“Less time alone with parents. Less attention for hurts and disappointments. Less approval for accomplishments. . . .”

No wonder children struggle so fiercely to be first or best.

The sibling relationship contains enough emotional dynamite to set off rounds of daily explosions.

And it’s not hard to understand why in families across the land,

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

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

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 gems of philosophy are not less precious because they are not understood.

From now on, the pound abroad is worth 14 per cent or so less in terms of other currencies. That doesn’t mean, of course, that the Pound here in Britain, in your pocket or purse or in your bank, has been devalued.

I await your sentence with less fear than you pass it. The time will come when all will see what I see.

I understand what rappers are talking about. I think rap is less about educating people about the black community and more about making money.

I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority.

For me, it’s always been so obvious that the less we can edit our lives and more we show how normal we all are, the better.

When you are reconciled to the fact that each is for himself in the world you will ask less from your fellows. They will not disappoint you, and you will look upon them more charitably.

I live with the people I create and it has always made my essential loneliness less keen.