Children aren’t happy with nothing to ignore, and that’s what parents were created for.
—Ogden Nash (1902–71) American Writer of Sophisticated Light Verse
Every man sees in his relatives, and especially in his cousins, a series of grotesque caricatures of himself.
—H. L. Mencken (1880–1956) American Journalist, Literary Critic
Family quarrels have a total bitterness unmatched by others. Yet it sometimes happens that they also have a kind of tang, a pleasantness beneath the unpleasantness, based on the tacit understanding that this is not for keeps; that any limb you climb out on will still be there later for you to climb back.
—Mignon McLaughlin (1913–83) American Journalist, Author
Govern a great nation as you would cook a small fish.
—Laozi (fl.6th Century BCE) Chinese Philosopher, Sage
The lack of emotional security of our American young people is due, I believe, to their isolation from the larger family unit. No two people—no mere father and mother—as I have often said, are enough to provide emotional security for a child. He needs to feel himself one in a world of kinfolk, persons of variety in age and temperament, and yet allied to himself by an indissoluble bond which he cannot break if he could, for nature has welded him into it before he was born.
—Pearl S. Buck (1892–1973) American Novelist, Human Rights Activist
People who have good relationships at home are more effective in the marketplace.
—Zig Ziglar (1926–2012) American Author
Noble fathers have noble children.
—Euripides (480–406 BCE) Ancient Greek Dramatist
The happiest moments of my life have been the few which I have passed at home in the bosom of my family. public employment contributes neither to advantage nor happiness. It is but honorable exile from one’s family and affairs.
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) American Head of State, Lawyer
The hatred of relatives is the most violent.
—Tacitus (56–117) Roman Orator, Historian
Some people are your relatives but others are your ancestors, and you choose the ones you want to have as ancestors. You create yourself out of those values.
—Ralph Ellison (1914–1994) American Novelist
The great gift of family life is to be intimately acquainted with people you might never even introduce yourself to, had life not done it for you.
—Kendall Hailey (b.1966) American Writer, Enthusiast
If minutes were kept of a family gathering, they would show that “Members not Present” and “Subjects Discussed” were one and the same.
—Robert Brault
Women know
The way to rear up children (to be just)
They know a simple, merry, tender knack
Of tying sashes, fitting baby shoes,
And stringing pretty words that make no sense,
And kissing full sense into empty words.
—Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806–61) English Poet
Any woodsman can tell you that in a broken and sundered nest, one can hardly find more than a precious few whole eggs. So it is with the family.
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) American Head of State, Lawyer
Fathers should be neither seen nor heard. That is the only proper basis for family life.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
Do you want a successful career or a close relationship with your family? Both! Do you want a focus on business or have fun and play? Both! Do you want money or meaning in your life? Both! Do you want to earn a fortune or do the work you love? Both! Poor people always choose one, rich people choose both.
—T. Harv Eker (b.1954) American Motivational Speaker, Lecturer, Author
If the family were a fruit, it would be an orange, a circle of sections, held together but separable – each segment distinct.
—Letty Cottin Pogrebin (b.1939) American Social Activist, Journalist
The worst misfortune that can happen to an ordinary man is to have an extraordinary father.
—Austin O’Malley (1858–1932) American Aphorist, Ophthalmologist
Few misfortunes can befall a boy which bring worse consequences than to have a really affectionate mother.
—W. Somerset Maugham (1874–1965) British Novelist, Short-Story Writer, Playwright
Oh my son’s my son till he gets him a wife, but my daughter’s my daughter all her life.
—Dinah Craik (1826–87) British Novelist, Essayist, Poet
If the relationship of father to son could really be reduced to biology, the whole earth would blaze with the glory of fathers and sons.
—James Baldwin (1924–87) American Novelist, Social Critic
Human beings are the only creatures on earth that allow their children to come back home.
—Bill Cosby (b.1937) American Actor, Comedian, Activist, Producer, Author
Blood’s thicker than water, and when one’s in trouble
Best to seek out a relative’s open arms.
—Unknown
Absence is one of the most useful ingredients of family life, and to dose it rightly is an art like any other.
—Freya Stark (1893–1993) British Explorer, Writer
He that loves not his wife and children feeds a lioness at home, and broods a nest of sorrows.
—Jeremy Taylor
Are you willing to work sixteen hours a day? Rich people are. Are you willing to work seven days a week and five up most of your weekends? Rich people are. Are you willing to sacrifice seeing your family, your friends, and give up your recreations and hobbies? Rich people are. Are you willing to risk all your time, energy and start-up capital with no guarantee of returns? Rich people are.
—T. Harv Eker (b.1954) American Motivational Speaker, Lecturer, Author
Cautiously avoid speaking of the domestic affairs either of yourself, or of other people. Yours are nothing to them but tedious gossip; and theirs are nothing to you.
—Earl of Chesterfield (1694–1773) English Statesman, Man of Letters
Breed is stronger than pasture.
—George Eliot (Mary Anne Evans) (1819–80) English Novelist
Every man who is high up loves to think that he has done it all himself; and the wife smiles, and lets it go at that.
—J. M. Barrie (1860–1937) Scottish Novelist, Dramatist
Families are nothing other than the idolatry of duty.
—Ann Oakley (b.1944) English Sociologist, Writer, Feminist
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