It might sound a paradoxical thing to say --for surely never has a generation of children occupied more sheer hours read more

It might sound a paradoxical thing to say --for surely never has a generation of children occupied more sheer hours of parental time --but the truth is that we neglected you. We allowed you a charade of trivial freedoms in order to avoid making those impositions on you that are in the end both the training ground and proving ground for true independence. We pronounced you strong when you were still weak in order to avoid the struggles with you that would have fed your true strength. We proclaimed you sound when you were foolish in order to avoid taking part in the long, slow, slogging effort that is the only route to genuine maturity of mind and feeling. Thus, it was no small anomaly of your growing up that while you were the most indulged generation, you were also in many ways the most abandoned to your own meager devices by those into whose safe-keeping you had been given.

The child is father of the man.

The child is father of the man.

Children in a family are like flowers in a bouquet: there's always one determined to face in an opposite direction read more

Children in a family are like flowers in a bouquet: there's always one determined to face in an opposite direction from the way the arranger desires.

It is a wise father that knows his own child.

It is a wise father that knows his own child.

The best way to make children good is to make them happy.

The best way to make children good is to make them happy.

It is a wise child that knows his own father.

It is a wise child that knows his own father.

I like trying [to get pregnant]. I'm not so sure about childbirth.

I like trying [to get pregnant]. I'm not so sure about childbirth.

My mother loved children--she would have given anything if I had been one.

My mother loved children--she would have given anything if I had been one.

The most important thing that parents can teach their children is how to get along without them.

The most important thing that parents can teach their children is how to get along without them.