Quote by C.S. Lewis

Critics who treat 'adult' as a term of approval, instead of as a merely descriptive term, cannot be adult themselves. To be concerned about being grown up, to admire the grown up because it is grown up, to blush at the suspicion of being childish; these things are the marks of childhood and adolescence. And in childhood and adolescence they are, in moderation, healthy symptoms. Young things ought to want to grow. But to carry on into middle life or even into early manhood this concern about being adult is a mark of really arrested development. When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.

Summary

This quote by C.S. Lewis explains that individuals who view being an adult as an inherently positive or superior state of being can't truly be considered mature themselves. Preoccupation with being seen as grown up, admiring maturity for its mere existence, and feeling embarrassed by any display of childlike behavior are traits commonly associated with childhood and adolescence. While it is natural and appropriate for young individuals to aspire to grow and mature, carrying this concern into adulthood is indicative of a lack of personal development. Lewis reveals that as he grew older, he embraced his childhood passions openly, shunning the fear of being seen as childish and the need to appear overly mature, thus embracing true adulthood.