Quotes about Maturity

Personally I believe that being an elder can be a real grace. After having seen so much of life and having "made it" in so many ways there is still that possibility of growing into a second childhood, a second naiveté. I think that is quite an exciting possibility and I pray that God will allow you to be reborn in such a new way of being.

I want the flower and fruit of a man; that some fragrance be wafted over from him to me, and some ripeness flavor our intercourse.

I am thinking by what long discipline and at what cost a man learns to speak simply at last.

Out of the trunk, the branches grow; out of them, the twigs. So, in productive subjects, grow the chapters.

If you went to your closet today, would you pull out the same outfit you wore 10 or 15 years ago? You wear feelings and faith differently as well.

When I did A Soldier's Story, I was very young and green and thought I knew everything-now I know I know everything!

You have to treat people gently because we're all in a process. What might seem like a good idea to somebody at 21 is probably not going to seem like a good idea at 50, but you don't know that until you get there.

Self-control is one mark of a mature person; it applies to control of language, physical treatment of others, and the appetites of the body.

When I was 17, my father was so stupid, I didn't want to be seen with him in public. When I was 24, I was amazed at how much the old man had learned in just 7 years.

I was smarter when I was 15, 16 than when I was 18 to 26, because instead of caving in to being cool, I stuck close to my convictions and I was rewarded.

I was a sort of serious little dude - snobby.

There is no time of life past learning something.