There is not much less vexation in the government of a private family than in the managing of an entire state.
—Michel de Montaigne, 1580Quotes
I cannot bear a parent’s tears.
—Virgil, c. 25 BCHe that hath wife and children hath given hostages to fortune; for they are impediments to great enterprises, either of virtue or mischief.
—Francis Bacon, 1625It is impossible to please all the world and one’s father.
—Jean de La Fontaine, 1668The thing that impresses me most about America is the way parents obey their children.
—Edward, Duke of Windsor, 1957The root of the kingdom is in the State. The root of the State is in the family. The root of the family is in the person of its Head.
—Mencius, c. 270 BCHe that raises a large family, does indeed, while he lives to observe them, stand…a broader mark for sorrow; but then he stands a broader mark for pleasure too.
—Benjamin Franklin, 1786In our family, as far as we are concerned, we were born and what happened before that is myth.
—V.S. Pritchett, 1968Families, I hate you! Shut-in homes, closed doors, jealous possessions of happiness.
—André Gide, 1897In peace, children inter their parents; war violates the order of nature and causes parents to inter their children.
—Herodotus, 440 BCMy father! The sun is my father, and the earth is my mother, and on her bosom I will recline.
—Tecumseh, 1810