People have said, “You’ve turned your back on pediatrics.” I said, “No. It took me until I was in my 60s to realize that politics was a part of pediatrics.”
BENJAMIN SPOCKAll the time a person is a child he is both a child and learning to be a parent. After he becomes a parent he becomes predominantly a parent reliving childhood.
More Benjamin Spock Quotes
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Don’t take too seriously all that the neighbors say. Don’t be overawed by what the experts say. Don’t be afraid to trust your own common sense.
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Don’t be afraid to trust your own common sense.
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Most middle-class whites have no idea what it feels like to be subjected to police who are routinely suspicious, rude, belligerent, and brutal.
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I really learned it all from mothers.
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I was so afraid of being bad and being caught at it.
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Can we make a better world for our children? I believe we can, if enough people are concerned and get involved in changing what is wrong with society.
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Happiness is mostly a by-product of doing what makes us feel fulfilled.
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Children who grow up getting nutrition from plant foods rather than meats have a tremendous health advantage. They are less likely to develop weight problems, diabetes, high blood pressure and some forms of cancer
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The loving person makes other people feel good, and he is usually a happy person himself. He is able to form strong, long-lasting friendships.
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What good mothers and fathers instinctively feel like doing for their babies is usually best after all.
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I’ve come to the realization that a lot of our problems are because of a dearth of spiritual values.
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If I could make only one wish for a child, I’d wish him the quality of lovingness.
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A human being is happiest and most successful when dedicated to a cause outside his own individual, selfish satisfaction.
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Boys and girls need chances to be around their father, to be enjoyed by him and if possible to do things with him. Better to play fifteen minutes enjoyably and then say, ‘Now I’m going to read my paper’ than to spend all day at the zoo crossly.
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Parental trust is extremely important in the guidance of adolescent children as they get further and further away from the direct supervision of their parents and teachers. I don’t mean that trust without clear guidance is enough, but guidance without trust is worthless.
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Perhaps a child who is fussed over gets a feeling of destiny; he thinks he is the world for something important, and it gives him drive and confidence.
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To win in Vietnam, we will have to exterminate a nation.
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Sex education, including its spiritual aspects, should be part of a broad health and moral education from kindergarten through grade twelve, ideally carried out harmoniously by parents and teachers.
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Having a good time together is the essence of lovingness and the best means of increasing it.
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Our greatest hope is to bring up children inspired by their opportunities for being helpful and loving.
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What is the use of physicians like myself trying to help parents to bring up children healthy and happy, to have them killed in such numbers for a cause that is ignoble?
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The strongest rebellion may be expressed in quiet, undramatic behavior.
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Grandparents have the freedom to see their grandchildren uncritically.
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I’m not a pacifist. I was very much for the war against Hitler and I also supported the intervention in Korea, but in this war we went in there to steal Vietnam.
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Physical punishment teaches children that the larger, stronger person has the power to get his way, whether or not he is in the right, and they may resent this in the parent-for life.
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How to fold a diaper depends on the size of the baby and the diaper.
BENJAMIN SPOCK