He 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, 1786Quotes
The thing that impresses me most about America is the way parents obey their children.
—Edward, Duke of Windsor, 1957Motherhood is the strangest thing, it can be like being one’s own Trojan horse.
—Rebecca West, 1959It is impossible to please all the world and one’s father.
—Jean de La Fontaine, 1668Few sons are equal to their fathers; most fall short, all too few surpass them.
—Homer, c. 750 BCThe strength of a family, like the strength of an army, is in its loyalty to each other.
—Mario Puzo, 2001A family’s photograph album is generally about the extended family—and, often, is all that remains of it.
—Susan Sontag, 1977Families, I hate you! Shut-in homes, closed doors, jealous possessions of happiness.
—André Gide, 1897By and large, mothers and housewives are the only workers who do not have regular time off. They are the great vacationless class.
—Anne Morrow Lindbergh, 1955As the family goes, so goes the nation and so goes the whole world in which we live.
—Pope John Paul II, 1986The 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 BC