Maurice Sendak

"It is sometimes hard to be a family."

"And it is through fantasy that children achieve catharsis. It is the best means they have for taming wild things."

". . .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 they can. And it is through fantasy that children achieve catharsis. It is the best means they have for taming Wild Things."

"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"

"The day after Paul Newman was dead, he was twice as dead."

"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." He lifts his eyebrows to two peaks. "If you're William Blake and totally crazy."

"I have nothing now but praise for my life. I'm 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..."