Maurice Sendak Quotes

There's so much more to a book than just the reading.

We all know how loving ends. But I want to fall in love with the world anyway. To let it crack me open. I want to feel what there is to feel. While I am here.

Sipping once, sipping twice, sipping chicken soup with rice.

I have nothing now but praise for my life. I am not unhappy. I cry a lot because I miss people. They die and I can't stop them. They leave me and I love them more...There are so many beautiful things in this world which I will have to leave when I die, but I'm ready, I'm ready, I'm ready.

You can't get rid of evil. We can't, and I feel that so intensely. All the idiots that keep coming into the world and wrecking people's lives. And it is such an abundance of idiocy that you lose courage, okay? That you lose hope — I don't want to lose hope. I get through every day — I'm pretty good — I work. I sleep. I sing. I walk. But, I'm losing hope.

It's only adults who read the top layers most of the time. I think children read the internal meanings of everything.

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

I am not a religious person, nor do I have any regrets. The war took care of the for me.

It is sometimes hard to be a family.

Then from far away across the world he smelled good things to eat, so he gave up being king of the wild things.

Let the wild rumpus start!

Artistic style is only a means to an end, and the more styles you have, the better. To get trapped in a style is to lose all flexibility. If you have only one style, then you’re going to do the same book over and over, which is pretty dull. Lots of styles permit you to walk in and out of books. So, develop a fine style, a fat style, and fairly slim style, and a really rough style.

As an aspiring artist, you should strive for originality of vision. Have something to say and a fresh way of saying it. No story is worth the writing, no picture worth the making, if it’s not the work of the imagination.

Oh, please don't go — we'll eat you up — we love you so!

Herman Melville is a god. … I cherish what he did. He was a genius. Wrote Moby-Dick. Wrote Pierre. Wrote The Confidence-Man, wrote Billy Budd. … Oh, yes. Look at him. … Scares the bejesus out of people and makes them hate him. Because he's so [[good.] Claggart has him killed in that book. Claggart has his eye on that boy. He will not tolerate such goodness, such blondeness, such blue eye. Goodness is scary. It's like you want to knock it. You want to hit it. Are we a country of beating down things? We love seeing people go down.

Messages are the death of an honest literary transaction with children