Ah! what would the world be to us If the children were no more? We should dread the desert read more

Ah! what would the world be to us If the children were no more? We should dread the desert behind us Worse than the dark before.

It's a sad moment, really, when parents first become a bit frightened of their children.

It's a sad moment, really, when parents first become a bit frightened of their children.

Children begin by loving their parents. After a time they judge them. Rarely, if ever, do they forgive them.

Children begin by loving their parents. After a time they judge them. Rarely, if ever, do they forgive them.

We've had bad luck with our kids--they've all grown up.

We've had bad luck with our kids--they've all grown up.

Parents are often so busy with the physical rearing of children that they miss the glory of parenthood, just as read more

Parents are often so busy with the physical rearing of children that they miss the glory of parenthood, just as the grandeur of the trees is lost when raking leaves.

It's never too late to have a happy childhood.

It's never too late to have a happy childhood.

Cosmic upheaval is not so moving as a little child pondering the death of a sparrow in the corner of read more

Cosmic upheaval is not so moving as a little child pondering the death of a sparrow in the corner of a barn. -Tom Savage.

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.

Young people are fitter to invent than to judge; fitter for execution than for counsel; and more fit for new read more

Young people are fitter to invent than to judge; fitter for execution than for counsel; and more fit for new projects than for settled business.