Authors: Editors of Reader's Digest
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S
YDNEY
J
.
H
ARRIS
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The thorn from the bush one has planted, nourished and pruned, pricks most deeply and draws more blood.
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M
AYA
A
NGELOU
All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes
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It doesn't matter who my father was; it matters who I remember he was.
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A
NNE
S
EXTON
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Parenthood remains the greatest single preserve of the amateur.
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A
LVIN
T
OFFLER
Future Shock
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The word no carries a lot more meaning when spoken by a parent who also knows how to say yes.
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J
OYCE
M
AYNARD
in
Parenting
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Lucky parents who have fine children usually have lucky children who have fine parents.
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J
AMES
A
.
B
REWER
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Grandchildren are God's way of compensating us for growing old.
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M
ARY
H
.
W
ALDRIP
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Few things are more delightful than grandchildren fighting over your lap.
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D
OUG
L
ARSON
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A grandmother is a person with too much wisdom to let that stop her from making a fool of herself over her grandchildren.
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P
HIL
M
OSS
in
National Enquirer
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I have often thought what a melancholy world this would be without childrenâand what an inhuman world, without the aged.
â
S
AMUEL
T
AYLOR
C
OLERIDGE
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There's nothing like having grandchildren to restore your faith in heredity.
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D
OUG
L
ARSON
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The simplest toy, one which even the youngest child can operate, is called a grandparent.
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S
AM
L
EVENSON
You Don't Have to Be in “Who's Who” to Know What's What
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Nobody can do for little children what grandparents do. Grandparents sort of sprinkle stardust over the lives of little children.
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A
LEX
H
ALEY
in
The Maroon
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I don't know who my grandfather was. I am much more concerned to know what his grandson will be.
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A
BRAHAM
L
INCOLN
Â
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HILDREN ARE THE LIVING MESSAGESÂ
. . .
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Children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see.
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J
OHN
W
.
W
HITEHEAD
The Stealing of America
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My best creation is my children.
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D
IANE
V
ON
F
URSTENBERG
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Every child comes with the message that God is not yet discouraged of man.
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R
ABINDRANATH
T
AGORE
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Children are the anchors that hold a mother to life.
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S
OPHOCLES
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It is not easy to be crafty and winsome at the same time, and few accomplish it after the age of six.
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J
OHN
W
.
G
ARDNER AND
F
RANCESCA
G
ARDNER
R
EESE
in
Know or Listen to Those Who Know
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Perhaps parents would enjoy their children more if they stopped to realize that the film of childhood can never be run through for a second showing.
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E
VELYN
N
OWN
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Cherishing children is the mark of a civilized society.
â
J
OAN
G
ANZ
C
OONEY
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Human beings are the only creatures on earth that allow their children to come back home.
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B
ILL
C
OSBY
Fatherhood
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Life affords no greater responsibility, no greater privilege, than the raising of the next generation.
â
C
.
E
VERETT
K
OOP,
MD
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Children have more need of models than of critics.
â
C
AROLYN
C
OATS
Things Your Dad Always Told You But You Didn't Want to Hear
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The greatest natural resource that any country can have is its children.
â
D
ANNY
K
AYE
Â
Although today there are many trial marriages, there is no such thing as a trial child.
â
G
ARY
W
ILLS
Â
Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree. In the eyes of children, they are all 30 feet tall.
â
L
ARRY
W
ILDE
The Merry Book of Christmas
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In the little world in which children have their existence, whosoever brings them up, there is nothing so finely perceived and so finely felt as injustice.
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C
HARLES
D
ICKENS
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Children are innocent and love justice, while most adults are wicked and prefer mercy.
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G
.
K
.
C
HESTERTON
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Children's talent to endure stems from their ignorance of alternatives.
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M
AYA
A
NGELOU
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When I was a child, love to me was what the sea is to a fish: something you swim in while you are going about the important affairs of life.
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P
.
L
.
T
RAVERS
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I still live in and on the sunshine of my childhood.
â
C
HRISTIAN
M
ORGENSTERN
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There are no seven wonders of the world in the eyes of a child. There are seven million.
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W
ALT
S
TREIGHTIFF
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The penalty for censoring what your children may be taught is children who are brighter than you.
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F
RANK
A
.
C
LARK
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If there is anything we wish to change in the child, we should first examine it and see whether it is not something that could better be changed in ourselves.
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C
ARL
G
.
J
UNG
The Development of Personality
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Any child can tell you that the sole purpose of a middle name is so he can tell when he's really in trouble.
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D
ENNIS
F
AKES
Points with Punch
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When I approach a child, he inspires in me two sentiments: tenderness for what he is, and respect for what he may become.
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L
OUIS
P
ASTEUR
Â
We worry about what a child will be tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today.
â
S
TACIA
T
AUSCHER
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If children grew up according to early indications, we should have nothing but geniuses.
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J
OHANN
W
OLFGANG VON
G
OETHE
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A child is the root of the heart.
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C
AROLINA
M
ARÃA DE
J
ESÃS
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There never was a child so lovely but his mother was glad to get him asleep.
â
R
ALPH
W
ALDO
E
MERSON
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Ask your child what he wants for dinner only if he's buying.
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F
RAN
L
EBOWITZ
Social Studies
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Telling a teenager the facts of life is like giving a fish a bath.
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A
RNOLD
H
.
G
LASOW
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Children have never been good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them.
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J
AMES
B
ALDWIN
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Oh, what a tangled web do parents weave when they think that their children are naive.
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O
GDEN
N
ASH
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Babies are always more trouble than you thoughtâand more wonderful.
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C
HARLES
O
SGOOD
“CBS Morning News”
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The one thing children wear out faster than shoes is parents.
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J
OHN
J
.
P
LOMP
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Children aren't happy with nothing to ignore,
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And that's what parents were created for.
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O
GDEN
N
ASH
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Parents are the bones on which children cut their teeth.
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P
ETER
U
STINOV
in
National Enquirer
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Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood.
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F
RED
R
OGERS
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Having a young child explain something exciting he has seen is the finest example of communication you will ever hear or see.
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B
OB
T
ALBERT
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There's nothing that can help you understand your beliefs more than trying to explain them to an inquisitive child.
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F
RANK
A
.
C
LARK
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The greatest aid to adult education is children.
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C
HARLIE
T
.
J
ONES AND
B
OB
P
HILLIPS
Wit & Wisdom
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Children are like wet cement. Whatever falls on them makes an impression.
â
H
AIM
G
INOTT
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Children are not things to be molded, but are people to be unfolded.
â
J
ESS
L
AIR
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When everything is astonishing, nothing is astonishing; this is how the world is to children.
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A
NTOINE
R
IVAROLI
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You don't really understand human nature unless you know why a child on a merry-go-round will wave at his parents every time aroundâand why his parents will always wave back.
â
W
ILLIAM
D
.
T
AMMEUS
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A child is not a vase to be filled, but a fire to be lit.
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R
ABELAIS
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Kids are always the only future the human race has.
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W
ILLIAM
S
AROYAN
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The most important thing that parents can teach their children is how to get along without them.
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F
RANK
A
.
C
LARK
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We set standards for drugs, because bad drugs cross state lines. Well, badly educated children cross state lines, too.
â
A
DM.
H
YMAN
G
.
R
ICKOVER
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If you want your children to keep their feet on the ground, put some responsibility on their shoulders.
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A
BIGAIL
V
AN
B
UREN
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Loving a child doesn't mean giving in to all his whims; to love him is to bring out the best in him, to teach him to love what is difficult.
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N
ADIA
B
OULANGER
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The best things you can give children, next to good habits, are good memories.
â
S
YDNEY
J
.
H
ARRIS
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A child, like your stomach, doesn't need all you can afford to give it.
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F
RANK
A
.
C
LARK
Â
The best security blanket a child can have is parents who respect each other.
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J
AN
B
LAUSTONE
The Joy of Parenthood
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The best inheritance a parent can give his children is a few minutes of his time each day.