Category: PARENTS

  • Then there is the memory of former days, curses on those who advised the marriage, recriminations against friends who did not stop it; blame thrown on parents whether they be alive or dead, bitter outbursts against human destiny, arraigning of the whole course of nature, complaints and accusations even against the Divine government; war within the man himself, and fighting with those who would admonish; no repugnance to the most shocking words and acts. In some this state of mind continues, and their reason is more completely swallowed up by grief; and their tragedy has a sadder ending, the victim not enduring to survive the calamity.

    On Virginity, Chap. 3
    St. Gregory of Nyssa

  • MA: Having a family seems to be another superpower. Most of the top professionals I know have kids at home. What do you say to people who are afraid that having kids will mess up their career? 

    MGP: Having kids is what you make of it! There’s a transition period, but you can absolutely adapt them to your lifestyle, including your career. While your scheduling needs may change, it’s amazing how much more productive you become with your time. If you’re thinking about it — go for it!

    INTRO LIMITED
    THE HEROICALLY DESIGNED LIFE

  • These might even turn out to be precious days you get with your aging parents or older family members that you will never have again. And spending time with your elders and learning from them is also vital to building your circle of guidance.

    Waiting & Dating
    Lilyan Andrews

  • Of them all, it was the true love. Of them all, it was the best. That other, that sumptuous love which made one drunk, which one longed for, envied, believed in, that was not life. It was what life was seeking; it was a suspension of life. But to be close to a child, for whom one spent everything, whose life was protected and nourished by one’s own, to have that child beside one, at peace, was the real, the deepest, the only joy.

    Light Years
    James Salter

  • “The very best thing you can do for your kids is to love your spouse.”

    ― Kevin Kelly, Excellent Advice for Living: Wisdom I Wish I’d Known Earlier

  • What do you think hurts more: a father who’s strict or a father who’s uninterested?

    —Fr. Elijah Estafanous

  • Isabelle didn’t have friends either, and, especially in the final years, she had been surrounded only by people who dreamed of taking her place. Thus we never had anyone to invite round to our sumptuous residence; no one with whom to share a glass of rioja while watching the stars. What could we do, then? We asked ourselves the question while crossing the dunes. Live? It’s precisely in this kind of situation that, crushed by the sense of their own insignificance, people decide to have children; this is how the species reproduces, although less and less, it must be said.

    The Possibility of an Island
    Michel Houellebecq

  • “but he never considered marrying her, or even having a civil partnership: the mark left by his parents’ divorce was to remain indelible.”

    The Map and the Territory
    Michel Houellebecq

  • And whatever quarrels there may be between them they ought not to call in their own mother to judge between them and tell tales of one another. They are their own judges. Love is a holy mystery and ought to be hidden from all other eyes, whatever happens. That makes it holier and better. They respect one another more, and much is built on respect.

    …

    The first phase of married love will pass, it is true, but then there will come a love that is better still.

    …

    And once they have children, the most difficult times will seem to them happy, so long as there is love and courage. Even toil will be a joy, you may deny yourself bread for your children and even that will be a joy, They will love you for it afterwards; so you are laying by for your future.

    Notes from the Underground
    Fyodor Dostoyevsky