Teenagers

"Betty, who substituted at the middle school, like to say that there was really no such thing as a thirteen-year-old, but inside every eighth grader were a ten-year-old and a sixteen-year-old locked in mortal combat. Given enough time, the big kid would win and ask to borrow the car. Meanwhile, according to Betty, the best Faith could do was to silently chant the mother’s mantra: “It’s only a phase, it’s only a phase.”"

"Even if teen-age children arent making a sound, its quieter when theyre gone. They put a boiling in the air around them.[…] No wonder poltergeists only infest houses with adolescent children."

"Education conceived as preparation for life locks the learning process within a vicious circle. Youth educated in terms of adult ideas and taught to think of learning as a process which ends when real life begins will make no better use of intelligence than the elders who prescribe the system. Brief and rebellious moments occur when youth sees this fallacy clearly, but alas, the pressure of adult civilization is too great; in the end young people fit into the pattern, succumb to the tradition of their elders—indeed, become elderly-minded before their time. Education within the vicious circle becomes not a joyous enterprise but rather something to be endured because it leads to a satisfying end. But there can be no genuine joy in the end if means are irritating, painful."

"As a teenager you are at the last stage in your life when you will be happy to hear that the phone is for you."

"Wars are fought by teenagers, you realize that. They really ought to be fought by the politicians and old people who start these wars."

"I make movies for teenage boys. Oh, dear, what a crime."