Maurice Sendak
Maurice Sendak

That always seemed to be the most critical test that a child was confronted with - loss of parents, loss of direction, loss of love. Can you live without a mother and a father?

Maurice Sendak
Maurice Sendak

I can't believe I've turned into a typical old man. I can't believe it. I was young just minutes ago.

Maurice Sendak
Maurice Sendak

I refuse to lie to children.

Maurice Sendak
Maurice Sendak

I have to accept my role. I will never kill myself like Vincent Van Gogh. Nor will I paint beautiful water lilies like Monet. I can't do that. I'm in the idiot role of being a kiddie book person.

Maurice Sendak
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
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
Maurice Sendak

Do parents sit down and tell their kids everything? I don't know. I don't know. I've convinced myself - I hope I'm right - that children despair of you if you don't tell them the truth.

Maurice Sendak
Maurice Sendak

When I did 'Bumble-ardy,' I was so intensely aware of death. Eugene, my friend and partner, was dying here in the house when I did 'Bumble-ardy'. I did 'Bumble-ardy' to save myself. I did not want to die with him. I wanted to live, as any human being does.

Maurice Sendak
Maurice Sendak

I'm writing a poem right now about a nose. I've always wanted to write a poem about a nose. But it's a ludicrous subject. That's why, when I was younger, I was afraid of something that didn't make a lot of sense. But now I'm not. I have nothing to worry about. It doesn't matter.

Maurice Sendak
Maurice Sendak

People from New York have been calling, to see if I'm still alive. When I answer the phone, you can hear the disappointment in their voice.

Maurice Sendak
Maurice Sendak

You can't write masterpieces in your 80s and be happy too.

Maurice Sendak
Maurice Sendak

I became a set designer for opera. I'm a great opera buff, I love classical music, and I needed a time-out.

Maurice Sendak
Maurice Sendak

I grew up in a house that was in a constant state of mourning.

Maurice Sendak
Maurice Sendak

I have a little tiny Emily Dickinson so big that I carry in my pocket everywhere. And you just read three poems of Emily. She is so brave. She is so strong. She is such a sexy, passionate, little woman. I feel better.

Maurice Sendak
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
Maurice Sendak

I hate those e-books. They can not be the future... they may well be... I will be dead.

Maurice Sendak
Maurice Sendak

Parents shouldn't assume children are made out of sugar candy and will break and collapse instantly. Kids don't. We do.

Maurice Sendak
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
Maurice Sendak

Kids lead a very private life.

Maurice Sendak
Maurice Sendak

I think people should be given a test much like driver's tests as to whether they're capable of being parents!