quote · Legacy record
For children, childhood is timeless. It is always the present. Everything is in the present tense. Of course, they have memories. Of course, time shifts a little for them and Christmas comes round in the end. But they don’t feel it. Today is what they feel, and when they say ‘When I grow up,’ there is always an edge of disbelief—how could they ever be other than what they are?
For children, childhood is timeless. It is always the present. Everything is in the present tense. Of course, they have memories. Of course, time shifts a little for them and Christmas comes round in the end. But they don’t feel it. Today is what they feel, and when they say ‘When I grow up,’ there is always an edge of disbelief—how could they ever be other than what they are?
Approximate author period: c. 1948 AD · modern
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- Author or tradition
- Ian McEwan
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
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- Approximate author period: c. 1948 AD · modern
Approximate author-period anchor from documented birth year 1948; activity date not established; Wikidata Q190379, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q190379 (accessed 2026-10-08). Not a quotation composition date.
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Supplied reference C; CSV row 56729; supplied attribution, independently unverified
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