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About this quote

What does it mean?
In societies focused on pleasure and independence, family life suffers when individuals prioritize self-interest over connection.
In plain terms
Selfishness harms families when people value comfort over caring for others.
What can you take from it?
Prioritize connection over self-interest to protect family bonds.

Where it applies

  • modern family dynamics
  • consumer culture
  • relationship counseling

Putting it to work

  • practice active listening
  • schedule family time
  • limit individual distractions

Questions to consider

  • How do you balance personal comfort with family needs?
  • What does selflessness look like in your household?

Another view

External societal pressures are not the sole cause of family breakdown.

More from John Paul II (Pope)

  1. The fear of making permanent commitments can change the mutual love of husband and wife into two loves of self-two loves existing side by side, until they end …

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  2. The cemetery of the victims of human cruelty in our century is extended to include yet another vast cemetery, that of the unborn.

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  3. To maintain a joyful family requires much from both the parents and the children. Each member of the family has to become, in a special way, the servant of the…

    Permalink to quote #49

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