The commonest fallacy among women is that simply having children makes them a mother - which is as absurd as believing that having a piano makes one a musician.
Interpretation
Being a mother involves more than just giving birth; it requires active involvement and care.
In this quote, Sydney J. Harris points out the misconception that the mere act of childbirth equates to being a mother. He argues that motherhood comes with responsibilities, nurturing, and a commitment to raising a child well, similar to how one must practice and engage with music to truly be a musician, rather than just owning an instrument.
In practice
This quote can be used in a parenting workshop to emphasize the importance of active participation in a child's life.
A person is either himself or not himself; is either rooted in his existence or is a fabrication; has either found his humanhood or is still playing with masks and roles and status symbols. And nobody is more aware of this difference (although unconsciously) than a child. Only an authentic person can evoke a good response in the core of the other person; only person is resonant to person.
We evaluate others with a Godlike justice, but we want them to evaluate us with a Godlike compassion.
Man's unique agony as a species consists in his perpetual conflict between the desire to stand out and the need to blend in.
"Terrorism" is what we call the violence of the weak, and we condemn it; "war" is what we call the violence of the strong, and we glorify it.
At it's highest level, the purpose of teaching is not to teachβit is to inspire the desire for learning. Once a student's mind is set on fire, it will find a way to provide its own fuel.
You may be sure that when a man begins to call himself a realist he is preparing to do something that he is secretly ashamed of doing.
Consciousness is a singular for which there is no plural.
I am malicious because I am miserable
We are our stories. We tell them to stay alive or keep alive those who only live now in the telling.
It takes more than just a good looking body. You've got to have the heart and soul to go with it.
Death is not an ending, but a symbol of movement along the path upon which we are all traveling. As it may be painful to lose contact with the physical aspect of one we love, the Spirit can never be lost. We have been and always will be a part of each other.
There's a pervading sense of loneliness I've had since the day I was born. Maybe a lot of other people feel the same way, but I'm not about to run up and down the street asking everybody if they're as lonely as I am. I'd probably get locked up.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.