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Such children. So young, so playful. I'm glad they can still be that way. Someday, when the real adult responsibilities settle on them, they'll lose that. It will be replaces by a slower, quieter kind of play. But for now, they can cast away care and remember how good it is to be alive.... That's what happiness means, isn't it?

Orson Scott Card#386

ResponsibilityHappinessChildhoodAgingAdulthoodPresent

About this quote

What does it mean?
Childhood playfulness is temporary and gives way to quieter adult responsibilities, but happiness lies in being alive now.
In plain terms
Kids enjoy life freely before adulthood weighs them down, and that freedom is what happiness feels like.
What can you take from it?
Appreciate the present moment of freedom before life's burdens arrive.

Where it applies

  • parenting
  • reflecting on youth
  • midlife realization

Putting it to work

  • observe children at play
  • revisit hobbies
  • practice mindfulness

Questions to consider

  • What does happiness mean to you now?
  • How do responsibilities change your definition of play?

Another view

This view idealizes childhood as carefree and ignores the struggles children face.

More from Orson Scott Card

  1. I'm not a very demanding man. I don't expect perfection from others. I get along and do my part. But when someone treats me like a worm, as if I didn't exist, …

    Permalink to quote #385
  2. Maybe he's growing up Or maybe he just needed the right circumstances to discover the best in himself.

    Permalink to quote #387
  3. Nature had no scheme. Only a series of accidents.

    Permalink to quote #384

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