When I was a kid, my dad and I would watch a TV program called Kids Say the Darndest Things. It was part of the Art Linkletter Show. Linkletter, a Canadian-born comedian, gained a reputation for his uncanny ability to connect with children. He even wrote a book on the topic.
I waited for those episodes: Kids perched on a platform, their legs dangling, while Linkletter stood on the ground with his microphone, looking them in the eye. Then came the questions:
Linkletter: “Why is telling the truth important?”
Child: “Because if you lie, you have to remember the lie, and I can barely remember my homework.”
Linkletter: “What does it mean to be responsible?”
Child: “It’s when you spill something and clean it up before anyone sees it.”
Linkletter: “How do you know someone is your best friend?”
Child: “They give you half their cookie, even the good half with more chocolate chips.”
I remember my dad’s laughter, and the audience in stitches with the replies. But I also remember thinking—why were they doing this? In my estimation, these weren’t just funny quips. They were honest answers. They reflected what I thought, too.
Many decades later, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote a children’s book titled Just Ask: Be Different, Be Brave, Be You. It is built around short, friendly vignettes in which kids introduce themselves, explain something unique about who they are, and then invite the reader to “just ask” if they’re curious. Sotomayor, the first Latina on the Supreme Court, drew on her own experience growing up with Type 1 diabetes to create a book where children speak in their own voices about living with different conditions, abilities, and ways of experiencing the world.
While the questions in her book seem more serious than Linkletter’s, the spirit is the same:
- “What helps you feel strong and ready to play?”
- “Do you have a favorite way to tell a story?”
- “What’s your favorite thing to talk about?”
Both Linkletter’s children and Sotomayor’s young voices show us that kids are not only funny—they are profoundly practical. They cut through the noise and name truths adults often complicate. For them, honesty is about memory, responsibility is about action, and friendship is about sharing the best part of what you have. For Sotomayor’s storytellers, strength, expression, and passion come from lived experience, not abstract ideals.
Lessons for Adults
When we listen to children—really listen—we find not just humor but wisdom:
- Simplicity has power. Children distill complex concepts into plain truths.
- Compassion is natural. Kids instinctively think in terms of fairness, kindness, and inclusion.
- Perspective matters. Every child’s answer widens the lens on what it means to live fully, bravely, and differently.
Perhaps the greatest challenge to adult wisdom is that children remind us we don’t have all the answers. Sometimes the best way to understand responsibility, friendship, or difference is to hear it from a child’s mouth. Their responses are practical, heartfelt, and often more truthful than the carefully constructed answers we give ourselves.
The lesson?
If we slow down and listen deeply to the voices of children, we can stretch the way we perceive the world. We can broaden our perspectives. And maybe, just maybe, we can recover a bit of the honesty, humor, and courage that children so freely offer.
With warm regards,
Marilyn Turkovich
