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He was one of those quite rare adults who communicate with small children fairly well and who love them all impartially--not in a sugary way but in a businesslike fashion that may sometimes entail a hug, in the same way that closing a big business deal may call for a handshake.
Stephen King
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Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote highlights the importance of genuine, impartial love towards children in a straightforward manner.

In this quote, Stephen King describes a rare type of adult who can connect with children effectively, embracing them with impartial love. Unlike conventional notions of affection that may feel overly sentimental, this adult's approach is practical and grounded, recognizing that affection toward children can be as straightforward as a professional handshake symbolizes agreement in business, blending warmth with clarity.

Themes

ChildrenLoveRelationshipsCommunicationAdult

In practice

Example use cases

This quote can be used in a speech about parenting styles that focus on practical love.

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