* Let France have good mothers, and she will have good sons.
= Napoleon Bonaparte, reported in Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), p. 441.

* I suppose that every parent loves his child; but I know, without any supposing, that in a large number of homes the love is hidden behind authority, or its expression is crowded out by daily duties and cares.
= Abbott Eliot Kittredge, reported in Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), p. 442.

* You that are parents, discharge your duty; though you cannot impart grace to your children, yet you may impart knowledge. Let your children know the commandments of God. "Ye shall teach them your children." You are careful to leave your children a portion; leave the oracles of heaven with them; instruct them in the law of God. If God spake all these words, you may well speak them over again to your children.
= Thomas Watson, reported in Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), p. 441.

* The more boring a child is, the more the parents, when showing off the child, receive adulation for being good parents-- because they have a tame child-creature in their house.
= Frank Zappa in Mojo Magazine (1993)


* I don't know, maybe I shouldn't have done this. First thing, I took him home and dangled him over the balcony.
= David Letterman, announcing to the public that he was the proud father of Harry Letterman, in reference to an incident by Michael Jackson, CBSNews.com

* I am a TV-executive turned parenting blogger who lives a crazy life with my husband and three small kids. My dreams of climbing the corporate ladder have been replaced by the dream of one day having a nap.
= Jackie Morgan MacDougall, Parenting Blog: http://www.epParent.com

* Children behave as well as they are treated.
= Jan Hunt Natural Child Project

* Parenting is the science about the art of childrearing.
= Simon Soloveychik

* Each morning I call for the best in me: “I am sent a child. He is a dear guest. I thank him for his existence. He is called to this life as am I, and this unites us – we are people; we are living. He is the same as I am. He is a man, not a future man, but a man today, and therefore he is different from any other people. I accept him as I accept another man. I accept my child… I accept him and protect his childhood. And I understand, tolerate, accept and forgive him. I don’t force him. I don’t humiliate him by my strength because I love him. I love him and thank him for who he is and for that I can love him, and thus, I elevate in my own spirit.
= Simon Soloveychik

* Any child can tell you that the sole purpose of a middle name is so he can tell when he's really in trouble.
= Dennis Fakes

* Everybody was a baby once, Arthur. Oh, sure, maybe not today, or even yesterday. But once. Babies, chum: tiny, dimpled, fleshy mirrors of our us-ness, that we parents hurl into the future, like leathery footballs of hope. And you've got to get a good spiral on that baby, or evil will make an interception.
= The Tick