The thing that impresses me most about America is the way parents obey their children.
—Edward, Duke of Windsor, 1957Quotes
It’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, 1966My mother protected me from the world and my father threatened me with it.
—Quentin Crisp, 1968It is impossible to please all the world and one’s father.
—Jean de La Fontaine, 1668To 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, 1954The strength of a family, like the strength of an army, is in its loyalty to each other.
—Mario Puzo, 2001I cannot bear a parent’s tears.
—Virgil, c. 25 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, 1786Every adolescent has that dream every century has that dream every revolutionary has that dream, to destroy the family.
—Gertrude Stein, 1940The 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, 1939By 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, 1955