By all means continue destroying my possessions. I daresay I have too many.
J. K. RowlingRead
Your great puddin' of a son don' need fattin' anymore Dursley, don't worry
Interpretation
This quote reflects a parent's acceptance of their child's identity and growth.
In this quote from J.K. Rowling, the speaker addresses a parent, reassuring them that their child is no longer in need of nurturing or protection. It conveys a sense of confidence in the child's development and individuality, emphasizing that they are capable and do not require the kind of pampering associated with being overprotective. It suggests a shift in responsibility from the parent to the child, acknowledging their maturity.
In practice
In a speech about parenting at a family gathering.
By all means continue destroying my possessions. I daresay I have too many.
Where are you heading, if you’ve got the choice?” James lifted an invisible sword. “‘Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart!’ Like my dad.” Snape made a small, disparaging noise. James turned on him. “Got a problem with that?” “No,” said Snape, though his slight sneer said otherwise. “If you’d rather be brawny than brainy —” “Where’re you hoping to go, seeing as you’re neither?” interjected Sirius.
Depression isn't just being a bit sad. It's feeling nothing. It's not wanting to be alive anymore.
I tell you, that dragon's the most horrible animal I've ever met, but the way Hagrid goes on about it, you'd think it was a fluffy little bunny rabbit.
Imagine losing fingernails, Harry! That really puts our sufferings into perspective, doesn't it?
The consequences of our actions are always so complicated, so diverse, that predicting the future is a very difficult business indeed.
Let parents bequeath to their children not riches, but the spirit of reverence.
A house is built of logs and stone, of tiles and posts and piers; a home is built of loving deeds that stand a thousand years.
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.
And that was the greatest heartbreak of all- no matter how spectacular we want our children to be, no matter how perfect we pretend they are, they are bound to disappoint. As it turns out, kids are more like us than we think: damaged, through and through.
When he died, I went about like a ragged crow telling strangers, "My father died, my father died." My indiscretion embarrassed me, but I could not help it. Without my father on his Delhi rooftop, why was I here? Without him there, why should I go back? Without that ache between us, what was I made of?
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.
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