Quotes and Relations

“In order to be mature, one must be able to take credit for their rights and admit their wrongs.”
-Thomas Szasz

-For Sonny, he matures the moment he realizes that a drug addiction is not a way of life. When he takes on a passion for music, he begins to admit his wrongs about his past life. By starting over, Sonny was able to take on a new way of life, where he can “Take credit for [his] rights and admit [his] wrongs."


-Dexter, being the man he is, cannot let go of Judy Jones and is wrapped up in her love even after she left. He is so caught up with thoughts of Judy, that he cannot understand his wrongs and rights, and therefore can not admit to them.


-When King Richard finally begins to listen to his own thoughts and ideas, he is too late. He matures on his deathbed by admitting to his followers that he is just like them. He admits that being a king is not all pride and glory, but a misfortune in ways that only he can understand.

-In Dickinson’s poem “A door just opened,” there is not many mistakes to admit to. This poem represents all the good things in life as Emily walks through the opened door. In the poem, the door closes behind her as if she has made the right decision to pass through to the second stage of life.

Written and edited by Caroline Burlingham

"Age is no guarantee of maturity"
- Lawana Blackwell

-For Sonny, he does not reach his initiation until a good part of his life is behind him. When he finally moves above his addiction, he looks back and sees lost dreams and time wasted in a world of drugs.

- Dexter and Judy are both full grown adults who have still not gone through initiation. Judy lives like a child, continuously hurting the people who care for her. Meanwhile Dexter can't get away from his high school sweetheart, and won't let go of the shining memories of his past.

- Kings spend their whole lives being told what other people think. King Richard was no exception, he was about to die by the time he began to listen to himself and realize his followers are his equals.

- Emily Dickinson's poem, undefined and simple, does not imply any specific age. This poem, and the quote stated above, speak to the fact that initiation and age are separate concepts. Wisdom does not always come with age.

Written collaboratively by Julie Philippe, Caroline Burlingham, and Anna Holt