Children need guidance and sympathy far more than instruction.
—Anne Sullivan Macy (1866–1936) American Educator
Good breeding differs, if at all, from high breeding only as it gracefully remembers the rights of others, rather than gracefully insists on its own rights.
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Historian, Essayist
Live so that when your children think of fairness and integrity, they think of you.
—H. Jackson Brown, Jr. (1940–2021) American Author of “Life’s Little Instruction Book”
How many hopes and fears, how many ardent wishes and anxious apprehensions are twisted together in the threads that connect the parent with the child!
—Samuel Griswold Goodrich (1793–1860) American Publisher, Writer
I wish either my father or my mother, or indeed both of them, as they were in duty both equally bound to it, had minded what they were about when they begot me.
—Laurence Sterne (1713–68) Irish Anglican Novelist, Clergyman
A wise parent humors the desire for independent action, so as to become the friend and advisor when his absolute rule shall cease.
—Elizabeth Gaskell (1810–65) English Novelist, Short-Story Writer
My parents were neither very poor nor conspicuously honest.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
He that does not bring up his son to some honest calling and employment, brings him up to be a thief.
—Yiddish Proverb
Don’t throw away your friendship with your teenager over behavior that has no great moral significance. There will be plenty of real issues that require you to stand like a rock. Save your big guns for those crucial confrontations.
—James Dobson (1936–2025) American Psychologist, Founder of Focus on the Family
You don’t have to deserve your mother’s love. You have to deserve your father’s. He’s more particular. The father is always a Republican towards his son, and his mother’s always a Democrat.
—Robert Frost (1874–1963) American Poet
In order to influence a child, one must be careful not to be that child’s parent or grandparent.
—Don Marquis (1878–1937) American Humorist, Journalist, Author
The word no carries a lot more meaning when spoken by a parent who also knows how to say yes.
—Joyce Maynard (b.1953) American Novelist, Journalist
The sooner you treat your son as a man, the sooner he will be one.
—John Dryden (1631–1700) English Poet, Literary Critic, Playwright
The joys of parents are secret, and so are their griefs and fears: they cannot utter the one, nor will they utter the other.
—Francis Bacon (1561–1626) English Philosopher
If your children look up to you, you’ve made a success of life’s biggest job.
—Unknown
No matter how calmly you try to referee, parenting will eventually produce bizarre behavior, and I’m not talking about the kids. Their behavior is always normal.
—Bill Cosby (b.1937) American Actor, Comedian, Activist, Producer, Author
To nourish and raise children against odds is in any time, any place, more valuable than to fix bolts in cars or design nuclear weapons.
—Marilyn French (1929–2009) American Feminist Author
I wish all the mothers, fathers and children out there realize how much I need them and how much I value their support.
—Diana, Princess of Wales (1961–97) English Royal, Humanitarian, Peace Activist
Don’t be discouraged if your children reject your advice. Years later they will offer it to their own offspring.
—Unknown
Where parents do too much for their children, the children will not do much for themselves.
—Elbert Hubbard (1856–1915) American Writer, Publisher, Artist, Philosopher
I suffer whenever I see that common sight of a parent or senior imposing his opinion and way of thinking and being on a young soul to which they are totally unfit. Cannot we let people be themselves, and enjoy life in their own way? You are trying to make that man another you. One’s enough.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
You have to love your children unselfishly. That is hard. But it is the only way.
—Barbara Bush (1925–2018) American First Lady
When I was a young man, I didn’t think about having a family. My wife and I were too poor to have babies. Then all of a sudden, one came along and scared the hell out of us because we had no money. Once the baby arrives, you make do somehow. You fall in love with the baby and life adjusts itself. You find you don’t need as much money as you thought. When that happens, you can ask the questions that should have come before the baby.
—Ray Bradbury (b.1920) American Novelist, Short Story Writer
Parenthood remains the greatest single preserve of the amateur.
—Alvin Toffler (1928–2016) American Writer, Futurist, Businessman
Parents are sometimes a bit of a disappointment to their children. They don’t fulfill the promise of their early years.
—Anthony Powell (1905–2000) English Novelist, Memoirist
Parents are the last people on earth who ought to have children.
—Samuel Butler (1835–1902) British Victorian Novelist, Essayist, Critic
I wish you would moderate that fondness you have for your children. I do not mean you should abate any part of your care, or not do your duty to them in its utmost extent, but I would have you early prepare yourself for disappointments, which are heavy in proportion to their being surprising.
—Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (1689–1762) English Aristocrat, Poet, Novelist, Writer
From where can your authority and license as a parent come from, when you who are old, do worse things?
—Juvenal (c.60–c.136 CE) Roman Poet
Parents are usually more careful to bestow knowledge on their children rather than virtue, the art of speaking well rather than doing well; but their manners should be of the greatest concern.
—Buckminster Fuller (1895–1983) American Inventor, Philosopher
It’s frightening to think that you mark your children merely by being yourself. It seems unfair. You can’t assume the responsibility for everything you do—or don’t do.
—Simone de Beauvoir (1908–86) French Philosopher, Writer, Feminist
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