When I was a child, I thought grown-ups and teachers knew the truth, because they told me they did. It took years for me to discover that the first step in finding out the truth is to begin unlearning almost everything adults had taught me, and to start doing all the things they'd told me NOT to do. Their main pitch was that achievement equaled happiness, when all you had to do was study rock stars, or movie stars, or them, to see that they were mostly miserable. They were all running around in mazes like everyone else.

Summary

This quote reflects the disillusionment and personal discovery of the speaker as they transition from childhood to adulthood. As a child, they believed that grown-ups and teachers held all the answers and knew the truth. However, as they matured, they realized that adults were not as knowledgeable as they had believed. The speaker emphasizes the importance of unlearning the teachings of adults and questioning conventional wisdom. They discover that happiness and fulfillment cannot be achieved solely through accomplishment and that even those idolized by society, such as rock stars or movie stars, are often unhappy and lost, just like everyone else.

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