But grownups were always in a turmoil, every possible action muddied over by thoughts of the consequences, by self-doubt, by self image, by feelings of love and responsibility. Every possible choice seemed to have drawbacks, and sometimes he didn't understand why the drawbacks were drawbacks. It was very hard.

— Stephen King

Childhood is an exploratory period of calculated investigation. The nagging feeling that a child’s life has not really begun until he or she attains adulthood makes growing up both a whimsical and fretful time. Childhood is not all merriment since a child realizes that seamless youthful days are an experiment for adulthood.

— Kilroy J. Oldster

Children are the closest we have to wisdom, and they become adults the moment that final drop of everything mysterious is strained from them.

— Simon Van Booy

Children do not always appreciate their parents encouraging them to explore and grow. The selfishness of a child manifests itself in his or her intent to remain a child and never enter an adult world of distress, disappointment, and jadedly surrendering an envisioned life by making commitments that limit boundless options.

— Kilroy J. Oldster

Children’s and YA books are about being brave and kind, about learning wisdom and love, about that journey into and through maturity that we all keep starting, and starting again, no matter how old we get. I think that’s why so many adults read YA: we’re never done coming of age.

— Betsy Cornwell

Children take joy in their work and sometimes as adults we forget that's something we should continue doing.

— Ashley Ormon

Dance. Dance for the joy and breath of childhood. Dance for all children, including that child who is still somewhere entombed beneath the responsibility and skepticism of adulthood. Embrace the moment before it escapes from our grasp. For the only promise of childhood, of any childhood, is that it will someday end. And in the end, we must ask ourselves what we have given our children to take its place. And is it enough?

— Richard Paul Evans

Defining yourself in terms of how you rank is always dangerous and ultimately immature. It doesn't matter whether the rank has to do with your grades, your weight or where you finished in the 800-meter race. Becoming a mature adult means, among other things, that you define yourself relative to your own potential, not relative somebody else's standard.

— Leonard Sax

Do all the work you while you still have strength.

— Lailah Gifty Akita

Don't you find it odd," she continued, "that when you're a kid, everyone, all the world, encourages you to follow your dreams? But when you're older, somehow they act offended if you even try.

— Ethan Hawke