“We deprive them of the experience that comes from wrestling with their own problems.”

You can call on each other / and count on each other … / because each other / is all you have.

And once he’s clear about that reality, he gathers the strength to begin to cope.

Let us be different in our homes.

When we acknowledge a child’s feelings, we do him a great service.

Keeping our youth and yesterdays alive / Comrades with one history.

Let us realize that along with food, shelter, and clothing

The resentment that each child feels for the privileges of the other;

Deep inside you know / when trouble comes / and there’s no one else to turn to

No wonder they mobilize all their energy to have more or most. Or better still, all.

Add to that the envy that one child feels for the accomplishments of the other;

I was a wonderful parent before I had children.

From their verbal sparring they learn the difference between being clever and being hurtful.

The personal frustrations that they don’t dare let out on anyone else but a brother or sister,

I was an expert on why everyone else was having problems with theirs. Then I had three of my own.

From their endless rough-housing with each other, they develop speed and agility.

I was a wonderful parent before I had children.

There is nothing to encourage.

I didn’t study history when I was in college, none at all, and only started to do graduate study when my children were going to graduate school.

You have to decide what is extraneous and what is central.

Practice positive thinking. . . seize control in small ways.

A page with a poem on it is less attractive than a page with a poem on it and some tea stains.

Self-denial is often the sacrifice of one sort of self-love for another.

We who preach have one tool. We are people of the book.

The problem with spending your life climbing up the ladder is that you will go right past Jesus, for he’s coming down.