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 in The Second Sin, Childhood (1973)
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Related quotes
Be a child-parent-adult
To the child, it is a day.
To the parent, it is a night.
To the adult both are inclusive.
The child lives in fantasy.
The parent lives in fallacy.
It is the adult that lives,
Where he is put, in ecstasy.
The child admires things.
The parent criticizes them.
The adult realizes them.
The child appreciates.
The parent deprecates.
The adult rationalizes.
The poet is the child in man.
The priest is the parent in man.
The logician is the adult in man.
Live a child to be youthful.
Live a parent to be awesome.
Live an adult to be credible.
27.01.2000, Kottayam
poem by Rm. Shanmugam Chettiar
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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
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The day the child realizes that all adults are imperfect he becomes an adolescent the day he forgives them, he becomes an adult the day he forgives himself he becomes wise.
quote by Alden Nowlan
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The day the child realizes that all adults are imperfect, he becomes an adolescent; the day he forgives them, he becomes an adult; the day he forgives himself, he becomes wise.
quote by Alden Nowlan
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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An adult is still a child
A child imitates its mother with air.
An adult imitates models to seem fair.
A child imagines a child in a doll
And enjoys tending it with fantasy.
An adult imagines some ones in his
And experience bliss in fantasy.
A child fears and pretends ignorance.
An adult dreads and pretends innocence.
Though old, still a child, I amuse myself
Though wise, still a child, I fool myself.
12.06.2008
poem by Rm. Shanmugam Chettiar
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Gender determination
‘Is this a man or a woman? ’
asked a child the other,
pointing to a nude picture.
‘How can I, no dress? ’
answered the other child.
‘Is this a male or a female? ’
asked an adult the other,
pointing to a clothed child.
‘How can I, it’s dressed.”
Answered the other adult.
Child decides by clothes.
Adult confirms without cloth
01.08.2008
poem by Rm. Shanmugam Chettiar
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Baby vs Adult
Baby is dumb
Adult has wisdom
Babies are small and crawl
Adults are tall and fall
Baby demands
Adult commands
Baby yearns to walk
Adult learns to work
Baby weeps
Adult sleeps
You carry a baby
You marry an adult
Baby chokes
Adult smokes
Baby stays at home to play
Adult brings home the pay
Baby cries
Adult sighs
Baby spikes milk
Adults like silk
And I saved this for the last
Baby at birth
Adult at death
Baby vs Adult becomes a thing of the past
poem by Sylvia Chidi
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I am o.k. you are o.k.
‘I lost my pen’
‘Don’t worry, I shall get you one’
A child like question
And an expected parental reply.
I am o.k., you are o.k.
‘I lost my pen’
‘I know you will do only that’
Parent reply belied the question.
I am o.k. You are not o.k.
‘I lost my pen’
‘You can borrow from me’
A child-like question.
An adult like answer.
I am o.k. You are o.k.
‘Is the bus late?
‘Which bus comes in time?
An adult seeking an adult
But received a parent reply.
I am o.k. You are not.
‘Is the bus late? ’
‘Yes, heard only ten minutes’
Both responded as adults.
I am o.k. You are o.k.
‘Let us play hide and seek’
‘Yes, let me hide first’
A child sought from a child
And received it.
I am o.k. You are o.k.
‘Let us play hide and seek’
‘No, this is not the time’
The reply is parental
And belied the question.
I am o.k. You are not.
‘Let us play hide and seek’
‘Yes. Then we should read’
A child and an adult reaction
I am o.k. You are o.k.
‘You should not smoke’
‘Yes. I shall cut it’
A parental question.
An adult reply.
I am o.k. You are o.k.
‘You should not smoke’
‘First, you cut your chewing’
A parental question
Seeking a child answer
But was belied.
I am o.k. You are not.
‘She should be taught a lesson’
‘ Yes, otherwise she will worsen’
A parent seeking a parent and got.
I am o.k. You are o.k.
‘I love you.’
‘I can’t forget you.’
Both are adult,
Expecting and receiving
As adults. I and you are o.k.
‘I love you’
‘Shh.. Others may watch”
A child’s reply to a child
Both are o.k.
‘I love you’
‘Bitch! Go to hell; I’ll report’
A parental reply, instead.
I am o.k. You are not.
‘I love you.’
‘I think you misunderstood.’
Both behaved as adults.
I am o.k. You are o.k.
You be the way you are expected.
You are then o.k. to others.
When others fail to be the way
You expected, you reason for it.
Others will be o.k. to you.
Then where is the individuality?
27.01.2000, Kottayam
poem by Rm. Shanmugam Chettiar
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Restricted
when i was a kid
they say it is restricted
for adults only
when i became an adult
they say
i must become a child
with all these
unexpected twists and turns
of my life
when i have become neither
a child
or an adult
a man or a woman at an age
where i can not really do
what i want
i say, i am so restricted
and it does not really matter
i am too old to think
i am too old to live
i am they say too young to die
and then when i said
i doubted everything
they tell me, and i like it really
that i am a wise man
of course, i do not understand
but as i am telling you
i like
from then on, just being
restricted
poem by Antonio Liao
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If you treat a sick child like an adult and a sick adult like a child, everything usually works out pretty well.
quote by Black Hawk
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Social Studies- Jesus' Birth
Mary was blessed with a child,
The child whose kicking is so wild
but this child is not wicked nor evil
With this child our Future is grat,
and every child, and every adult
Shall one day be saved
poem by Melinda Sordini
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If I Were To Listen To You
when i was a child
you want me to become an adult
so i may earn a living myself
and then you are relieved
of any responsibility
(or a burden shall i say?)
and then when i become a adult
you want me to become a child again
to cheer you up and help you remember
the happy times of innocence
those times when sins
and lapses are forgivable
to relieve you of your guilt
(or a scruple shall i say)
if i were to listen to you
what shall i become of myself?
i am glad we have become distant islands
and there shall be no bridge possible
no sail no mail no tail
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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A father, A child. The meaningful bond
A father, A child. The meaningful bond
A father whispers to the child
As the child continues to ignore his spoken words
As if his owner was almost invisible from the corner of his eye
The child shouts – silence” the father then trembles disfigured to heart
He stands crying tears of fury with the spark of love of his child’s naivety.
The child carries on his missions, his father watches him do his thing”
When finally one day the child realizes his insane character, the father then
Ignores his presence..
Appreciate what you have here, now, but not always.
because 'you never know'.
poem by Noorie Ali
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Waiting For My Child
I am waiting for my child to come
Home today from school
And I will be sad when the day comes
That my child will be one adult
Because my child won't live home anymore
And I will be left all alone
But for my child it will be the happiest time in his life
poem by Aldo Kraas
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Gray
When I was a child
I saw in black and white
everything was obvious
either wrong or right
no argument, no pros and cons
choices were precise
pure and joyous clarity
gave me a simple life
so I grew and learned to face the world
living life that way
and now I feel so unprepared
cause black and white turned gray
my unfaltering vision failed
focus left my eyes
where choices were once obvious
I can't tell wrong from right
because today I am a teenager
and nothings quite so clear
I'm seeing through an adult's eyes
a child biggest fear
poem by Carlisa Smith
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In A Moment In Time
OH MY CHILD WHAT HAPEND TO YOU
YOU SEEMED TO GROW
SO STRONG MY CHILD
THEN SHAYTAN HE CAME TO YOU
OH MY Child WHAT WENT WRONG
I hope it’s temporarily
Oh please come back to Allah
Oh my child what went wrong
All the good I taught you
Now look at you
Doing as you do
Knowing it’s wrong
Denying your multi-cultural family
Claming to be 100% British
No longer looking after the planet
You talk of war for a better life
How can this be
Oh child of mine
What went wrong
As you talk of helping others
The people you want to work for are killing my family
Oh how can this be oh child of mine
Come back to Allah
Come back to me
I miss you so
Love always
Mom
poem by mariam khan Farah Abdulahi
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Age Had Killed The Child
Age had killed the child,
but I the adult was uncorrupted,
somewhere I had lost something pure,
while the child was killed slowly;
rebellion I could inherit from the child.
poem by Gert Strydom
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By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he's wrong.
quote by Charles Wadsworth
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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If an adult uses violence on a child, the child will naturally assume that he too, has the right to use it on one smaller or weaker.
quote by Dora Russell
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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One stops being a child when one realizes that telling one's trouble does not make it any better.
quote by Cesare Pavese
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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