Great Throughts Treasury

"It could be written, for most of us: due to circumstances within our control."

"The best chaperone a child can have is the one that has been built into his character."

"Parents are often so busy with the physical rearing of children that they miss the glory of parenthood, just as the grandeur of the trees is lost when raking leaves."

"Parenthood: that state of being better chaperoned than you were before marriage."

"Life begins when a person first realizes how soon it will end."

"A sparkling house is a fine thing if the children aren't robbed of their luster in keeping it that way."

"Children in a family are like flowers in a bouquet: there's always one determined to face in an opposite direction from the way the arranger desires."

"A vacation frequently means that the family goes away for a rest, accompanied by Mother, who sees that the others get it."

"If at first you don't succeed, blame your parents."

"Life is like a camel: you can make it do anything except back up."

"No one knows his true character until he has run out of gas, purchased something on the installment plan and raised an adolescent."

"One sure way to lose another woman's friendship is to try to improve her flower arrangements."

"Our children await Christmas presents like politicians getting in election returns: there's the Uncle Fred precinct and the Aunt Ruth district still to come in."

"The best way to raise one child is to have two."

"Housekeeping is like being caught in a revolving door."

"Eating without conversation is only stoking."

"The illusions of childhood are necessary experiences: a child should not be denied a balloon just because an adult knows that sooner or later it will burst."

"The quickest way to know a woman is to go shopping with her."

"Weather means more when you have a garden. There's nothing like listening to a shower and thinking how it is soaking in around your green beans."

"When a man does a household job, he goes through three periods: contemplating how it will be done; contemplating when it will be done; and contemplating."