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We're animals. We're violent. We're criminal. We're not so far away from the gorillas and the apes, those beautiful creatures. So, of course. And then, we're supposed to be civilized. We're supposed to go to work every day. We're supposed to be nice to our friends and send Christmas cards to our parents. We're supposed to do all these things which trouble us deeply because it's so against what we naturally would want to do. And if I've done anything, I've had kids express themselves as they are, impolitely, lovingly - they don't mean any harm. They just don't know what the right way is. And as it turns out sometimes the so-called 'right way' is utterly the wrong way. What a monstrous confusion.

Maurice Sendak#11

BehaviorCivilizationHuman naturePsychology

About this quote

What does it mean?
Humans are naturally violent and animalistic, yet must act civilized, causing internal conflict.
In plain terms
We act civilized despite being wild inside, which causes confusion.
What can you take from it?
Accept natural human instincts rather than fighting them.

Where it applies

  • child development
  • self-reflection
  • conflict resolution

Putting it to work

  • child guidance
  • personal acceptance

Questions to consider

  • How much nature should we embrace?
  • Is civilization a mask?

Another view

Ignoring natural instincts can lead to repression.

More from Maurice Sendak

  1. One of the few graces of getting old - and God knows there are few graces - is that if you've worked hard and kept your nose to the grindstone, something happe…

    Permalink to quote #10
  2. I'm not Hans Christian Andersen. Nobody's gonna make a statue in the park with a lot of scrambling kids climbing up me. I won't have it, okay?

    Permalink to quote #12
  3. I don't believe in things literally for children. That's a reduction.

    Permalink to quote #9

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