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About this quote

What does it mean?
Artists must retain their sense of wonder and childhood perspective to be whole.
In plain terms
Artists need to remember their childhood to be complete.
What can you take from it?
Childlike wonder fuels creativity.

Where it applies

  • artistic creation
  • personal growth
  • education

Putting it to work

  • cultivate curiosity
  • retain wonder

Questions to consider

  • How does childhood influence art?
  • Can adults stay creative?

Another view

Adult responsibility also shapes mature art.

More from James Thurber

  1. Yes, my works lose something in the original.

    Permalink to quote #90
  2. We all have faults, and mine is being wicked.

    Permalink to quote #92
  3. There is something about a poet which leads us to believe that he died, in many cases, as long as 20 years before his birth.

    Permalink to quote #89

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