We’re supposed to do all these things which trouble us deeply because it’s so against what we naturally would want to do. – Maurice Sendak
You know who my gods are, who I believe in fervently? Herman Melville, Emily Dickinson – she’s probably the top – Mozart, Shakespeare, Keats. These are wonderful gods who have gotten me through the narrow straits of life. – Maurice Sendak
Most children – I know I did when I was a kid – fantasize another set of parents. Or fantasize no parents. They don’t tell their real parents about that – you don’t want to tell Mom and Dad. – Maurice Sendak
I’ve always loved pigs: the shape of them, the look of them, and the fact that they are so intelligent. – Maurice Sendak
There’s something in this country that is so opposed to understanding the complexity of children. – Maurice Sendak
I think people should be given a test much like driver’s tests as to whether they’re capable of being parents! – Maurice Sendak
I did not know how to paint a mural. I did not know how to prepare the surface. There was nobody from the Renaissance around who could advise me, and I did the best I could. – Maurice Sendak
When Mozart is playing in my room, I am in conjunction with something I can’t explain… I don’t need to. I know that if there’s a purpose for life, it was for me to hear Mozart. – Maurice Sendak
I write books that seem more suitable for children, and that’s OK with me. They are a better audience and tougher critics. Kids tell you what they think, not what they think they should think. – Maurice Sendak
I’m not Hans Christian Anderson. Nobody’s gonna make a statue in the park with a lot of scrambling kids climbing up me. I won’t have it, okay? – Maurice Sendak
Kids don’t know about best sellers. They go for what they enjoy. They aren’t star chasers and they don’t suck up. It’s why I like them. – Maurice Sendak
