# Quotes about innocence

- Quotes: 48
- Authors: 38
- Broader topic: [Quotes about morality](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/morality.md)
- Topic page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/innocence
- JSON version (same data): https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/innocence.json

## Quotes

> Innocence has nothing to dread.

[Jean Racine](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-racine.md) · [Phèdre](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-racine/phedre.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-racine/phedre/innocence-has-nothing.md)

Topics: [innocence](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/innocence.md)

> Crime, like virtue, has its degrees;
>
> And timid innocence was never known
>
> To blossom suddenly into extreme license.

[Jean Racine](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-racine.md) · [Phèdre](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-racine/phedre.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-racine/phedre/crime-like-virtue.md)

Topics: [evil](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil.md), [innocence](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/innocence.md)

> This was a double game: he was trying to save his childhood, to preserve it and trap it in amber, but to do that he was calling on things that partook of the world beyond childhood, whose touch would leave him even less innocent than he already was. What would that make him? Neither a child nor an adult, neither innocent nor wise. Perhaps that is what a monster is.

[Lev Grossman](https://www.leafyquotes.com/lev-grossman.md) · [The Magician's Land](https://www.leafyquotes.com/lev-grossman/the-magicians-land.md) · p. 232 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/lev-grossman/the-magicians-land/this-was-a-double.md)

Topics: [childhood](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/childhood.md), [innocence](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/innocence.md)

> The flip side of innocence is shame.

[Cathy Park Hong](https://www.leafyquotes.com/cathy-park-hong.md) · [Minor Feelings](https://www.leafyquotes.com/cathy-park-hong/minor-feelings.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/cathy-park-hong/minor-feelings/the-flip-side.md)

Topics: [shame](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/shame.md), [innocence](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/innocence.md)

> Innocence is both a privilege and a cognitive handicap, a sheltered unknowingness that, once protracted into adulthood, hardens into entitlement.

[Cathy Park Hong](https://www.leafyquotes.com/cathy-park-hong.md) · [Minor Feelings](https://www.leafyquotes.com/cathy-park-hong/minor-feelings.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/cathy-park-hong/minor-feelings/innocence-is-both.md)

Topics: [innocence](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/innocence.md)

> Childhood is a state of mind, whether it's a nostalgic return to innocence or a sudden flashback to unease and dread. If the innocence of childhood is being protected and comforted, the precarity of childhood is when one feels the least protected and comfortable.

[Cathy Park Hong](https://www.leafyquotes.com/cathy-park-hong.md) · [Minor Feelings](https://www.leafyquotes.com/cathy-park-hong/minor-feelings.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/cathy-park-hong/minor-feelings/childhood-is-a-state.md)

Topics: [childhood](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/childhood.md), [innocence](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/innocence.md)

> I think that's the real loss of innocence: the first time you glimpse the boundaries that will limit your own potential.

[Steve Toltz](https://www.leafyquotes.com/steve-toltz.md) · [A Fraction Of The Whole](https://www.leafyquotes.com/steve-toltz/a-fraction-of-the-whole.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/steve-toltz/a-fraction-of-the-whole/i-think-thats.md)

Topics: [growing up](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/growing-up.md), [innocence](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/innocence.md)

> "I suppose one could scarcely have had innocence and experience. Being young is very exhausting and unsatisfactory, really—although it looks so nice."

[John Wyndham](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-wyndham.md) · [Jizzle](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-wyndham/jizzle.md) · p. 84 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-wyndham/jizzle/i-suppose-one.md)

Topics: [youth](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/youth.md), [experience](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/experience.md), [innocence](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/innocence.md)

> Innocence is in many ways ignorance.

[Steven R. Boyett](https://www.leafyquotes.com/steven-r-boyett.md) · [Ariel](https://www.leafyquotes.com/steven-r-boyett/ariel.md) · p. 81 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/steven-r-boyett/ariel/innocence-is-in-many.md)

Topics: [ignorance](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/ignorance.md), [innocence](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/innocence.md)

> It’s hard to recover. You become not so innocent. You become, in a way, more sophisticated, which I think you shouldn’t. We should all have more simple happiness . . . . You become bitter.

[Ai Weiwei](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ai-weiwei.md) · [Ai Weiwei](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ai-weiwei/ai-weiwei.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ai-weiwei/ai-weiwei/its-hard-to-recover.md)

Topics: [happiness](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/happiness.md), [innocence](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/innocence.md)

> “Innocence is more false a god than the ones in our songs,” Venli said, sitting beside her sister. “People who chase it will find themselves enslaved.”

[Brandon Sanderson](https://www.leafyquotes.com/brandon-sanderson.md) · [Rhythm of War](https://www.leafyquotes.com/brandon-sanderson/rhythm-of-war.md) · p. 962 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/brandon-sanderson/rhythm-of-war/innocence-is-more.md)

Topics: [innocence](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/innocence.md)

> Newborns reminded her of tiny Buddhas, faces full of divinity […] That holiness, somehow, disappeared, and Lacy was always left wondering where in this world it might go.

[Jodi Picoult](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jodi-picoult.md) · [Nineteen Minutes](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jodi-picoult/nineteen-minutes.md) · p. 15 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jodi-picoult/nineteen-minutes/newborns-reminded-her.md)

Topics: [children](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/children.md), [innocence](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/innocence.md)

> 'Tis e'er the lot of the innocent in the world to fly to the wolf for succor from the lion.

[John Barth](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-barth.md) · [The Sot-Weed Factor](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-barth/the-sot-weed-factor.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-barth/the-sot-weed-factor/tis-eer-the-lot.md)

Topics: [innocence](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/innocence.md)

> Children know precious little, but that profound ignorance comes from profound innocence. People really mean to say that innocence is bliss. And bliss is short-lived.

[Nick Sagan](https://www.leafyquotes.com/nick-sagan.md) · [Idlewild](https://www.leafyquotes.com/nick-sagan/idlewild.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/nick-sagan/idlewild/children-know-precious.md)

Topics: [childhood](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/childhood.md), [ignorance](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/ignorance.md), [innocence](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/innocence.md)

> He had foreseen every such change in his fortune, ignored it always, and called the refusal innocence.

[Peter S. Beagle](https://www.leafyquotes.com/peter-s-beagle.md) · [A Fine and Private Place](https://www.leafyquotes.com/peter-s-beagle/a-fine-and-private-place.md) · p. 174 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/peter-s-beagle/a-fine-and-private-place/he-had-foreseen.md)

Topics: [innocence](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/innocence.md)

> All newborn lifeforms – babies, puppies, kittens, lambs, and so on... are fragile, delicate, not yet firmly established in materiality. An innocence, a sweetness and beauty that are not of this world still shine through them.

[Eckhart Tolle](https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle.md) · [A New Earth](https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle/a-new-earth.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle/a-new-earth/all-newborn-lifeforms.md)

Topics: [beauty](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/beauty.md), [innocence](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/innocence.md)

> What is our innocence,
>
> what is our guilt? All are
>
> naked, none is safe.

[Marianne Moore](https://www.leafyquotes.com/marianne-moore.md) · [The Poems of Marianne Moore](https://www.leafyquotes.com/marianne-moore/the-poems-of-marianne-moore.md) · p. 237 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/marianne-moore/the-poems-of-marianne-moore/what-is-our.md)

Topics: [guilt](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/guilt.md), [innocence](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/innocence.md)

> Both the Oblation Board and the Specters of Indifference are bewitched by this truth about human beings: that innocence is different from experience. The Oblation Board fears and hates Dust, and the Specters feast on it, but it's Dust both of them are obsessed by.

[Philip Pullman](https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-pullman.md) · [The Subtle Knife: His Dark Materials 2](https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-pullman/the-subtle-knife-his-dark-materials-2.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-pullman/the-subtle-knife-his-dark-materials-2/both-the-oblation.md)

Topics: [experience](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/experience.md), [innocence](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/innocence.md)

> If only his innocence were written on a sheet of paper, he could pull it out and say, ‘Read, it’s all here,’ but since it was hidden in himself they would know it only if they sought it, and they were not seeking.

[Bernard Malamud](https://www.leafyquotes.com/bernard-malamud.md) · [The Fixer](https://www.leafyquotes.com/bernard-malamud/the-fixer.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/bernard-malamud/the-fixer/if-only-his.md)

Topics: [innocence](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/innocence.md)

> Yakov Shepsovitch, what more can I tell you? Take heart in the truth and endure your trials. Sustain yourself in your innocence. (Bibikov)

[Bernard Malamud](https://www.leafyquotes.com/bernard-malamud.md) · [The Fixer](https://www.leafyquotes.com/bernard-malamud/the-fixer.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/bernard-malamud/the-fixer/yakov-shepsovitch-what.md)

Topics: [truth](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/truth.md), [perseverance](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/perseverance.md), [innocence](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/innocence.md)

> Every generation of Americans since has had to reenact the loss of our innocence. Smog over L.A. was the loss of our innocence. Vietnam was the loss of our innocence. Gettysburg was the loss of our innocence. Ingrid Bergman’s baby was the loss of our innocence. Oklahoma City was the loss of our innocence. The World Trade Center was the loss of our innocence. Other nations are cynical. America has preferred the child’s game of “discovering” evil—Europe’s or Asia’s, her grandfather’s, even her own.

[Richard Rodriguez](https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-rodriguez.md) · [Brown](https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-rodriguez/brown.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-rodriguez/brown/every-generation-of-americans.md)

Topics: [America](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/america.md), [innocence](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/innocence.md)

> Thus it comes about that the endeavour of primitive people to make a clean sweep of all their troubles generally takes the form of a grand hunting out and expulsion of devils and ghosts. They think that if they can only shake off these their accursed tormentors, they will make a fresh start in life, happy and innocent; the tales of Eden and the old poetic golden age will come true again.

[James George Frazer](https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-george-frazer.md) · [The Golden Bough](https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-george-frazer/the-golden-bough.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-george-frazer/the-golden-bough/thus-it-comes.md)

Topics: [superstitions](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/superstitions.md), [innocence](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/innocence.md)

> Mud-pies gratify one of our first and best instincts. So long as we are dirty, we are pure.

[Charles Dudley Warner](https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dudley-warner.md) · [My Summer in a Garden](https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dudley-warner/my-summer-in-a-garden.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dudley-warner/my-summer-in-a-garden/mud-pies-gratify-one.md)

Topics: [humor](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor.md), [childhood](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/childhood.md), [innocence](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/innocence.md)

> Innocence. Gone, forever, with the unthinkable and the unspeakable. And innocent laughter gone as well. Now only the dirty giggle, the wicked snigger, the game of out-grossing, the playtime of the beasts.
>
> So that when the real death stalks
>
> When the real horror begins
>
> It will all be familiar and we will be able to enjoy it.

[Sheri S. Tepper](https://www.leafyquotes.com/sheri-s-tepper.md) · [Beauty](https://www.leafyquotes.com/sheri-s-tepper/beauty.md) · p. 400 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/sheri-s-tepper/beauty/innocence-gone-forever.md)

Topics: [innocence](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/innocence.md)

> There is no innocence so deep as to veil the urgencies of the flesh from one’s own youthful awareness.

[Sheri S. Tepper](https://www.leafyquotes.com/sheri-s-tepper.md) · [Beauty](https://www.leafyquotes.com/sheri-s-tepper/beauty.md) · p. 404 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/sheri-s-tepper/beauty/there-is-no-innocence.md)

Topics: [youth](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/youth.md), [innocence](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/innocence.md), [sexual desire](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/sexual-desire.md)

> Then you must teach my daughter this same lesson. How to lose your innocence but not your hope. How to laugh forever.

[Amy Tan](https://www.leafyquotes.com/amy-tan.md) · [The Joy Luck Club](https://www.leafyquotes.com/amy-tan/the-joy-luck-club.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/amy-tan/the-joy-luck-club/then-you-must.md)

Topics: [hope](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/hope.md), [innocence](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/innocence.md), [laughter](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/laughter.md)

> 'Nobody can stay in the garden of Eden,' Jacques said. And then: 'I wonder why.'
>
> I have thought about Jacques' question since. Everyone, after all, goes the same dark road — and the road has a trick of being most dark, most treacherous, when it seems most bright — and it's true that nobody stays in the garden of Eden. Perhaps everybody has a garden of Eden, I don't know; but they have scarcely seen their garden before they see the flaming sword. Then, perhaps, life only offers the choice of remembering the garden or forgetting it. Either, or.

[James Baldwin](https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-baldwin.md) · [Giovanni's Room](https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-baldwin/giovannis-room.md) · p. 22 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-baldwin/giovannis-room/nobody-can-stay.md)

Topics: [innocence](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/innocence.md), [paradise](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/paradise.md)

> Like many old tyrants, I dote upon my grandchildren. I delight in their tantrums, their squealing laughter, their peculiar fancies. I willfully spoil them with honey sticks. And I find myself wondering at their blessed ignorance of the world and its million grinning teeth. Should I, like my grandfather, knock such childishness from them? Or should I indulge their delusions? Even now, as death's shadow pickets gather about me, I ask, Why should innocence answer to the world? Perhaps the world should answer to innocence ...
>
> Yes, I rather like that. I tire of bearing the blame.

[R. Scott Bakker](https://www.leafyquotes.com/r-scott-bakker.md) · [The Warrior-Prophet](https://www.leafyquotes.com/r-scott-bakker/the-warrior-prophet.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/r-scott-bakker/the-warrior-prophet/like-many-old.md)

Topics: [children](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/children.md), [innocence](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/innocence.md)

> How does one learn innocence? How does one teach ignorance? For to be them is to know them not. And yet they are the immovable point from which the compass of life swings, the measure of all crime and compassion, the rule of all wisdom and folly. They are the Absolute.

[R. Scott Bakker](https://www.leafyquotes.com/r-scott-bakker.md) · [The Warrior-Prophet](https://www.leafyquotes.com/r-scott-bakker/the-warrior-prophet.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/r-scott-bakker/the-warrior-prophet/how-does-one.md)

Topics: [innocence](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/innocence.md)

> The most professional curse ever snarled or croaked or thundered can have no effect on a pure heart.

[Peter S. Beagle](https://www.leafyquotes.com/peter-s-beagle.md) · [The Last Unicorn](https://www.leafyquotes.com/peter-s-beagle/the-last-unicorn.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/peter-s-beagle/the-last-unicorn/the-most-professional.md)

Topics: [innocence](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/innocence.md)

> A pure hand needs no glove to cover it.

[Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://www.leafyquotes.com/nathaniel-hawthorne.md) · [The Scarlet Letter](https://www.leafyquotes.com/nathaniel-hawthorne/the-scarlet-letter.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/nathaniel-hawthorne/the-scarlet-letter/a-pure-hand.md)

Topics: [innocence](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/innocence.md), [integrity](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/integrity.md)

> “I was wondering what made a decent English army officer turn into a desperate revolutionist overnight,” I smiled.
>
> “It happens to many like that,” he said. “I have seen them. But you have to show them so much injustice first... Nobody wants to believe that the world is cruel—or that one’s own kind are cruel. Not to know cruelty is to remain innocent, eh? And we should all like to remain innocent. A revolutionist is a man who, perhaps, fails to keep his innocence but so desperately wants it back that he seeks to create a world where all shall be innocent in that way.”

[Michael Moorcock](https://www.leafyquotes.com/michael-moorcock.md) · [The Warlord of the Air](https://www.leafyquotes.com/michael-moorcock/the-warlord-of-the-air.md) · p. 135 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/michael-moorcock/the-warlord-of-the-air/i-was-wondering.md)

Topics: [revolution](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/revolution.md), [innocence](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/innocence.md)

> Her mother’s humpf mixed contempt with frustration. “You just don’t understand anything, do you? We try to bring up our children so that they are protected from the world’s evils, only to find we’ve raised a pack of innocents who seem to be about to stumble into them at every turn just from sheer stupidity!”

[Samuel R. Delany](https://www.leafyquotes.com/samuel-r-delany.md) · [Tales of Neveryon](https://www.leafyquotes.com/samuel-r-delany/tales-of-neveryon.md) · p. 115 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/samuel-r-delany/tales-of-neveryon/her-mothers-humpf.md)

Topics: [children](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/children.md), [upbringing](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/upbringing.md), [innocence](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/innocence.md)

> "I'd rather you shot at tin cans in the back yard, but I know you'll go after birds. Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." That was the only time I ever heard Atticus say it was a sin to do something, and I asked Miss Maudie about it.
>
> “Your father's right," she said. "Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird."

[Harper Lee](https://www.leafyquotes.com/harper-lee.md) · [To Kill a Mockingbird](https://www.leafyquotes.com/harper-lee/to-kill-a-mockingbird.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/harper-lee/to-kill-a-mockingbird/id-rather-you.md)

Topics: [nature](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/nature.md), [innocence](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/innocence.md)

> Where choice begins, Paradise ends, innocence ends, for what is Paradise but the absence of any need to choose this action?

[Arthur Miller](https://www.leafyquotes.com/arthur-miller.md) · [After the Fall](https://www.leafyquotes.com/arthur-miller/after-the-fall.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/arthur-miller/after-the-fall/where-choice-begins.md)

Topics: [free will](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/free-will.md), [innocence](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/innocence.md)

> “In innocence there is no strength against evil,” said Sparrowhawk, a little wryly. “But there is strength in it for good.”

[Ursula K. Le Guin](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ursula-k-le-guin.md) · [The Farthest Shore](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ursula-k-le-guin/the-farthest-shore.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ursula-k-le-guin/the-farthest-shore/in-innocence-there.md)

Topics: [evil](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil.md), [innocence](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/innocence.md)

> There is no aphrodisiac like innocence.

[Jean Baudrillard](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-baudrillard.md) · [Cool Memories](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-baudrillard/cool-memories.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-baudrillard/cool-memories/there-is-no-aphrodisiac.md)

Topics: [innocence](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/innocence.md), [sexual desire](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/sexual-desire.md)

> It is decided as you may have expected; all judges had rather that ten innocent should suffer than that one guilty should escape. But she has confessed.

[Mary Shelley](https://www.leafyquotes.com/mary-shelley.md) · [Frankenstein](https://www.leafyquotes.com/mary-shelley/frankenstein.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/mary-shelley/frankenstein/it-is-decided.md)

Topics: [justice](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/justice.md), [innocence](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/innocence.md)

> His voice rose under the black smoke before the burning wreckage of the island; and infected by that emotion, the other little boys began to shake and sob too. And in the middle of them, with filthy body, matted hair, and unwiped nose, Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man's heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy.

[William Golding](https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-golding.md) · [Lord of the Flies](https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-golding/lord-of-the-flies.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-golding/lord-of-the-flies/his-voice-rose.md)

Topics: [evil](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil.md), [innocence](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/innocence.md)

> The essential self is innocent, and when it tastes its own innocence knows that it lives for ever.

[John Hoyer Updike](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-hoyer-updike.md) · [Self-Consciousness](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-hoyer-updike/self-consciousness.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-hoyer-updike/self-consciousness/the-essential-self.md)

Topics: [immortality](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/immortality.md), [innocence](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/innocence.md)

> "I can give her no greater power than she has already," said the woman; "don't you see how strong that is? How men and animals are obliged to serve her, and how well she has got through the world, barefooted as she is. She cannot receive any power from me greater than she now has, which consists in her own purity and innocence of heart. If she cannot herself obtain access to the Snow Queen, and remove the glass fragments from little Kay, we can do nothing to help her."

[Hans Christian Andersen](https://www.leafyquotes.com/hans-christian-andersen.md) · [Fairy Tales](https://www.leafyquotes.com/hans-christian-andersen/fairy-tales.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/hans-christian-andersen/fairy-tales/i-can-give.md)

Topics: [innocence](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/innocence.md)

> When grown people speak of the innocence of children, they dont really know what they mean. Pressed, they will go a step further and say, Well, ignorance then. The child is neither. There is no crime which a boy of eleven had not envisaged long ago. His only innocence is, he may not be old enough to desire the fruits of it, which is not innocence but appetite; his ignorance is, he does not know how to commit it, which is not ignorance but size. But Boon didn't know this. He must seduce me. And he had so little time: only from the time the train left until dark.

[William Faulkner](https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-faulkner.md) · [The Reivers](https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-faulkner/the-reivers.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-faulkner/the-reivers/when-grown-people.md)

Topics: [children](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/children.md), [innocence](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/innocence.md)

> ... innocence is innocent not because it rejects but because it accepts; is innocent not because it is impervious and invulnerable to everything, but because it is capable of accepting anything and still remaining innocent; innocent because it foreknows all and therefore doesn't have to fear or be afraid.

[William Faulkner](https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-faulkner.md) · [The Town](https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-faulkner/the-town.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-faulkner/the-town/innocence-is-innocent.md)

Topics: [acceptance](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/acceptance.md), [innocence](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/innocence.md)

> Each of us is born with a share of purity, predestined to be corrupted by our commerce with mankind, by that sin against solitude.

[Emil Cioran](https://www.leafyquotes.com/emil-cioran.md) · [A Short History of Decay](https://www.leafyquotes.com/emil-cioran/a-short-history-of-decay.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/emil-cioran/a-short-history-of-decay/each-of-us-is-born.md)

Topics: [loneliness](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/loneliness.md), [innocence](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/innocence.md)

> Modesty only begins with the knowledge of evil; and how should children without this knowledge of evil have the feeling which results from it? To give them lessons in modesty and good conduct is to teach them that there are things shameful and wicked, and to give them a secret wish to know what these things are. Sooner or later they will find out, and the first spark which touches the imagination will certainly hasten the awakening of the senses. Blushes are the sign of guilt; true innocence is ashamed of nothing.

[Jean Jacques Rousseau](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau.md) · [Emile; or On Education](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education/modesty-only-begins.md)

Topics: [shame](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/shame.md), [innocence](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/innocence.md)

> To know how far a happy ignorance may prolong the innocence of children, you must live among rude and simple people. It is a sight both touching and amusing to see both sexes, left to the protection of their own hearts, continuing the sports of childhood in the flower of youth and beauty, showing by their very familiarity the purity of their pleasures. When at length those delightful young people marry, they bestow on each other the first fruits of their person, and are all the dearer therefore. Swarms of strong and healthy children are the pledges of a union which nothing can change, and the fruit of the virtue of their early years.

[Jean Jacques Rousseau](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau.md) · [Emile; or On Education](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education/to-know-how.md)

Topics: [youth](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/youth.md), [innocence](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/innocence.md)

> Although modesty is natural to man, it is not natural to children. Modesty only begins with the knowledge of evil... Blushes are the sign of guilt; true innocence is ashamed of nothing.

[Jean Jacques Rousseau](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau.md) · [Emile; or On Education](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education/although-modesty-is-natural.md)

Topics: [children](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/children.md), [shame](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/shame.md), [innocence](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/innocence.md)

> The sun, which passeth through pollutions and itself remains as pure as before.

[Francis Bacon](https://www.leafyquotes.com/francis-bacon.md) · [The Advancement of Learning](https://www.leafyquotes.com/francis-bacon/the-advancement-of-learning.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/francis-bacon/the-advancement-of-learning/the-sun-which.md)

Topics: [innocence](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/innocence.md), [metaphors](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/metaphors.md)