The ways we miss our lives are life.
One of the most obvious facts about grownups to a child is that they have forgotten what it is like to be a child.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Adults often lose touch with the simplicity of childhood experiences.
This quote by Randall Jarrell suggests that as people grow up, they tend to forget the essence of being a child, including the innocence, wonder, and imaginative potential that defines childhood. Children are acutely aware of this shift, observing that adults may no longer value or remember the joys and simplicity of their early years, reflecting a broader theme of how life experiences and responsibilities can shape one's perspective over time.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the importance of childhood education, one could use this quote to highlight the need for adults to remember the impact of their formative years.
More from Randall Jarrell
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Our souls are not hungry for fame, comfort, wealth, or power. Those rewards create almost as many problems as they solve. Our souls are hungry for meaning, for the sense that we have figured out how to live so that our lives matter, so that the world will be at least a little bit different for our having passed through it.
I believe that a life of integrity I the most fundamental source of personal worth. I do not agree with the popular success literature that says that self-esteem is primarily a matter of mind set, of attitude-that you can psych yourself into peace of mind. Peace of mind comes when your life is in harmony with true principles and values and in no other way.
Decisions are constantly before us. To make them wisely, courage is needed-the courage to say no, the courage to say yes. Decisions do determine destiny. I plead with you to make a determination right here, right now, not to deviate from the path which will lead to our goal: eternal life with our Father in Heaven.
At my advanced age - I'm now an octogenarian - I'm constantly amazed by the number of people who want to take my picture.
Work with some men is as besetting a sin as idleness.
A word once let out of the cage cannot be whistled back again.