I do not remember any proper children's books in my childhood. I was not exposed to them.
— Maurice Sendak
I'm not obsessed with angels but I do adore angels.
I mean, being a child was being a child, was being a creature without power, without pocket money, without escape routes of any kind. So I didn't want to be a child.
My therapies went on forever.
As a kid, all I thought about was death.
What I do as best I can is out of a deep respect for children, for how difficult their world is.
My parents were ignorant peasants from the Old World.
It's no fun being lonely.
I'd like to believe an accumulation of experience has made me a sort of a grown-up person, so I can have judgment and taste and whatever.
The distinctions of fine art bore me to death.
I have a good life.
A book is a book is a book.
I'm not a religious person.
There's so much more to a book than just the reading.
Finding out that I was gay when I was older was a shock and a disappointment.
Things come to you without you necessarily knowing what they mean.
I've convinced myself - I hope I'm right - that children despair of you if you don't tell them the truth.
The world is twice as crazy as it's ever been.
My parents were very indiscrete.
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.
I don't have kids at all and I thank God that I never did.
My work is not great, but it's respectable.
There are certain pieces of music that are always attached to certain books.
I've always loved pigs: the shape of them, the look of them, and the fact that they are so intelligent.
I'm totally crazy, I know that.
I have this idiot name tag which says 'controversial.'
It dawned on me that art was the way I could survive.
I'm an illustrator. I have to accept my role.
I'm not afraid of death.
I don't need faith.
My father could be very witty, even if the humor was always on the darker side of irony.
My being gay was something of not great interest to me.
I would infinitely prefer a daughter.
Do parents sit down and tell their kids everything? I don't know. I don't know.
I stress character, character, character.
I remember how much - when I was a small boy I was taken to see a version of 'Peter Pan.' I detested it. I mean, the sentimental idea that anybody would want to remain a boy.
I cry a lot because I miss people.
I had a brother who was my savior, made my childhood bearable.
Yes, there have to be places for safe wonderful stories.
My life in Brooklyn was in constant danger because of my bad health.
I'm a lucky buck.
My father belonged to a Jewish social club.
I'm still as enamored and turned on by work as I was when I was young.
I wanted to be acknowledged as an artist, not just some kiddie-book artist.
I can't believe I've turned into a typical old man.
I don't believe in an afterlife but I still fully expect to see my brother again.
I was miserable as a kid.
Certainly we want to protect our children from new and painful experiences that are beyond their emotional comprehension and that intensify anxiety; and to a point we can prevent premature exposure to such experiences.
Girls are infinitely more complicated than boys and women more than men. And there's no doubt about that. We just don't like to think about it. Certainly the men don't like to think about it.
I am not a religious person, nor do I have any regrets.
