“There’s no winning arguments with your parents, so why get all pumped up over them? It is way better to dive down and get out of the way than it is to get clobbered by some parental tidal wave.”
“I respect you as my king, and I respect you as my father, but I do not respect you as a man!”
“Ultimately, what really matters is not just the experiences you have at a young age, but whether or not you are equipped-by your parents, by your genetics, by your education-to survive and deal with them.”
“I met this boy here who I knew as a kid and his mum left him with a pedophile for two weeks when he was eight years old and I m presuming you know everything there is to know about Jonah s father, and that my father is dead, and my mother hasn t been around for years, and God knows Jessa s real story. So what I m saying here, Sergeant, is that we re just a tad low on the reliable adult quota so you have no right to be all self-righteous about what Chaz did and if you re going to go around not talking to him when his only crime was wanting me to have what he has, then I think you re going to turn out to be a bit of a dud and you know something? I m just a bit over life s little disappointments right now. Do you understand what I m saying?”
“Flawed Human Parents + Shit Life Throws At You = Childhood That Builds Character.”
“If I had received good instruction as a child I would be with my family today and at peace with my neighbors. I hope and pray that all you parents in the sound of my voice will train up your children in the way they should go.”
“Parents should also question much of the contemporary emphasis on special materials and equipment for learning in a child s environment. A clutter of toys can be more confusing than satisfying to a child. On the other hand, natural situations, with opportunieties to explore, seldom overstimulate or trouble a small child. Furthermore, most children will find greater satisfaction and demonsstrate greater learning from things they make and do with their parents or other people than from elaborate toys or learning materials. And there is no substitute for solitude - in the sandpile, mud puddle, or play area - for a yound child to work out his own fantasies. Yet this privilege is often denied in our anxiety to institutionalize children.”