In our family, as far as we are concerned, we were born and what happened before that is myth.
—V.S. Pritchett, 1968Quotes
The 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 hath wife and children hath given hostages to fortune; for they are impediments to great enterprises, either of virtue or mischief.
—Francis Bacon, 1625Every adolescent has that dream every century has that dream every revolutionary has that dream, to destroy the family.
—Gertrude Stein, 1940I cannot bear a parent’s tears.
—Virgil, c. 25 BCTo be a successful father… there’s one absolute rule: when you have a kid, don’t look at it for the first two years.
—Ernest Hemingway, 1954As the family goes, so goes the nation and so goes the whole world in which we live.
—Pope John Paul II, 1986One race there is of men, one of gods, but from one mother we both draw our breath.
—Pindar, c. 450 BCIn peace, children inter their parents; war violates the order of nature and causes parents to inter their children.
—Herodotus, 440 BCIt’s frightening to think that you mark your children merely by being yourself… it seems unfair. You can’t assume the responsibility for everything you do—or don’t do.
—Simone de Beauvoir, 1966He 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, 1786