Selected children quotes

1. Who ran to help me when I fell, And would some pretty story tell, Or kiss the place to make it well? My mother.

2. Every minute with a child takes seven minutes off your life.

3. In automobile terms, the child supplies the power but the parents have to do the steering.

4. Every child senses, with all the horse sense that's in him, that any parent is angry inside when children misbehave and they dread more the anger that is rarely or never expressed openly, wondering how awful it might be.

5. I wanted to be supportive of parents rather than to scold them. The book set out very deliberately to counteract some of the rigidities of pediatric tradition, particularly in infant feeding. It emphasized the importance of great differences between individual babies, of the need for flexibility and of the lack of necessity to worry constantly about spoiling.

6. If I could make only one wish for a child, I'd wish him the quality of lovingness.

7. We have preachers and savants who dilate endlessly on the sanctity of family and childhood but who tolerate a system in which a casual observer can correlate a child's social origin with its physical well-being.

8. Just think of the tragedy of teaching children not to doubt.

9. The first half of our lives are ruined by our parents and the second half by our children.

10. If your little savage were left to himself and be allowed to retain all his ignorance, he would in time join the infant's reasoning to the grown man's passion, he would strangle his father and sleep with his mother.

11. The greatest gifts you can give your children are the roots of responsibility and the wings of independence.

12. This type of man who is devoted to the study of wisdom is always most unlucky in everything, and particularly when it comes to procreating children; I imagine this is because Nature wants to ensure that the evils of wisdom shall not spread further throughout mankind.

13. In order to influence a child, one must be careful not to be that child's parent or grandparent.

14. Children have very sharp powers of observation - probably sharper than adults - yet at the same time their emotional reactions are murky and much more primitive.

15. I think it's hard to write about children and to have an idea of innocence.

16. Children are game for anything. I throw them hard words, and they backhand them over the net. They love words that give them a hard time, provided they are in a context that absorbs their attention.

17. It takes three to make a child.

18. In these days, it is doubtful that any child may reasonably be expected to succeed in life if he is denied the opportunity of an education.

19. My unhealthy affection for my second daughter has waned. Now I despise all my seven children equally.

20. We say that a girl with her doll anticipates the mother. It is more true, perhaps, that most mothers are still but children with playthings.

21. I never met anyone who didn't have a very smart child. What happens to these children, you wonder, when they reach adulthood?

22. Do not elicit your child's political opinions. He doesn't know any more than you do.

23. Children do not really need money. After all, they don't have to pay rent or send mailgrams.

24. Nothing you do for children is ever wasted. They seem not to notice us, hovering, averting our eyes, and they seldom offer thanks, but what we do for them is never wasted.

25. Selective ignorance, a cornerstone of child rearing. You don't put kids under surveillance: it might frighten you. Parents should sit tall in the saddle and look upon their troops with a noble and benevolent and extremely nearsighted gaze.

26. 'T was good advice, and meant, my son, Be good.

27. I thought it would be lovely to use [pet bulldog] Noelle as an example to teach the importance of being who you are. For me it's important to inspire children in a positive way, and at times they understand more messages through entertainment than when one is talking to them directly.

28. [As of November 17, 2006] 'Noelle's Treasure Tale' has remained at No. 3 on the New York Times children's best seller list since its October 10 release.

29. She [then nine-year-old daughter Emily] grew up with 'The Rhythm is Gonna Get You,' Well . . . It got her!

30. I majored in Psychology in college. I was going to be a child psychologist.

31. [My first children's book] is very subliminal, let's put it that way. It even has a bit of a metaphysical little message in there [about how] we're all somehow connected and we all have a responsibility toward each other. Although you may feel alone in the world, you definitely are not.

32. Toys are not a need people typically think of, but they've got all these kids who have absolutely nothing to do.

33. Treat a child as though he already is the person he's capable of becoming.

34. Why did the little girls grow crippled While the little boys grow strong The boys allowed to come of age The girls just came along The girls were told sing harmonies The boys could all sing songs That's why little girls grew crippled While little boys grew strong.

35. Why were the little girls all frightened To be just what they are The boys were told to ask themselves How high how far The girls were told to reach the shelves While the boys were reaching stars That's why little girls were frightened To be just what they are.

36. The thing I enjoyed most were visits from children. They did not want public office.

37. Children are our most valuable natural resource.

38. To bear many children is considered not only a religious blessing but also an investment. The greater their number, some Indians reason, the more alms they can beg.

39. We write not only for children but also for their parents. They, too, are serious children.

40. With all the efforts made by modern society to nurture and educate the young, how stupid it is to permit the mothers of young children to spend themselves in the coarser work of the world!

41. One year has passed since she was born. She can barely stand now. And Aryan is learning how to get along with his little sister. We decided to have them share the same room so that they could bond. Gauri makes them eat together too. Of course it's very difficult to get Aryan/ Superman/ Batman/ Spiderman to sit in one place long enough to eat a meal but Suhana is so well behaved. She just smiles quietly at the world. She's very loving, even towards complete strangers.

42. But of course, Aryan, like all children, hates having to share the spotlight. He's very proud of the fact that Suhana is not allowed to play in the garden (because she's too small and delicate). And if you come home, he'll tell you proudly how Suhana keeps crying, unlike Aryan, who's a big strong man!

43. So one whole year has passed since she was born. She is growing more beautiful as each day passes. She has wonderful large eyes and an adorable, sweet smile. People say her hair is like mine. People say she's as beautiful as her mother. I think she's taken after an angel.

44. I know I was horrible at times, I was. I really kept a tight rein on, I had to. I felt fine about Sharon being a star, as long as I was close by. You cannot protect your kids, you just can't. There are twenty-four hours in a day.

45. Do not allow children to mix your martini. It is unseemly and they use too much vermouth.

46. Snow-Balls have flown their Arcs, starr'd the Sides of Outbuildings, as of Cousins, carried Hats away into the brisk Wind off Delaware,- the Sleds are brought in and their Runners carefully dried and greased, shoes deposited in the back Hall, a stocking'd foot Descent made upon the great Kitchen, in a purposeful Dither since Morning, punctuated by the ringing Lids of various Boilers and Stewing-Pots, fragrant with Pie-Spices, peel'd Fruits, Suet, heated Sugar,- the Children, having all upon the Fly, among rhythmic slaps of Batter and Spoon, coax'd and stolen what they might, proceed, as upon each afternoon all this snowy Advent, to a comfortable Room at the rear of the House, years since given over to their carefree Assaults.

47. You grew up, we grew up B.C. Before crack. That's just saying it all. You understand? You don't have parents... You have young kids, fourteen, coming home and their mama is smoking out, going to their best friend to get the product.

48. It's not just about you taking care of your child. It's about you taking care of these children.

49. Look how your children grow up. Taught from their earliest infancy to curb their love natures - restrained at every turn! Your blasting lies would even blacken a child's kiss. Little girls must not be tomboyish, must not go barefoot, must not climb trees, must not learn to swim, must not do anything they desire to do which Madame Grundy has decreed 'improper.' Little boys are laughed at as effeminate, silly girl-boys if they want to make patchwork or play with a doll. Then when they grow up, 'Oh! Men dont care for home or children as women do!' Why should they, when the deliberate effort of your life has been to crush that nature out of them. 'Women can't rough it like men.' Train any animal, or any plant, as you train your girls, and it wont be able to rough it either.

50. Here you have some razor blades. And now, play with them!

51. A dead shepherd brought tremendous chords from hell And bad the sheep carouse. Or so they said. Children in love with them brought early flowers And scattered them about, no two alike.

52. Inside every sophisticated grownup adult is a little kid just dying to get out.

53. It is useless to try to adjudicate a long-standing animosity by asking who started it or who is the most wrong. The only sufficient answer is to give up the animosity and try forgiveness, to try to love our enemies and to talk to them and (if we pray) to pray for them. If we can't do any of that, then we must begin again by trying to imagine our enemies' children who, like our children, are in mortal danger because of enmity that they did not cause.

54. Single-parent families, family break-ups in the black community are problematic because of the impact on children, and that's the main thing. Single-parent families, female-headed families are overwhelmingly impoverished families.

55. Children had rather be making of Tools and Instruments of Play; Shaping, Drawing, Framing, and Building, &c. than getting some Rules of Propriety of Speech by Heart: And those also would follow with more Judgment, and less Trouble and Time. (8)

56. A little bench of heedless bishops here, And there a chancellor in embryo.

57. Thou liest in Abraham's bosom all the year; And worship'st at the Temple's inner shrine, God being with thee when we know it not.

58. She quarreled with the nanny and accused her of brushing Misha's teeth sideways rather than up and down.

59. 'Hello boys don't do that you break-a the window. Motherfucker!' (from 'Bad Tomatoes')

60. It seemed as if she had given these treasures and left him alone - to use them or lose them, apply them or misapply them, according to his own choice. That is all we can do with children, when they grow into big children, old enough to distinguish between right and wrong, and too old to be forced to do either. ~ Ch 7

61. We can touch so many more children with this new policy.January 11, 2004

62. The essential rectitude of our view of children lies in the fact that we feel them and their ways to be supernatural while, for some mysterious reason, we do not feel ourselves or our own ways to be supernatural. The very smallness of children makes it possible to regard them as marvels; we seem to be dealing with a new race, only to be seen through a microscope. I doubt if anyone of any tenderness or imagination can see the hand of a child and not be a little frightened of it. It is awful to think of the essential human energy moving so tiny a thing; it is like imagining that human nature could live in the wing of a butterfly or the leaf of a tree. When we look upon lives so human and yet so small, we feel as if we ourselves were enlarged to an embarrassing bigness of stature. We feel the same kind of obligation to these creatures that a deity might feel if he had created something that he could not understand.

63. who'll save the poor little girl? oh, Henry... who'll tell the story of her? Henry Darger

64. So he wasn't like the adults who always believed lies as long as they made her seem to be the child they wanted her to be

65. Children are resilient. No matter how they are battered, they have a way of thriving

66. All children are manipulators

67. Jane and Michael sat at the window watching for Mr. Banks to come home, and listening to the sound of the East Wind blowing through the naked branches of the cherry-trees in the Lane. The trees themselves, turning and bending in the half light, looked as though they had gone mad and were dancing their roots out of the ground. 'There he is!' said Michael, pointing suddenly to a shape that banged heavily against the gate. Jane peered through the gathering darkness. 'That's not Daddy,' she said. 'It's somebody else.' Then the shape, tossed and bent under the wind, lifted the latch of the gate, and they could see that it belonged to a woman, who was holding her hat on with one hand and carrying a bag in the other. As they watched, Jane and Michael saw a curious thing happen. As soon as the shape was inside the gate the wind seemed to catch her up into the air and fling her at the house. It was as though it had flung her first at the gate, waited for her to open it, and then had lifted and thrown her, bag and all, at the front door. The watching children heard a terrific bang, and as she landed the whole house shook. 'How funny! I've never seen that happen before,' said Michael.

68. A baby is shown sitting on the floor. He appears to be about a year and a half old. Incidentally, he is a very plain baby. Strewn about him on the floor are the toys that he has been playing with. There are a ball, a rattle, a ring, a doll, a bell and a pair of roller-skates. Evidently, the candidate is supposed to be aghast at the roller-skates in the possession of such a small child. The man who drew that picture had evidently never furnished playthings for a small child. I can imagine nothing that would delight a child of a year and a half more than a pair of roller-skates to chew and spin and hit himself in the face with. They could also be dropped on Daddy when Daddy was lying on the floor in an attempt to be sociable. Of all the toys arranged before the child, the roller-skates are the most logical. ... That is my great trouble in taking tests and examinations of any kind. I always want to argue with the examiner, because the examiner is always so obviously wrong.

69. The movie stars six teenage characters who have been marketed on TV and in toy stores. They have names, but no discernible personalities. None of them ever says anything more interesting than 'You guys!' As teenagers, they are skilled in-line skaters and karate fighters, but they don't get their real powers until they turn into faceless clones in Power Rangers uniforms with plastic masks and helmets. Is that the message? Faceless conformity is the way to success? Certainly the Rangers are not individuals in or out of uniform, but I wonder if they don't represent a triumph of merchandising over creativity. Children's heroes have traditionally been individualistic and eccentric. The Rangers are not, properly speaking, even characters. They are color-coded products...Paging through the movie's press kit, I came across this quote attributed to Amy Jo Johnson, who plays Kimberly, the Pink Power Ranger: ' `Mighty Morphin Power RangersT: The Movie' is a mix between Star Wars and The Wizard of Oz. ' I wonder if Amy Jo actually said 'TM' when she was delivering that wonderfully fresh and spontaneous quote, which is so much more involved than anything she says in the movie. More to the point, I wonder if she has ever seen 'Star Wars' or 'The Wizard of Oz.'

70. About son Aryan: We just named him Aryan. I don't know. I just liked the sound of the name. I thought when he tells a girl ki my name is Aryan. Aryan Khan, she'll be really impressed. His looks have come from both of us. Actually Gauri and I have similar features -- both of us have big eyes and thick lips. I don't know... He's got expressions like mine, I think... But he's a mixture. And no, I haven't changed any diapers! ( Laughs ) - Shah Rukh

71. 'I've collected a lot of balls for him and he loves playing with them. Aryan also loves dancing to my songs. We have pillow fights and love jumping on the bed. We quite demented when we are together.' - Shahrukh

72. Aryan is two-and-a-half today... He looks exactly like me but he acts and behaves just like Shahrukh. He is very bright and naughty. Shahrukh makes it a point to pick him up from his play school at least once a week. - Gauri

73. 'He's a fabulous father', agreed Karan. 'You can see from the reaction of his child what a great father he is. It's the world on one side and his father on the other. His father means the world to Aryan.' - Karan Johar

74. He is completely obsessed with his father because for one, he sees less of him and secondly, Shahrukh is full of energy which I'm not. He can talk, dance and play with him endlessly. Aryan cannot sleep without him. Shahrukh has to spend two hours with him every night. - Gauri

75. Initially, I was scared to pick Suhana in my arms. She was so fragile, unlike Aryan. I could toss up Aryan and play rough with him but Suhana was different, she's a lady. Very quiet and loving, but I have a feeling she'll grow up to be very naughty. - Shahrukh

76. 'His son thinks that his father is a superman, But you can't blame the kid. The moment he switches on the TV he sees his father, when he travels to school, he sees banners of his father's films along the roads, and whenever his fathers alights people go hysterically, 'Shah Rukh, Shah Rukh!'' - Shashilal Nair

77. When I see Aryan and Suhana, I see purity and spontaneity. Untouched by commerce, untainted by envy even as an actor, I grow simply by watching them. The truth is that I dont want to be this famous but absentee father. I want my children to flower under my care. - Shahrukh

78. The children look like Gauri, but Thank God they have my brains! - Shahrukh

79. Give the crack to the kids who the hell cares/one less hungry mouth on the welfare

80. I beg God, to make a way for our ghetto kids to breathe/Show a sign, make us all believe

81. And now my son's getten older and older and cold/From havin the world on his shoulders

82. Maybe, even your babies can produce and rise/Picture a life where black babies can survive past five

83. Welcome to the View child

84. [about his daughter] I'd rather she grew up here than grew up as an orphan,

85. A baby is an inestimable blessing and bother.

86. Familiarity breeds contempt - and children.

87. Phil, children are getting chopped uuuuup.

88. (about Walter Bellhaven) He was a walking monster of-- he was a miracle of modern monstrosity. What he did to an entire orphanage of children shouldn't even be repeated.

89. To show a child what once delighted you, to find the child's delight added to your own - this is happiness.

90. Keep me away from the wisdom which does not cry, the philosophy which does not laugh and the greatness which does not bow before children.

91. Children are ambassadors from another dimension and should be treated with diplomatic courtesy.

92. Something about the fact that I made some contribution to either my country, or those who were less well off. I think back to what Camus wrote about the fact that perhaps this world is a world in which children suffer, but we can lessen the number of suffering children, and if you do not do this, then who will do this? I'd like to feel that I'd done something to lessen that suffering.

93. Each generation makes its own accounting to its children.

94. That which unites us is, must be, stronger than that which divides us. We can concentrate on what unites us, and secure the future for all our children; or we can concentrate on what divides us, and fail our duty through argument and resentment and waste.

95. Adults [are] so strange

96. Der Umgang mit Kindern hat fur einen verstandigen Menschen unendlich viel Interesse. Hier sieht er das Buch der Natur in unverfalschter Ausgabe aufgeschlagen.'

97. Uber viele Dinge urteilen Kinder, von Systemgeist, Leidenschaft und Gelehrsamkeit unverfuhrt, weit richtiger als Erwachsene.

98. 'But I can't devote myself entirely to a child,' said she; 'it may die - which is not at all improbable.' 'But, with care, many a delicate infant has become a strong man or woman.' 'But it may grow so intolerably like its father that I shall hate it.' 'That is not likely; it is a little girl, and strongly resembles its mother.'

99. I believe that in the course of the next century [as dated from June 13, 1944] the notion that it's a woman's duty to have children will change and make way for the respect and admiration of all women, who bear their burdens without complaint or a lot of pompous words!

100. I would defend the liberty of consenting adult creationists to practice whatever intellectual perversions they like in the privacy of their own homes; but it is also necessary to protect the young and innocent.