„If I know what love is, it is because of you.“
— Hermann Hesse, book Narcissus and Goldmund
Narcissus and Goldmund (1930)
Quotes For Parents
A collection of quotes on the topic of for father, family, relationship, for mother.
Best quotes for parents
„Pooh, how do you spell love?' 'You don't spell love Piglet, you feel it“
— A.A. Milne British author 1882 - 1956
Variant: How do you spell love?
You don't spell it, you feel it.
„You must do the thing you think you cannot do.“
— Eleanor Roosevelt American politician, diplomat, and activist, and First Lady of the United States 1884 - 1962
Source: You Learn by Living (1960), p. 29–30
Context: You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, "I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along." … You must do the thing you think you cannot do.
„Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.“
— Theodore Roosevelt American politician, 26th president of the United States 1858 - 1919
Ch. IX : Outdoors and Indoors, p. 336; the final statement "quoted by Squire Bill Widener" as well as variants of it, are often misattributed to Roosevelt himself.
Variant: Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.
Attributed to Roosevelt in Conquering an Enemy Called Average (1996) by John L. Mason, Nugget # 8 : The Only Place to Start is Where You Are. <!-- The Military Quotation Book, Revised and Expanded: More than 1,200 of the Best Quotations About War, Leadership, Courage, Victory, and Defeat (2002) by James Charlton -->
Variant: Do what you can, with what you've got, where you are.
Context: There are many kinds of success in life worth having. It is exceedingly interesting and attractive to be a successful business man, or railroad man, or farmer, or a successful lawyer or doctor; or a writer, or a President, or a ranchman, or the colonel of a fighting regiment, or to kill grizzly bears and lions. But for unflagging interest and enjoyment, a household of children, if things go reasonably well, certainly makes all other forms of success and achievement lose their importance by comparison. It may be true that he travels farthest who travels alone; but the goal thus reached is not worth reaching. And as for a life deliberately devoted to pleasure as an end — why, the greatest happiness is the happiness that comes as a by-product of striving to do what must be done, even though sorrow is met in the doing. There is a bit of homely philosophy, quoted by Squire Bill Widener, of Widener's Valley, Virginia, which sums up one's duty in life: "Do what you can, with what you've got, where you are."
„Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood.“
— Marie Curie French-Polish physicist and chemist 1867 - 1934
As quoted in Our Precarious Habitat (1973) by Melvin A. Benarde, p. v
Context: Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.
„It's the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen.“
— John Wooden American basketball coach 1910 - 2010
„Once you choose hope, anything's possible.“
— Christopher Reeve actor, director, producer, screenwriter 1952 - 2004
„There is no friendship, no love, like that of the parent for the child.“
— Henry Ward Beecher American clergyman and activist 1813 - 1887
All quotes for parents
Total 123 quotes for parents, filter:
„When I was a kid my parents moved a lot, but I always found them.“
— Rodney Dangerfield American actor and comedian 1921 - 2004
„Parents wonder why the streams are bitter, when they themselves poison the fountain.“
— John Locke English philosopher and physician 1632 - 1704
— Anne Frank victim of the Holocaust and author of a diary 1929 - 1945
15 July 1944
(1942 - 1944)
Original: (nl) Ouders kunnen alleen raad of goede aanwijzingen meegeven, de uiteindelijke vorming van iemands karakter ligt in zijn eigen hand.
„I think part of being a parent is trying to kill your kids.“
— Stephen King, book Christine
Source: Christine
„Everybody wants to save the earth; nobody wants to help Mom do the dishes.“
— P. J. O'Rourke American journalist 1947
All the Trouble in the World (1994)
„The final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands.“
— Anne Frank victim of the Holocaust and author of a diary 1929 - 1945
„Children are educated by what the grown-up is and not by his talk.“
— C.G. Jung Swiss psychiatrist and psychotherapist who founded analytical psychology 1875 - 1961
— Gail Tsukiyama American writer 1957
Source: Dreaming Water
„Parents are not interested in justice, they're interested in peace and quiet.“
— Bill Cosby American actor, comedian, author, producer, musician, activist 1937
„Ask your child what he wants for dinner only if he's buying.“
— Fran Lebowitz, book Social Studies
"Parental Guidance".
Social Studies (1981)
„Love life more than the meaning of it.“
— Fyodor Dostoyevsky, book Los hermanos Karamazov
Source: The Brothers Karamazov (Bratři Karamazovi)
„Education is the key to unlocking the world, a passport to freedom.“
— Oprah Winfrey American businesswoman, talk show host, actress, producer, and philanthropist 1954
„Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.“
— W.B. Yeats Irish poet and playwright 1865 - 1939
— C.G. Jung Swiss psychiatrist and psychotherapist who founded analytical psychology 1875 - 1961
Source: The Integration of the Personality (1939), p. 285
„No matter where you go, there you are“
— Yogi Berra American baseball player, manager, coach 1925 - 2015
Source: When You Come to a Fork in the Road, Take It!: Inspiration and Wisdom from One of Baseball's Greatest Heroes
„Love is not a because, it's a no matter what.“
— Jodi Picoult, book Second Glance
Source: Second Glance
„If you have never been hated by your child, you have never been a parent.“
— Bette Davis film and television actress from the United States 1908 - 1989
Variant: If you've never been hated by your child, you've never been a parent.
— Jodi Picoult, My Sister's Keeper
Variant: Goldfish get big enough only for the bowl you put them in. Bonsai trees twist in miniature. I would have given anything to keep her little. They outgrow us so much faster than we outgrow them.
Source: My Sister's Keeper
„Children see magic because they look for it.“
— Christopher Moore, book Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal
Source: Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal
„No matter how far we come, our parents are always in us.“
— Brad Meltzer, book The Inner Circle
Source: The Inner Circle
„There's no way to be a perfect mother and a million ways to be a good one.“
— Jill Churchill American writer of historical, mystery, and romantic novels under several names 1943
„Always end the name of your child with a vowel, so that when you yell the name will carry.“
— Bill Cosby American actor, comedian, author, producer, musician, activist 1937
„Whatever else is unsure in this stinking dunghill of a world a mother's love is not.“
— James Joyce, book A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Source: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
„You see persons and things not as they are but as you are.“
— Anthony de Mello Indian writer 1931 - 1987
„Truth is in things, and not in words.“
— Herman Melville American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet 1818 - 1891
— Nora Ephron Film director, author screenwriter 1941 - 2012
Source: I Feel Bad about My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman
„You cannot let your parents anywhere near your real humiliations.“
— Alice Munro, book Open Secrets
Source: Open Secrets (1994)
„If evolution really works, how come mothers only have two hands?“
— Milton Berle American comedian and actor 1908 - 2002
„Most mothers are instinctive philosophers.“
— Harriet Beecher Stowe Abolitionist, author 1811 - 1896
The Minister's Wooing (1859) Ch. 21 The Bruised Flax-Flower
„Being a mother is an attitude, not a biological relation.“
— Robert A. Heinlein, book Have Space Suit—Will Travel
Source: Have Space Suit—Will Travel (1958), Chapter 9
„Parents aren’t the people you come from. They’re the people you want to be, when you grow up.“
— Jodi Picoult, book Handle With Care
Variant: Parents aren't the people you come from. They're the people you want to be, when you grow up.
Source: Handle with Care
„You are my life, but you are not my purpose.“
Source: Swoon
„It is more than possible; it is probable.“
— Arthur Conan Doyle, book The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Source: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
„There's nothing like your mother's sympathetic voice to make you want to burst into tears.“
— Sophie Kinsella, book The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic
Source: Confessions of a Shopaholic
„Parents. Honestly. Sometimes they really do think the world revolves around them.“
— Randa Abdel-Fattah contemporary Australian writer of novels for young adults 1979
Source: Does My Head Look Big In This?
— Sean Covey author; business executive 1964
Source: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens: The Ultimate Teenage Success Guide
„Perhaps it takes courage to raise children..“
— John Steinbeck, book East of Eden
Source: East of Eden
„A good marriage would be between a blind wife and a deaf husband.“
— Michel De Montaigne (1533-1592) French-Occitan author, humanistic philosopher, statesman 1533 - 1592
Book III, Ch. 5
Attributed
„The reason grandparents and grandchildren get along so well is that they have a common enemy.“
— Sam Levenson American journalist 1911 - 1980
„First your parents, they give you your life, but then they try to give you their life.“
— Chuck Palahniuk American novelist, essayist 1962
„Never lend your car to anyone to whom you have given birth.“
— Erma Bombeck When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and coul… 1927 - 1996
„All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.“
— Abraham Lincoln 16th President of the United States 1809 - 1865
Attributed in The Life of Abraham Lincoln (1866) by Josiah G. Holland, p. 23; also in The Real Life of Abraham Lincoln (1867) by George Alfred Townsend, p. 6; according to Townsend, Lincoln made this remark to his law partner, William Herndon. It is disputed whether this quote refers to Lincoln's natural mother, Nancy Hanks Lincoln, who died when he was nine years old, or to his stepmother, Sarah Bush (Johnston) Lincoln.
Posthumous attributions
— Dr. Seuss American children's writer and illustrator, co-founder of Beginner Books 1904 - 1991
Oh, the Places You'll Go! (1990)
Source: Oh, The Places You'll Go!
„We are the people our parents warned us about.“
— Jimmy Buffett American singer–songwriter and businessman 1946
„To be in your children's memories tomorrow,
You have to be in their lives today.“
— Barbara Johnson American literary critic 1947 - 2009
„I realized when you look at your mother, you are looking at the purest love you will ever know.“
— Mitch Albom, For One More Day
Variant: When you look into your mother’s eyes, you know that is the purest love you can find on this earth.
Source: For One More Day
— Mitch Albom, book The Five People You Meet in Heaven
Source: The Five People You Meet in Heaven (2003)
„The days are long, but the years are short.“
— Gretchen Rubin American writer 1966
Source: The Happiness Project: Or Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun
— Oscar Wilde, book The Picture of Dorian Gray
Mrs. Arbuthnot http://books.google.com/books?id=RHkWAAAAYAAJ&q=%22Children+begin+by+loving+their+parents+after+a+time%22+%22they+judge+them+rarely+if+ever+do+they+forgive+them%22&pg=PA187#v=onepage, Act IV
A Woman of No Importance (1893)
Variant: Children begin by loving their parents; as they grow older they judge them; sometimes they forgive them.
Source: The Picture of Dorian Gray
„I think all of us are always five years old in the presence and absence of our parents.“
— Sherman Alexie, book The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Source: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
— Thich Nhat Hanh Religious leader and peace activist 1926
Quoted in A Lifetime of Peace : Essential Writings by and About Thich Nhat Hanh (2003) edited by Jennifer Schwamm Willis, p. 141
„(24/7) once you sign on to be a mother, that's the only shift they offer.“
— Jodi Picoult, My Sister's Keeper
Source: My Sister's Keeper
„The best way to make children good is to make them happy.“
— Oscar Wilde Irish writer and poet 1854 - 1900
Variant: The best way to make children good is to make them happy.
„Mother's love is peace. It need not be acquired, it need not be deserved.“
— Erich Fromm German social psychologist and psychoanalyst 1900 - 1980
„Parents were the only ones obligated to love you; from the rest of the world you had to earn it.“
— Ann Brashares, book Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood
Source: Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood
„You never know what's coming for you.“
— Eric Roth American screenwriter 1945
Source: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Screenplay
„The golden rule is that there are no golden rules.“
— George Bernard Shaw Irish playwright 1856 - 1950
„Sometimes the strength of motherhood is greater than natural laws.“
— Barbara Kingsolver American author, poet and essayist 1955
Source: Homeland and Other Stories
„you will always love, and you will always be loved“
— Oscar Wilde, book The Picture of Dorian Gray
Source: The Picture of Dorian Gray
„The danger of motherhood. you relive your early self, through the eyes of your mother.“
— Joyce Carol Oates, The Gravedigger's Daughter
Source: The Gravedigger's Daughter
„To love and to be loved is the greatest happiness.“
— Chinmayananda Saraswati Indian spiritual teacher 1916 - 1993
Quotations from Gurudev’s teachings, Chinmya Mission Chicago
„Setting a good example for children takes all the fun out of middle age.“
— William Feather Publisher, Author 1889 - 1981
Also quoted in Every Day Is Father's Day: The Best Things Ever Said About Dear Old Dad (1989), p. 150
The Business of Life (1949)
„There are no illegitimate children, only illegitimate parents.“
— Leon Rene Yankwich United States federal judge 1888 - 1975
Zipkin v. Mozon (June 1928)
Quoted in Oxford Dictionary of Medical Quotations by Peter McDonald (2004) p. 108
„Man knows that love is, but not what it is.“
— Emanuel Swedenborg Swedish 18th century scientist and theologian 1688 - 1772
Divine Love and Wisdom #1
„That's not my love; that's just your life.“
— Fernando Pessoa, book The Book of Disquiet
Ibid.
The Book of Disquiet
Original: Isso não é o meu amor; é apenas a sua vida.