Champions
1. “To be a true champion, Nicholas, one must explore the darkness, too.” (Eric Van Lustbader, The Ninja)
Childhood
2. “The period of childhood is a stage on which time and space become entangled.” (Yukio Mishima, Confessions of a Mask)
3. “This toy increased in volume at every opportunity and hinted that, rightly used, it would be quite a delightful thing. But directions for its use were nowhere written, and so, when the toy took the initiative in wanting to play with me, my bewilderment was inevitable. Occasionally my humiliation and impatience became so aggravated that I even thought I wanted to destroy the toy. In the end, however, there was nothing for it but to surrender on my side to the insubordinate toy, with its expression of sweet secrecy, and wait passively to see what would happen.” (Yukio Mishima, Confessions of a Mask)
4. “In childish times
it’s easier;
a child believes
just what it’s told.
But children grow
and soon begin
to see too much
that doesn’t match
the simple tales,
and not enough
of what’s behind
their parents’ words.”
(Terry Anderson, Den of Lions – Memoirs of Seven Years)
Children
5. “… children always think anything old and strange is funny.” (John Steinbeck, Cannery Row)
6. “Kids always have a soft spot for silly limericks.” (Daen-aran Saengtong, Venom)
7. “Like children are all people.” (Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha)
8. “Even bad people, even thieves and robbers have children and love them.” (Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha)
9. “… children individually were great, only became unbearable en masse.” (Rosemary Hall, Falling for Greece)
10. “Grown-ups never understand anything for themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them.” (Antoine de Saint-Exupery, The Little Prince)
