quote · Words worth keeping
When a child asks you something, answer him, for goodness’ sake. But don’t make a production of it. Children are children, but they can spot an evasionquicker than adults, and evasion simply muddles ‘em. No, you had the right answer this afternoon, but the wrong reasons. Bad language is a stage all children go through, and it dies with time when they learn they’re notattracting attention with it. Hotheadedness isn’t.
When a child asks you something, answer him, for goodness’ sake. But don’t make a production of it. Children are children, but they can spot an evasionquicker than adults, and evasion simply muddles ‘em. No, you had the right answer this afternoon, but the wrong reasons. Bad language is a stage all children go through, and it dies with time when they learn they’re notattracting attention with it. Hotheadedness isn’t.
Approximate author period: c. 1971 AD · modern
Meaning not yet available
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- Author or tradition
- Harper Lee
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
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- Approximate author period: c. 1971 AD · modern
Approximate author-period anchor from life dates 1926 to 2016; Wikidata Q182658, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q182658 (accessed 2026-10-08). Not a quotation composition date.
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Supplied reference C; CSV row 146118; supplied attribution, independently unverified
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