God is our father, but even more is God our mother.
—Pope John Paul I, 1978Quotes
Families, I hate you! Shut-in homes, closed doors, jealous possessions of happiness.
—André Gide, 1897He that hath wife and children hath given hostages to fortune; for they are impediments to great enterprises, either of virtue or mischief.
—Francis Bacon, 1625The greatest thing in family life is to take a hint when a hint is intended—and not to take a hint when a hint isn’t intended.
—Robert Frost, 1939Motherhood is the strangest thing, it can be like being one’s own Trojan horse.
—Rebecca West, 1959Familiarity breeds contempt—and children.
—Mark Twain, c. 1900My mother protected me from the world and my father threatened me with it.
—Quentin Crisp, 1968Men are what their mothers made them.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1860The strength of a family, like the strength of an army, is in its loyalty to each other.
—Mario Puzo, 2001There is not much less vexation in the government of a private family than in the managing of an entire state.
—Michel de Montaigne, 1580Mother died today. Or maybe it was yesterday, I don’t know.
—Albert Camus, 1942