WIST Quotations

Adams, John -- Letter (1775-10-29) to Abigail Adams

Dave — Wed, 13 Aug 2025 23:03:44 +0000

It should be your care, therefore, and mine, to elevate the minds of our children and exalt their courage; to accelerate and animate their industry and activity; to excite in them an habitual contempt of meanness, abhorrence of injustice and inhumanity, and an ambition to excel in every capacity, faculty, and virtue.

John Adams (1735–1826) American lawyer, Founding Father, statesman, US President (1797–1801)
Letter (1775-10-29) to Abigail Adams
(Source)

Miller, Alice -- For Your Own Good [Am Anfang war Erziehung], “Preface to the American Edition” (1980) [tr. Hannum/Hannum (1983)]

Dave — Wed, 12 Jun 2024 14:20:38 +0000

Someday we will regard our children not as creatures to manipulate or to change but rather as messengers from a world we once deeply knew, but which we have long since forgotten, who can reveal to us more about the true secrets of life, and also our own lives, than our parents were ever able to.

Alice Miller (1923-2010) Polish-Swiss psychologist, psychoanalyst, philosopher
For Your Own Good [Am Anfang war Erziehung], “Preface to the American Edition” (1980) [tr. Hannum/Hannum (1983)]
(Source)

James, P. D. -- Time To Be in Earnest: A Fragment of Autobiography, “Diary 1997” (1999)

Dave — Wed, 03 Apr 2024 14:08:47 +0000

I don’t think he had known much demonstrative love in his childhood and what a child doesn’t receive he can seldom later give.

P. D. James (1920-2014) British mystery writer [Phyllis Dorothy James White]
Time To Be in Earnest: A Fragment of Autobiography, “Diary 1997” (1999)
(Source)

Writing of her father. Often just the last half of this quote is given ("What a child ...").

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: 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.

Haim Ginott (1922-1973) Israeli-American school teacher, child psychologist, psychotherapist [b. Haim Ginzburg]
Between Parent and Child: Revised and Updated Edition, ch. 5 “Discipline” (2003 ed.) [with A. Ginott and H. W. Goddard]
(Source)

Lebowitz, Fran -- Social Studies, “Parental Guidance” (1981)

Dave — Thu, 29 Feb 2024 16:54:23 +0000

Your responsibility as a parent is not as great as you might imagine. You need not supply the world with the next conqueror of disease or major motion-picture star. If your child simply grows up to be someone who does not use the word “collectible” as a noun, you can consider yourself an unqualified success.

Fran Lebowitz (b. 1950) American journalist, essayist
Social Studies, “Parental Guidance” (1981)
(Source)

Hosseini, Khaled -- The Kite Runner, ch. 3 [Rahim Khan] (2003)

Dave — Wed, 21 Feb 2024 15:33:50 +0000

Children aren’t coloring books. You don’t get to fill them with your favorite colors.

Khaled Hosseini (b. 1965) Afghan-American novelist, physician [ خالد حسینی]
The Kite Runner, ch. 3 [Rahim Khan] (2003)
(Source)

Gibran, Kahlil -- “On Children,” The Prophet (1923)

Dave — Wed, 14 Feb 2024 15:18:07 +0000

You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The Archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the Archer’s hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.

Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) Lebanese-American poet, writer, painter [Gibran Khalil Gibran]
“On Children,” The Prophet (1923)
(Source)

Damon, Bertha -- Grandma Called It Carnal (1938)

Dave — Wed, 06 Dec 2023 15:04:32 +0000

Little seedlings never flourish in the soil they have been given, be it ever so excellent, if they are continually pulled up to see if the roots are grateful yet.

Bertha Damon (1881-1975) American humorist, author, lecturer, editor [Bertha Clark Pope Damon]
Grandma Called It Carnal (1938)

Carter, Hodding -- Where Main Street Meets the River, “It’s How We Like It” (1953)

Dave — Wed, 08 Nov 2023 16:39:51 +0000

A wise woman once said to me that there are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children. One of these she said is roots, the other, wings.

Hodding Carter II (1907-1972) American journalist and author [William Hodding Carter II]
Where Main Street Meets the River, “It’s How We Like It” (1953)
(Source)

Almost always quoted without the notes about the "wise woman," e.g.,

There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children: one of these is roots, the other, wings.

Cox, Marcelene -- “Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1946-04)

Dave — Mon, 09 Jan 2023 16:17:59 +0000

The reason some parents really enjoy their children is that they take the time to live with them.

Marcelene Cox (1900-1998) American writer, columnist, aphorist
“Ask Any Woman” column, Ladies’ Home Journal (1946-04)
(Source)

Lebowitz, Fran -- Social Studies, “Parental Guidance” (1981)

Dave — Mon, 22 May 2017 16:08:43 +0000

Your responsibility as a parent is not as great as you might imagine. You need not supply the world with the next conqueror of disease or a major movie star. If your child simply grows up to be someone who does not use the word “collectible” as a noun, you can consider yourself an unqualified success.

Fran Lebowitz (b. 1950) American journalist, essayist
Social Studies, “Parental Guidance” (1981)

La Follette, Suzanne -- (Attributed)

Dave — Mon, 13 Mar 2017 15:28:38 +0000

When one hears the argument that marriage should be indissoluble for the sake of children, one cannot help wondering whether the protagonist is really such a firm friend of childhood.

Suzanne La Follette (1893-1983) American journalist, author, feminist
(Attributed)
(Source)

Temple, William -- The Hope of a New World (1940)

Dave — Wed, 01 Mar 2017 18:12:37 +0000

The most influential of all educational factors is the conversation in a child’s home.

William Temple (1881-1944) English Anglican archbishop, teacher, preacher
The Hope of a New World (1940)

La Follette, Suzanne -- (Attributed)

Dave — Mon, 27 Feb 2017 16:10:57 +0000

Anyone who has not known that inestimable privilege can possibly realize what good fortune it is to grow up in a home where there are grandparents.

Suzanne La Follette (1893-1983) American journalist, author, feminist
(Attributed)

Orwell, George -- “Such, Such Were The Joys…” (1952)

Dave — Wed, 21 Dec 2016 01:21:07 +0000

The weakness of the child is that it starts with a blank sheet. It neither understands nor questions the society in which it lives, and because of its credulity other people can work upon it, infecting it with the sense of inferiority and the dread of offending against mysterious, terrible laws.

George Orwell (1903-1950) English journalist, essayist, writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
“Such, Such Were The Joys…” (1952)

Darrow, Clarence -- (Attributed)

Dave — Wed, 21 Sep 2016 00:13:03 +0000

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

Clarence Darrow (1857-1938) American lawyer
(Attributed)

Ingersoll, Robert Green -- Some Mistakes of Moses, Sec. 18 “Dampness” (1879)

Dave — Tue, 02 Feb 2016 17:21:15 +0000

And why does this same God tell me how to raise my children when he had to drown his?

Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer, freethinker, orator
Some Mistakes of Moses, Sec. 18 “Dampness” (1879)
(Source)

Keillor, Garrison -- The Book of Guys (1993)

Dave — Thu, 15 Jan 2015 13:06:39 +0000

Girls … were allowed to play in the house … and boys were sent outdoors. … Boys ran around in the yard with toy guns going kksshh-kksshh, fighting wars for made-up reasons and arguing about who was dead, while girls stayed inside and played with dolls, creating complex family groups and learning how to solve problems through negotiation and roleplaying. Which gender is better equipped, on the whole, to live an adult life, would you guess?

Garrison Keillor (b. 1942) American entertainer, author
The Book of Guys (1993)

Keillor, Garrison -- Leaving Home? (1987)

Dave — Thu, 16 Oct 2014 12:05:13 +0000

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.

Garrison Keillor (b. 1942) American entertainer, author
Leaving Home? (1987)

Quindlen, Anna -- Article (1991-08-07), “Public & Private: Enough Bookshelves,” New York Times

Dave — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 13:01:35 +0000

If being a parent consists often of passing along chunks of ourselves to unwitting — often unwilling — recipients, then books are, for me, one of the simplest and most sure-fire ways of doing that. I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves.

Anna Quindlen (b. 1953) American journalist, novelist
Article (1991-08-07), “Public & Private: Enough Bookshelves,” New York Times
(Source)

Reprinted in her essay collection Thinking Out Loud (1993).

Stevenson, Robert Louis -- Essay (1881), “Virginibus Puerisque, Part 2”

Dave — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 12:32:54 +0000

Man is a creature who lives not upon bread alone, but principally by catchwords; and the little rift between the sexes is astonishingly widened by simply teaching one set of catchwords to the girls and another to the boys.

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894) Scottish essayist, novelist, poet
Essay (1881), “Virginibus Puerisque, Part 2”
(Source)

Playing off of the Biblical passages Luke 4:4 and Matthew 4:4, in turn from Deuteronomy 8:3.

First published in Virginibus Puerisque and Other Papers, ch. 1, part 2 (1881)

Martin, Judith -- “Miss Manners,” syndicated column (1978-04-23)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

We are all born charming, frank, and spontaneous and must be civilized before we are fit to participate in society.

Judith Martin (b. 1938) American author, journalist, etiquette expert [a.k.a. Miss Manners]
“Miss Manners,” syndicated column (1978-04-23)
(Source)

Reprinted in Miss Manners' Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior, Part 2 "Basic Civilization," "Concerning Children" (1983).