correct You and Forgive You. But when you become an Adult, they Neither Correct you nor Forgive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vineet-raj-kapoor/in-your-early-years-people-tell-you-correct-you-and-forgive-you-but/) [Vineet Raj Kapoor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vineet-raj-kapoor/) > [“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/) > [“Most adults have dropped out of the school of life before they reached adulthood.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/most-adults-have-dropped-out-of-the-school-of-life-before-they/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [Cancer magnifies the in-betweenness of young adulthood: You're not a child anymore, yet you're not fully ready to live in the adult world, either.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suleika-jaouad/cancer-magnifies-the-in-betweenness-of-young-adulthood-you-re-not-a/) [Suleika Jaouad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suleika-jaouad/) > [To be mature, you have to be an adult. But to be in love, you have to be nothing but a human being with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/to-be-mature-you-have-to-be-an-adult-but-to-be-in-love-you-have-to-be/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“There is so much woman in many a girl and too much boy in many a man.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/there-is-so-much-woman-in-many-a-girl-and-too-much-boy-in-many-a-man/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) ## More by Thomas Szasz > [Institutional psychiatry is a continuation of the Inquisition. All that has really changed is the vocabulary and the social style. The vocabulary conforms to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-szasz/institutional-psychiatry-is-a-continuation-of-the-inquisition-all/) [Thomas Szasz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-szasz/) > [By pretending that convention is Nature, that disobeying a personal prohibition is a medical illness, they establish themselves as agents of social control and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-szasz/by-pretending-that-convention-is-nature-that-disobeying-a-personal/) [Thomas Szasz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-szasz/) > [We shall therefore compare the concept of homosexuality as heresy, prevalent in the days of the witch-hunts, with the concept of homosexuality as mental…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-szasz/we-shall-therefore-compare-the-concept-of-homosexuality-as-heresy/) [Thomas Szasz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-szasz/) > [The basic ingredients of psychotherapy are religion, rhetoric, and repression, which are themselves mutually overlapping categories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-szasz/the-basic-ingredients-of-psychotherapy-are-religion-rhetoric-and/) [Thomas Szasz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-szasz/) > [For Jews, the Messiah has never come; for Christians, He has come but once; for modern man, He appears and disappears with increasing rapidity.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-szasz/for-jews-the-messiah-has-never-come-for-christians-he-has-come-but/) [Thomas Szasz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-szasz/) > [I submit that the traditional definition of psychiatry, which is still vogue, places it alongside such things as alchemy and astrology, and commits it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-szasz/i-submit-that-the-traditional-definition-of-psychiatry-which-is-still/) [Thomas Szasz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-szasz/) > [I believe the time has come to acknowledge that the practice of routine circumcision rests on the absurd premise that the only mammal in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-szasz/i-believe-the-time-has-come-to-acknowledge-that-the-practice-of/) [Thomas Szasz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-szasz/) > [He who does not accept and respect those who want to reject life does not truly accept and respect life itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-szasz/he-who-does-not-accept-and-respect-those-who-want-to-reject-life-does/) [Thomas Szasz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-szasz/) > [The passion to interpret as madness that with which we disagree seems to have infected the best of contemporary minds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-szasz/the-passion-to-interpret-as-madness-that-with-which-we-disagree-seems/) [Thomas Szasz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-szasz/) > [We should pledge ourselves to the proposition that the irresponsible life is not worth living.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-szasz/we-should-pledge-ourselves-to-the-proposition-that-the-irresponsible/) [Thomas Szasz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-szasz/) > [We have, in our day, witnessed the birth of the Therapeutic State. This is perhaps the major implication of psychiatry as an institution of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-szasz/we-have-in-our-day-witnessed-the-birth-of-the-therapeutic-state-this/) [Thomas Szasz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-szasz/) > [The homosexual is a scapegoat who evokes no sympathy. Hence, he can only be a victim, never a martyr.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-szasz/the-homosexual-is-a-scapegoat-who-evokes-no-sympathy-hence-he-can/) [Thomas Szasz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-szasz/) > [People dream of making the virtuous powerful, so they can depend upon them. Since they cannot do that, people choose to make the powerful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-szasz/people-dream-of-making-the-virtuous-powerful-so-they-can-depend-upon/) [Thomas Szasz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-szasz/) > [The greatest analgesic, soporific, stimulant, tranquilizer, narcotic, and to some extent even antibiotic - in short, the closest thing to a genuine panacea -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-szasz/the-greatest-analgesic-soporific-stimulant-tranquilizer-narcotic-and/) [Thomas Szasz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-szasz/) > [Formerly, when religion was strong and science weak, men mistook magic for medicine; now, when science is strong and religion weak, men mistake medicine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-szasz/formerly-when-religion-was-strong-and-science-weak-men-mistook-magic/) [Thomas Szasz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-szasz/) [Explore all 121 Thomas Szasz quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-szasz/) ## More Adult quotes > [I feel as though I've fooled the world into thinking I'm an adult and now they're letting me procreate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-murray/i-feel-as-though-i-ve-fooled-the-world-into-thinking-i-m-an-adult-and/) [George Murray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-murray/) > [There's always that discussion about fiction about how do you market it - these are books for boys, these are books for girls, these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-a-weatherly/there-s-always-that-discussion-about-fiction-about-how-do-you-market/) [L.A. Weatherly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-a-weatherly/) > [I am a big outliner. For my adult book, 'The Visibles,' I did not outline, and it took me two years to write because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-shepard/i-am-a-big-outliner-for-my-adult-book-the-visibles-i-did-not-outline/) [Sara Shepard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-shepard/) > [“The cactus thrives in the desert while the fern thrives in the wetland. The fool will try to plant them in the same flowerbox.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-nazarian/the-cactus-thrives-in-the-desert-while-the-fern-thrives-in-the/) [Vera Nazarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-nazarian/) > [I have spent my entire adult life trying to make Liberty University the world-class Christian university that was envisioned at its founding.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-falwell-jr/i-have-spent-my-entire-adult-life-trying-to-make-liberty-university/) [Jerry Falwell, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-falwell-jr/) > [“To love was a privilege not afforded to those of us born in these trying times when survival was never guaranteed. We were products…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/molly-x-chang/to-love-was-a-privilege-not-afforded-to-those-of-us-born-in-these/) Molly X. Chang > [Adults look upon a child as something empty that is to be filled through their own efforts, as something inert and helpless for which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-montessori/adults-look-upon-a-child-as-something-empty-that-is-to-be-filled/) [Maria Montessori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-montessori/) > [“English: "Being an adult doesn't mean killing the child we once were; it means being able to protect him." Česky: „Být dospělým neznamená zabít…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebasti-n-wortys/english-being-an-adult-doesn-t-mean-killing-the-child-we-once-were-it/) [Sebastián Wortys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebasti-n-wortys/) > [You know, children philosophize more than adults - and they are critical of adults.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/you-know-children-philosophize-more-than-adults-and-they-are-critical/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [“There's such an intimate kind of beauty in the act of listening to music being created right in front of your eyes, watching the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-c-frank/there-s-such-an-intimate-kind-of-beauty-in-the-act-of-listening-to/) [M.C. Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-c-frank/) > [Whether we think of Disney's blonde beauty and her pumpkin carriage or Marissa Meyer's recent recasting of 'Cinderella' as a cyborg in the young…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-rutkoski/whether-we-think-of-disney-s-blonde-beauty-and-her-pumpkin-carriage/) [Marie Rutkoski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-rutkoski/) > [You have, unfortunately, a K-12 educational system where the requirements to graduate are not the requirements to be college and career-ready. So if you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerald-chertavian/you-have-unfortunately-a-k-12-educational-system-where-the/) [Gerald Chertavian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerald-chertavian/) > [Child actors going on to become adult actors never really works, apart from a few. Jodie Foster was the exception.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-lester/child-actors-going-on-to-become-adult-actors-never-really-works-apart/) Mark Lester > [Being an adult is the ability to postpone a want for the sake of a family need.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hogan/being-an-adult-is-the-ability-to-postpone-a-want-for-the-sake-of-a/) [Chris Hogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hogan/) > [“Oh, I don’t mean to infer that you’re not a great guy. I’m sure you’re the exception to the rule.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaye-frances/oh-i-don-t-mean-to-infer-that-you-re-not-a-great-guy-i-m-sure-you-re/) Jaye Frances Browse all 1,153 Adult quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A child becomes an adult when he realizes that he has a right not only to be right but also to be wrong.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Szasz" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-szasz/a-child-becomes-an-adult-when-he-realizes-that-he-has-a-right-not/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Adult" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-szasz/a-child-becomes-an-adult-when-he-realizes-that-he-has-a-right-not/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3fd/thomas-szasz-3801_adult_a-child-becomes-an-adult-when-he-realize_569822.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3fd/thomas-szasz-3801_adult_a-child-becomes-an-adult-when-he-realize_569822.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3fd/thomas-szasz-3801_adult_a-child-becomes-an-adult-when-he-realize_569822.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A child becomes an adult when he realizes that he has a right not only to be right but also to be wrong.” — Thomas Szasz", "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": "Thomas Szasz", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-szasz/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "A child becomes an adult when...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-szasz/a-child-becomes-an-adult-when-he-realizes-that-he-has-a-right-not/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-szasz/a-child-becomes-an-adult-when-he-realizes-that-he-has-a-right-not/#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 } } ] } ```