Benjamin Spock Quotes

Benjamin McLane Spock was an American pediatrician whose book Baby and Child Care is one of the best-selling volumes in history. The book's premise to mothers is that "you know more than you think you do."Spock was the first pediatrician to study psychoanalysis to try to understand children's needs and family dynamics. His ideas about childcare influenced several generations of parents to be more flexible and affectionate with their children, and to treat them as individuals. However, his theories were also widely criticized by colleagues for relying too heavily on anecdotal evidence rather than serious academic research.Spock was an activist in the New Left and anti Vietnam War movements during the 1960s and early 1970s. At the time, his books were criticized for propagating permissiveness and an expectation of instant gratification which allegedly led young people to join these movements—a charge that Spock denied. Spock also won an Olympic gold medal in rowing in 1924 while attending Yale University. Wikipedia  

✵ 2. May 1903 – 15. March 1998
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Benjamin Spock: 19   quotes 1   like

Famous Benjamin Spock Quotes

“Most middle-class whites have no idea what it feels like to be subjected to police who are routinely suspicious, rude, belligerent, and brutal.”

Source: Decent and Indecent: Our Personal and Political Behavior (1970), p. 103

“You know more than you think you do.”

First sentence. This is printed beneath the heading "Trust Yourself" , and thus is often quoted as "Trust yourself. You know more than you think you do. "
Dr. Spock's Baby and Child Care (1945)

“As parents and teachers we need to bring up more of our children with generosity of spirit.”

Source: Decent and Indecent: Our Personal and Political Behavior (1970), p. 132

Benjamin Spock Quotes about children

“The more people have studied different methods of bringing up children the more they have come to the conclusion that what good mothers and fathers instinctively feel like doing for their babies is usually best after all. All parents do their best job when they have a natural, easy confidence in themselves. Better to make a few mistakes from being natural than to try to do everything letter-perfect out of a feeling of worry.”

Ch. 1. http://books.google.com/books?id=AEk0AAAAIAAJ&q=%22The+more+people+have+studied+different+methods+of+bringing+up+children+the+more+they+have+come+to+the+conclusion+that+what+good+mothers+and+fathers+instinctively+feel+like+doing+for+their+babies+is+usually+best+after+all%22&pg=PA4#v=onepage
Dr. Spock's Baby and Child Care (1945)

Benjamin Spock Quotes

“I really learned it all from mothers.”

Time magazine (8 April 1985)

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