People say children are charming because they tell the truth. That's a lie. I've got five of them. They only tell the truth if they're in pain.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Children are the most honest critics. They will say 'You're funny', but also 'You're pathetic - go away.'
I was raised to be charming, not sincere.
The highest compliment I could ever receive about my kids - and I can say that this does happen frequently - is when the in-flight crew say to me, 'Your children are wonderful. They are so well-behaved.' Every time I am told that, I could weep.
Lots of us when we're children believe 'oh well, if the world knew us as we really are, they'd know what wonderful, clever, brilliant, charming people we really are.'
Some children I have met are very beautiful. Some children are imbeciles, vulgar, terrible.
Every child is so different. Their experience growing up and their experience relating to the world has so much to do with their temperament, and their likes and their dislikes.
I am often stunned and charmed by the simple brilliance of what children say. But you have to be willing to listen.
I find that the only way to make my characters really interesting to children is to exaggerate all their good or bad qualities, and so if a person is nasty or bad or cruel, you make them very nasty, very bad, very cruel. If they are ugly, you make them extremely ugly. That, I think, is fun and makes an impact.
Children are far more interesting to work with than grownups. They're incredibly honest. They'll tell you exactly what they think.
I like children; I like 'em, and I respect 'em. Pretty much all the honest truth-telling there is in the world is done by them.