Hand-picked quotes about children from the best non-fiction books

Your children are not your children. Give them your love but not your thoughts, for they have their own thoughts. Their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit. You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you. For life goes not backward.

Given love and support, most children grow into happy, productive adults independent of whatever theory of parenting they were raised with.

To imagine that we are solely, or even primarily, responsible for the successes and failures of our children is a narcissistic myth. You seldom see a bumper sticker that reads, MY KID IS IN REHAB.

Anxiety is contagious. Children sense it in their parents and are affected by it.

Parents can try to teach the values and behaviors that they have found to be important, but it is the way we live as adults that conveys the real message to our children about what we believe in. Whether they choose to integrate these values into their own lives is up to them. Kids have a keen nose for hypocrisy.

Well-functioning families are good at letting their children go. Poorly functioning families tend to hold on to them.

“What can I do to make sure this kid turns out well?” Not much, but maybe cutting down on the fights and not trying to control your child’s every decision might help to make everyone happier right now.