“From the normal irritations of living together, they learn how to assert themselves, defend themselves, compromise.”

The mere existence of an additional child or children in the family could signify Less.

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.

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

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;

Abstinence is the worst form of perversion.

I think you just have to be realistic to what the reality is, the way people experience movies.

Euphemisms, vague terminology or calls for discussions with Turkey to get at the truth are just some of the dodges Congress and the administration have used to avoid Turkish discomfort with its Ottoman past.

God sees with utter clarity who we are. He is undeceived as to our warts and wickedness. But when God looks at us that is not all He sees. He also sees who we are intended to be, who we will one day become.

There is a difference between solitude and isolation. One is connected and one isn’t. Solitude replenishes, isolation diminishes.

Even professing Christians, by and large, devote to their spiritual growth and well-being a tiny fraction of the time they devote to their body, and it is even tinier fraction if we include what they worry about.

Trust is built slowly, over time.

A pessimist is a man who tells the truth prematurely.