Far above the fear of death and disease, comes the fear of standing in front of a crowd. We all want to be movie stars, but are terrified of the spotlight. My first public humiliation came when, as a top-heavy mushroom in the second grade play, I fell off the stage. I hid for weeks.
Kids are more cruel than any other species of animal, since they tell the truth.
Surely I would never be a whole human being again. I might as well have died. Two days later, all of the other kids had forgotten the whole thing. Finally, I had a temper tantrum. It was on stage, in assembly.