Quotes about children
page 32

Gloria Estefan photo
Matilda Joslyn Gage photo
Claude Lévi-Strauss photo

“The entire village left the next day in about thirty canoes, leaving us alone with the women and children in the abandoned houses. [Le village entier partit le lendemain dans une trentaine de pirogues, nous laissant seuls avec les femmes et les enfants dans les maisons abandonnées.]”

Claude Lévi-Strauss (1908–2009) French anthropologist and ethnologist

Notes in an early work, often cited as an extreme example of androcentrism, even among leading anthropologists, " Contribution à l'étude de l'organisation sociale des Indiens Bororo http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/jsa_0037-9174_1936_num_28_2_1942?_Prescripts_Search_tabs1=standard&" (1936) p. 283

Jeremy Clarkson photo
Willa Cather photo
Gloria Estefan photo
Alfred de Zayas photo
Margaret Mead photo

“If we are to give our utmost effort and skill and enthusiasm, we must believe in ourselves, which means believing in our past and in our future, in our parents and in our children, in that particular blend of moral purpose and practical inventiveness which is the American character.”

Margaret Mead (1901–1978) American anthropologist

Source: 1940s, And Keep Your Powder Dry: An Anthropologist Looks at America (1942), p. 234—235; cited in Portraits Of Industry (2004) by Lorie A. Annarella, p. 5

David Berg photo
James K. Morrow photo
W.E.B. Du Bois photo

“The right to have children should be a marketable commodity, bought and traded by individuals but absolutely limited by the state.”

Kenneth E. Boulding (1910–1993) British-American economist

Kenneth Boulding, quoted in Dixy Lee Ray (1990). "Trashing the Planet", p. 168. Regnery Publishing, Inc. ISBN 978-0895265449.
1990s and attributed

Thomas Jefferson photo

“If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and the corporations which grow up around them will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.”

Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) 3rd President of the United States of America

Respectfully Quoted says this is "obviously spurious", noting that the OED's earliest citation for the word "deflation" is from 1920. The earliest known appearance of this quote is from 1935 (Testimony of Charles C. Mayer, Hearings Before the Committee on Banking and Currency, House of Representatives, Seventy-fourth Congress, First Session, on H.R. 5357, p. 799)
Misattributed

George Bernard Shaw photo

“The best brought-up children are those who have seen their parents as they are. Hypocrisy is not the parent's first duty.”

George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish playwright

#33
1900s, Maxims for Revolutionists (1903)

Judith Martin photo
Alice A. Bailey photo
Dana Gioia photo
Noam Elkies photo

“One does not have to have experience raising children through school, dealing with family tragedies, and so forth, to be able to find three numbers whose fourth powers add up to another one.”

Noam Elkies (1966) American mathematician

Are Mathematicians Past Their Prime at 35? http://www.massey.ac.nz/~rmclachl/overthehill.html

Ron Reagan photo

“In private, you got what you got in public. He treated everyone the same. He was just a very warm man, and he worked hard to impress upon his children the value of kindness. He was biologically incapable of gossip. There was no smallness in him.”

Ron Reagan (1958) talk radio host and political analyst

On his father, Ronald Reagan, in Deborah Solomon, " The Son Also Rises http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/27/magazine/27QUESTIONS.html", New York Times (27 June 2004).

Aníbal Acevedo Vilá photo

“We should not be forced to give up our children's U. S. citizenship so that we can get a fuller measure of self-government.”

Aníbal Acevedo Vilá (1962) American politician

U. S. Senate, Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Hearings on sovereignty under S. 472 (June 23, 1998)

Halldór Laxness photo
Bartolomé de las Casas photo
Michael Moorcock photo
Jim Henson photo
Bhakti Tirtha Swami photo
Aldous Huxley photo
Hassan Rouhani photo

“… the aggressive, occupying Zionist regime is not bound by the laws of society and of humanity. It takes no pity on men, children and women, and continues to kill and rape”

Hassan Rouhani (1948) 7th President of Islamic Republic of Iran

them
Remarks in August 20, 2015 speech on Iran's World Mosque Day, as quoted in "Iranian President Rohani: 'We Will Not Forget The Bitter Memory Of The Arson At The Muslims' First Direction Of Prayer'; Israel Continues 'To Kill And Rape'" http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/8717.htm, MEMRI, (August 25, 2015)

Linus Torvalds photo

“The memory management on the PowerPC can be used to frighten small children.”

Linus Torvalds (1969) Finnish-American software engineer and hacker

Attributed
Source: quoted by Alan Cox here http://groups.google.com/group/comp.os.linux.development.system/msg/dc45421fdef2aaa1?pli=1

Enoch Powell photo

“When laughing children chase after fireflies, they are not pursuing beetles but catching wonder.When wonder matures, it peels back experience to seek deeper layers of marvel below. This is science's highest purpose.”

David G. Haskell (1950) writer, Biologist

"July 13th — Fireflies," page 139
The Forest Unseen: A Year's Watch in Nature http://theforestunseen.com/ (2012)

Jack Thompson (attorney) photo

“Grand Theft Auto IV is the gravest assault upon children in this country since polio. We now have vaccines for that virus… The 'vaccine' that must be administered by the United States government to deal with this virtual virus of violence and sexual depravity is criminal prosecutions of those who have conspired to do this.”

Jack Thompson (attorney) (1951) American activist and disbarred attorney

Letter to US Attorney R. Alexander Acosta, quoted in [2008-04-28, GTA IV sex video gives Thompson, other critics fresh ammo, Ben Kuchera, Ars Technica, http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2008/04/jack-thompson-targets-gta-iv-with-an-unlikely-ally-ign/, 2014-11-18]

Trent Lott photo
Robert Fulghum photo
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis photo

“If they're killing Kennedys, then my children are targets … I want to get out of this country.”

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (1929–1994) public figure, First Lady to 35th U.S. President John F. Kennedy

After assassination of Robert F. Kennedy (1968) http://www.nytimes.com/1999/07/19/us/john-f-kennedy-jr-heir-to-a-formidable-dynasty.html?pagewanted=all

David Cameron photo
Hans Ruesch photo

“The desire to protect animals derives inevitably from better acquaintance with them, from the realization that they are sensitive and intelligent creatures, affectionate and seeking affection, powerless in a cruel and incomprehensible world, exposed to all the whims of the master species. According to the animal haters, those who are fond of animals are sick people. To me it seems just the other way around, that the love for animals is something more, not something less. As a rule, those who protect animals have for them the same feeling as for all the other defenseless or abused creatures: the battered or abandoned children, the sick, the inmates of penal or mental institutions, who are so often maltreated without a way of redress. And those who are fond of animals don't love them for their "animality" but for their "humanity" — their "human" qualities. By which I mean the qualities humans display when at their best, not at their worst. Man's love for the animal is, at any rate, always inferior in intensity and completeness to the love the animal has for the human being that has won its love. The human being is the elder brother, who has countless different preoccupations, activities and interests. But to the animal that loves a human being, this being is everything. That applies not only to the generous, impetuous dog, but also to the more reserved species, with which it is more difficult to establish a relationship without personal effort and plenty of patience.”

Hans Ruesch (1913–2007) Swiss racing driver

Source: Slaughter of the Innocent (1978), pp. 45-46

Assata Shakur photo
Robert A. Heinlein photo
Colin Wilson photo
Thomas Szasz photo
Muhammad photo

“The Prophet said "None of you will have faith till he loves me more than his father, his children and all mankind."”

Muhammad (570–632) Arabian religious leader and the founder of Islam

Narrated Anas, in Bukhari, Volume 1, Book 2, Number 15
Sunni Hadith

Masiela Lusha photo
Daniel Handler photo
Grant Morrison photo
George W. Bush photo
William S. Burroughs photo
John F. Kennedy photo
Carl Linnaeus photo

“The Lord himself hath led him with his own Almighty hand.
He hath caused him to spring from a trunk without root, and planted him again in a distant and more delightful spot, and caused him to rise up to a considerable tree.
Inspired him with an inclination for science so passionate as to become the most gratifying of all others.
Given him all the means he could either wish for, or enjoy, of attaining the objects he had in view.
Favoured him in such a manner that even the not obtaining of what he wished for, ultimately turned out to his great advantage.
Caused him to be received into favour by the "Mœcenates Scientiarum"; by the greatest men in the kingdom; and by the Royal Family.
Given him an advantageous and honourable post, the very one that, above all others in the world, he had wished for.
Given him the wife for whom he most wished, and who managed his household affairs whilst he was engaged in laborious studies.
Given him children who have turned out good and virtuous.
Given him a son for his successor in office.
Given him the largest collection of plants that ever existed in the world, and his greatest delight.
Given him lands and other property, so that though there has been nothing superfluous, nothing has he wanted.
Honoured him with the titles of Archiater, Knight, Nobleman, and with Distinction in the learned world.
Protected him from fire.
Preserved his life above 60 years.
Permitted him to visit his secret council-chambers.
Permitted him to see more of the creation than any mortal before him. Given him greater knowledge of natural history than any one had hitherto acquired.
The Lord hath been with him whithersoever he hath walked, and hath cut off all his enemies from before him, and hath made him a name, like the name of the great men that are in the earth. 1 Chron. xvn. 8.”

Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist

As quoted in The Annual Review and History of Literature http://books.google.com.mx/books?id=hx0ZAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&hl=es#v=onepage&q=%22The%20Lord%20himself%20hath%20led%20him%20with%20his%20own%20Almighty%20hand%22&f=false (1806), by Arthur Aikin, T. N. Longman and O. Rees, p. 472.
Also found in Life of Linnaeus https://archive.org/stream/lifeoflinnaeus00brigiala#page/176/mode/2up/search/endeavoured (1858), by J. Van Voorst & Cecilia Lucy Brightwell, London. pp. 176-177.
Linnaeus Diary

Hunter S. Thompson photo
David Brin photo
Sören Kierkegaard photo
Amy Hempel photo
Steven Erikson photo
Winston S. Churchill photo
Rick Santorum photo

“Because I believe we are made the way God made man and woman and man and woman come together to have a union to produce children which keeps civilization going and provide the best environment for children to be raised. I think that is something society should value and should give privileged status over a group of people who want to have a relationship together.”

Rick Santorum (1958) American politician

on same-sex marriage
Santorum Draws Boos From College Crowd for Opposing Gay Marriage
Julianna
Goldman
2012-01-12
San Francisco Chronicle
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2012/01/10/bloomberg_articlesLXCV300D9L35.DTL#ixzz1jeLR1ECw
2012-01-16
http://web.archive.org/web/20120112222601/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2012/01/10/bloomberg_articlesLXCV300D9L35.DTL#ixzz1jeLR1ECw
2012-01-12

Anu Partanen photo
Hugh Laurie photo

“They do make you less egotistical. I still manage to think about myself 98 per cent of the time, but at least there is a little window where others can impinge.(On having children)”

Hugh Laurie (1959) British actor, comedian, writer, musician and director

Source: [2002-06-13, http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-920254-details/A+brighter+life+for+Hugh+Laurie/article.do;jsessionid=KnM3FNTSkpv0R3P22WrQBPZQ00jxPTkDtG2htfqq0LvwTtnLx4by!-81402767, A brighter life for Hugh Laurie, thisislondon.co.uk from the Evening Standard, 2006-08-21]

John Ireland (bishop) photo
Leo Igwe photo
Mark Satin photo
George MacDonald photo
Martin Gardner photo
David Berg photo
J. M. Barrie photo
Herman Wouk photo
Neil Strauss photo
Susan Neiman photo
George Friedman photo
Yvette Cooper photo

“I decided I don't want to go for the top job now. I could be working for another 25 years and I'd like to be reading bedtime stories to my children for another two or three years.”

Yvette Cooper (1969) British politician

On why she did not nominate herself to become Leader of the Labour Party, during BBC's Today Programme http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b00v6by4/Profile_Yvette_Cooper_Shadow_Foreign_Secretary, May, 2010.

Bernard Lewis photo
Dwight L. Moody photo

“Depend upon it, as long as the church is living so much like the world, we cannot expect our children to be brought into the fold.”

Dwight L. Moody (1837–1899) American evangelist and publisher

Source: Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), P. 145.

Seymour Papert photo
Geert Wilders photo
Gerald Ford photo
David Icke photo
Gulzarilal Nanda photo
Jim Henson photo

“What Jim wanted to do, and it was totally his vision, was to get back to the darkness of the original Grimm’s fairy tales. He thought it was fine to scare children. He didn’t think it was healthy for children to always feel safe.”

Jim Henson (1936–1990) American puppeteer

Frank Oz, as quoted in Q&A: Frank Oz on Henson, “Dark Crystal” and the Kwik Way http://blog.sfgate.com/parenting/2007/06/28/qa-frank-oz-on-henson-dark-crystal-and-the-kwik-way/, SFGate, (June 28, 2007).
About

Margaret Chan photo
James K. Morrow photo
Margaret Atwood photo
Seymour Papert photo
David Cameron photo
Brian Keith photo

“This is the type of show I love, because it reminds me of what happiness I have with my wife and our children.”

Brian Keith (1921–1997) actor

PhotoplayMagazine.com)
Brian Keith in 1969 on playing the role of an onscreen uncle, as he played the role of a real-life father

Hunter S. Thompson photo
Pauli Hanhiniemi photo
Ken Ham photo
James Russell Lowell photo
Brigham Young photo
W. Somerset Maugham photo
Bob Keeshan photo

“We have respect for our audience. … We operate on the conviction that it is composed of young children of potentially good taste, and that this taste should be developed.”

Bob Keeshan (1927–2004) United States Marine

Interview with Steven V. Roberts in The New York Times (1965); as quoted in "Bob Keeshan, Creator and Star of TV's 'Captain Kangaroo,' Is Dead at 76" in The New York Times (24 January 2004)

Neil Harbisson photo

“If salads sounded like Justin Bieber, children would eat more vegetables.”

Neil Harbisson (1984) Catalan-Irish musician, artist and activist

As quoted in Folha (8 February 2012) "Na Campus Party, artista ciborgue conta como usa olho para ouvir cores" http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/tec/1046067-na-campus-party-artista-ciborgue-conta-como-usa-olho-para-ouvir-cores.shtml

Letty Cottin Pogrebin photo