QuoteProject
Our dad hugged us and kissed us so much that some friends and relatives complained that he was going to turn us into sissies or homosexuals. But my dad didn't care. Let them raise their kids in a reserved and reticent way. He grew up in Israel, and his boys were going to be hugged and kissed by their father and know they were loved.
Ezekiel Emanuel
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Parental affection is essential for emotional well-being, regardless of societal opinions.

In this quote, Ezekiel Emanuel reflects on the unconditional love and affection his father showed him and his siblings through physical displays of affection like hugging and kissing. Despite external criticism suggesting that such displays could harm their masculinity or sexuality, Emanuel's father remained steadfast in his belief that demonstrating love is paramount, emphasizing the importance of emotional connection and support within a family, particularly in creating a nurturing environment for children.

Themes

AffectionLoveParentingFamilyMasculinity

In practice

Example use cases

During a family gathering, I shared this quote to highlight the importance of showing love and affection to children.

More from Ezekiel Emanuel

There's nothing to be gained, and much to be lost, in trying to bend every child to match a one-size-fits-all notion of what it means to be a boy or girl of a specific age. Better to set a few parameters and then go with the flow. Call it 'jazz parenting.'
Ezekiel EmanuelRead
We had a big controversy in the United States when there was a limited number of dialysis machines. In Seattle, they appointed what they called a 'God committee' to choose who should get it, and that committee was eventually abandoned. Society ended up paying the whole bill for dialysis instead of having people make those decisions.
Ezekiel EmanuelRead
Patients who are being kept alive by technology and want to end their lives already have a recognized constitutional right to stop any and all medical interventions, from respirators to antibiotics. They do not need physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia.
Ezekiel EmanuelRead
As an academic, what do you have? You have the quality of your work and the integrity with which you do it.
Ezekiel EmanuelRead
The death of a 20-year-old woman is intuitively worse than that of a 2-month-old girl, even though the baby has had less life. The 20-year-old has a much more developed personality than the infant, and has drawn upon the investment of others to begin as-yet-unfulfilled projects.
Ezekiel EmanuelRead
Childhood vaccines are one of the great triumphs of modern medicine. Indeed, parents whose children are vaccinated no longer have to worry about their child's death or disability from whooping cough, polio, diphtheria, hepatitis, or a host of other infections.
Ezekiel EmanuelRead

Similar quotes

It is the logic of consumerism that undermines the values of loyalty and permanence and promotes a different set of values that is destructive of family life.
Christopher LaschRead
Just as my search for my mother had in some ways shaped my life, her faith that I was alive had shaped hers. She couldn't search, but she did the next best thing: She stayed still.
Saroo BrierleyRead
Affirming words from moms and dads are like light switches. Speak a word of affirmation at the right moment in a child's life and it's like lighting up a whole roomful of possibilities.
Gary SmalleyRead
People have to understand how important it is for kids to be nurtured by their mom and dad and get the great role modeling when they are young.
Tony DungyRead
I had a lovely, feral, free childhood - out and then come back when you're hungry or it gets too dark. I feel slightly cruel that I'm not offering my children the same.
Olivia ColmanRead
My mother told me once that she had her talk with God whenever she started a new sweater: 'Please don't take me in the middle of the sweater.' And as soon as she finished knitting a sweater, and it was blocked and put together, she already had the wool to start the next sweater so that nothing bad would happen.
Judy BlumeRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.