“ Sendak is in search of what he calls a "yummy death". William Blake set the standard, jumping up from his death bed at the last minute to start singing. "A happy death," says Sendak. "It can be done."… Maurice Sendak
“ . . .from their earliest years children live on familiar terms with disrupting emotions, fear and anxiety are an intrinsic part of their everyday lives, they continually cope with frustrations as best… Maurice Sendak
“ [There are] games children must conjure up to combat an awful fact of childhood: the fact of their vulnerability to fear, anger, hate and frustration - all the emotions that are an ordinary part of th… 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
“ I adored Mickey Mouse when I was a child. He was the emblem of happiness and funniness. Maurice Sendak
“ My father could be very witty, even if the humor was always on the darker side of irony. Maurice Sendak
“ In plain terms, a child is a complicated creature who can drive you crazy. There's a cruelty to childhood, there's an anger. Maurice Sendak
“ To get a child's trust - you may know or not - is a very hard thing to do. They're so used to not believing adults - because adults tell tales and lies all the time. Maurice Sendak
“ 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. Maurice Sendak
“ I remember my own childhood vividly..I knew terrible things. But I knew I mustn't let adults know I knew. It would scare them. (In conversation with Art Spiegelman, The New Yorker, September 27, 1993) Maurice Sendak
