My hunch is that if we allow ourselves to give who we really are to the children in our care, we will in some way inspire cartwheels in their hearts.
Fred RogersRead
I doubt that we can ever successfully impose values or attitudes or behaviors on our children certainly not by threat, guilt, or punishment. But I do believe they can be induced through relationships where parents and children are growing together. Such relationships are, I believe, build on trust, example, talk, and caring.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Positive parenting is best achieved through nurturing relationships rather than coercion.
Fred Rogers emphasizes the importance of building strong relationships between parents and children as a foundation for instilling values and behaviors. He argues that genuine growth occurs when trust, communication, and care are present, rather than through negative reinforcement such as threats or guilt. By fostering a supportive environment, both parents and children can evolve together, creating a healthier familial bond.
Themes
ParentingRelationshipsTrustCommunicationValues
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech at a parenting seminar, this quote can be used to highlight the importance of nurturing relationships with our children.
More from Fred Rogers
All quotes →Human beings need to feel that they are lovable and capable of loving.
Fred RogersRead
Listening is a very active awareness of the coming together of at least two lives. Listening, as far as I'm concerned, is certainly a prerequisite of love. One of the most essential ways of saying 'I love you' is being a receptive listener.
Fred RogersRead
I'm fairly convinced that the Kingdom of God is for the broken-hearted. You write of 'powerlessness.' Join the club, we are not in control. God is.
Fred RogersRead
The presence of a grandparent confirms that parents were, indeed, little once, too, and that people who are little can grow to be big, can become parents, and one day even have grandchildren of their own. So often we think of grandparents as belonging to the past; but in this important way, grandparents, for young children, belong to the future.
Fred RogersRead
One of the most important gifts a parent can give a child is the gift of accepting that child's uniqueness.
Fred RogersRead
Similar quotes
When you stay present with your children, that’s where abundance is. And when you stay out of their business, that’s where everything you deserve in life is. When you’re in presence, there’s no story, and you are abundance. And you come to trust that space so often that you just eventually hang out as that, because there is nothing that can move you out of it, not even a perceived child or a perceived anything.
Byron KatieRead
My mother had a slender, small body, but a large heart-a heart so large that everybody's joys found welcome in it, and hospitable accommodation.
Mark TwainRead
Womenfolk raised me and I was full-grown before I knew I came from a broken home
Gil Scott-HeronRead
The fundamental defect of fathers, in our competitive society, is that they want their children to be a credit to them.
Bertrand RussellRead
My mother's idea of natural childbirth was giving birth without makeup. She was hyper-positive - the world is a wonderful place, rainbows and unicorns. If you said anything contrary to her, you were basically exiled.
Robin WilliamsRead
From morning till night, sounds drift from the kitchen, most of them familiar and comforting. . . . On days when warmth is the most important need of the human heart, the kitchen is the place you can find it; it dries the wet sock, it cools the hot little brain.
E. B. WhiteRead