WIST Quotations

Ginott, Haim -- (Attributed)

Dave — Fri, 23 Aug 2024 00:17:13 +0000

Parents often talk about the younger generation as if they didn’t have anything to do with it.

Haim Ginott (1922-1973) Israeli-American school teacher, child psychologist, psychotherapist [b. Haim Ginzburg]
(Attributed)

Widely attributed to Ginott, but I cannot find it in his printed works or any primary citation.

Ginott, Haim -- Between Parent and Child: Revised and Updated Edition, ch. 5 “Discipline” (2003 ed.) [with A. Ginott and H. W. Goddard]

Dave — Thu, 14 Mar 2024 21:22:48 +0000

Misbehavior and punishment are not opposites that cancel each other; on the contrary, they breed and reinforce each other. Punishment does not deter misconduct. It makes the offender more skillful in escaping detection. When children are punished they resolve to be more careful, not more obedient or responsible.

Ginott, Haim -- Between Parent and Child: Revised and Updated Edition, ch. 10 “Summing Up” (2003 ed.) [with A. Ginott and H. W. Goddard]

Dave — Wed, 10 Jan 2024 18:41:07 +0000

Children learn what they experience. They are like wet cement. Any word that falls on them makes an impact.

Haim Ginott (1922-1973) Israeli-American school teacher, child psychologist, psychotherapist [b. Haim Ginzburg]
Between Parent and Child: Revised and Updated Edition, ch. 10 “Summing Up” (2003 ed.) [with A. Ginott and H. W. Goddard]
(Source)

Frequently paraphrased (e.g.) as "Children are like wet cement. Whatever falls on them makes an impression."

This is usually cited as being from the original 1965 edition of the book, but cannot be found there. Instead, it appears to be from the 2003 edition, as revised and updated by his wife, Dr Alice Ginott, and Dr H Wallace Goddard. It is unclear if Haim Ginott may have used this phrase in other contexts.

Ginott, Haim -- Between Parent and Child, ch. 4 “Responsibility and Independence” (1965)

Dave — Thu, 15 Aug 2024 22:37:43 +0000

The plain fact is that responsibility cannot be imposed. It can only grow from within, fed and directed by values absorbed at home and in the community. Responsibility that is not anchored in positive values can be antisocial and destructive. Hoodlums often show great loyalty and strong responsibility in relation to one another and to their gang. Members of the Mafia, for instance, take their duties in dead earnest; they carry out commands, give legal aid to needy associates, and take care of prisoners’ families.

Haim Ginott (1922-1973) Israeli-American school teacher, child psychologist, psychotherapist [b. Haim Ginzburg]
Between Parent and Child, ch. 4 “Responsibility and Independence” (1965)
(Source)

In the updated version of the book, Between Parent and Child: Revised and Updated Edition, ch. 4 "Responsibility" (2003 ed.) [with A. Ginott and H. W. Goddard], this paragraph was revised as follows:

The plain fact is that responsibility cannot be imposed. It can only grow from within, fed and directed by values absorbed at home and in the community. Responsibility that is not anchored in positive values can be antisocial and destructive. Gang members often show great loyalty and strong responsibility in relation to one another and to their gang. Terrorists take their duties in dead earnest; they carry out commands, even if they involve sacrificing their own lives.

Ginott, Haim -- Between Parent and Child, ch. 10 “Summing Up” (2003 ed.) [with A. Ginott and H. W. Goddard]

Dave — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 21:56:53 +0000

What is the goal of parenting? It’s to help a child grow up to be a decent human being, a mensch, a person with compassion, commitment, and caring.

Haim Ginott (1922-1973) Israeli-American school teacher, child psychologist, psychotherapist [b. Haim Ginzburg]
Between Parent and Child, ch. 10 “Summing Up” (2003 ed.) [with A. Ginott and H. W. Goddard]
(Source)

Ginott, Haim -- Between Parent and Child, Introduction (2003 ed.) [with A. Ginott and H. W. Goddard]

Dave — Thu, 04 Apr 2024 20:22:53 +0000

Like a trained surgeon who is careful where he cuts, parents, too, need to become skilled in the use of words. Because words are like knives. They can inflict, if not physical, many painful emotional wounds.

Haim Ginott (1922-1973) Israeli-American school teacher, child psychologist, psychotherapist [b. Haim Ginzburg]
Between Parent and Child, Introduction (2003 ed.) [with A. Ginott and H. W. Goddard]
(Source)

See Howell (1659).

Ginott, Haim -- Between Parent and Teenager, ch. 2 “Rebellion and Response” (1969)

Dave — Thu, 07 Mar 2024 19:37:08 +0000

The search for a personal identity is the life task of a teenager.

Haim Ginott (1922-1973) Israeli-American school teacher, child psychologist, psychotherapist [b. Haim Ginzburg]
Between Parent and Teenager, ch. 2 “Rebellion and Response” (1969)
(Source)

Ginott, Haim -- Between Parent and Teenager, ch. 2 “Rebellion and Response” (1969)

Dave — Fri, 19 Jan 2024 00:48:49 +0000

A bitter-tongued parent cannot teach respect for facts. Truth for its own sake can be a deadly weapon in family relations. Truth without compassion can destroy love. Some parents try too hard to prove exactly how, where and why they have been right. This approach will bring bitterness and disappointment. When attitudes are hostile, facts are unconvincing.

Haim Ginott (1922-1973) Israeli-American school teacher, child psychologist, psychotherapist [b. Haim Ginzburg]
Between Parent and Teenager, ch. 2 “Rebellion and Response” (1969)
(Source)

Sometimes mis-cited to the earlier Between Parent and Child (1965).

Ginott, Haim -- Between Parent and Teenager, ch. 2 “Rebellion and Response” (1969)

Dave — Fri, 09 Aug 2024 14:07:46 +0000

Many teenagers are tormented by terrors they deem private and personal. They do not know that their anxieties and doubts are universal.

Haim Ginott (1922-1973) Israeli-American school teacher, child psychologist, psychotherapist [b. Haim Ginzburg]
Between Parent and Teenager, ch. 2 “Rebellion and Response” (1969)
(Source)

Ginott, Haim -- Teacher and Child, ch. 4 “Congruent Communication” (1972)

Dave — Thu, 22 Feb 2024 23:29:37 +0000

Only if a child feels right can he think right.

Haim Ginott (1922-1973) Israeli-American school teacher, child psychologist, psychotherapist [b. Haim Ginzburg]
Teacher and Child, ch. 4 “Congruent Communication” (1972)
(Source)

Ginott, Haim -- Teacher and Child, Preface (1972)

Dave — Fri, 09 Feb 2024 00:52:58 +0000

I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child’s life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated, a child humanized or de-humanized.

Haim Ginott (1922-1973) Israeli-American school teacher, child psychologist, psychotherapist [b. Haim Ginzburg]
Teacher and Child, Preface (1972)
(Source)

Quoting his writing as a young teacher.

Ginott, Haim -- Teacher and Child, Preface (1972)

Dave — Fri, 16 Feb 2024 00:57:12 +0000

Teachers are expected to reach unattainable goals with inadequate tools. The miracle is that at times they accomplish this impossible task.

Haim Ginott (1922-1973) Israeli-American school teacher, child psychologist, psychotherapist [b. Haim Ginzburg]
Teacher and Child, Preface (1972)
(Source)