If you have the guts to be yourself, other people'll pay your price.
John UpdikeRead
Having children is something we think we ought to do because our parents did it, but when it is over the children are just other members of the human race, rather disappointingly.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects the ambivalence surrounding parenthood and the realization that children, while significant, are ultimately individuals in a larger society.
John Updike's quote captures a cynical perspective on parenthood, suggesting that the decision to have children can feel more like a societal obligation than a fulfilling personal choice. It highlights the idea that, despite the hopes and expectations placed on children, they ultimately grow into individual members of society, which may not align with the romanticized vision many parents hold.
Themes
ParenthoodChildrenExpectationsSocietyAmbivalence
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about societal pressures to start a family, this quote can highlight the complexities of such a decision.
More from John Updike
All quotes →Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that's the stuff life is made of. _x000D_ _x000D_ Suspect each moment, for it is a thief, tiptoeing away with more than it brings.
John UpdikeRead
Museums and bookstores should feel, I think, like vacant lots - places where the demands on us are our own demands, where the spirit can find exercise in unsupervised play.
John UpdikeRead
But it is just two lovers, holding hands and in a hurry to reach their car, their locked hands a starfish leaping through the dark.
John UpdikeRead
The reader knows the writer better than he knows himself; but the writer's physical presence is light from a star that has moved on.
John UpdikeRead
To guarantee the individual maximum freedom within a social frame of minimal laws ensures - if not happiness - its hopeful pursuit.
John UpdikeRead
Similar quotes
The legend of the best player of chess has been destroyed.
Garry KasparovRead
To Yossarian, the idea of pennants as prizes was absurd. No money went with them, no class privileges. Like Olympic medals and tennis trophies, all they signified was that the owner had done something of no benefit to anyone more capably than everyone else.
Joseph HellerRead
Life without idealism is empty indeed. We just hope or starve to death.
Pearl S. BuckRead
When a white man in Africa by accident looks into the eyes of a native and sees the human being (which it is the chief preoccupation to avoid), his sense of guilt, which he denies, fumes up in resentment and he brings down the whip.
Doris LessingRead
Out of many millions of wandering living entities, one who is very fortunate gets an opportunity to associate with a bonafide spiritual master by the grace of Krishna. By the mercy of both Krishna and the spiritual masters, such a person receives the seed of the creeper of devotional service.
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami PrabhupadaRead
I would sooner be holy than happy if the two things could be divorced. Were it possible for a man always to sorrow and yet to be pure, I would choose the sorrow if I might win the purity, for to be free from the power of sin, to be made to love holiness, is true happiness.
Charles SpurgeonRead