What we want is to see the child in pursuit of knowledge, and not knowledge in pursuit of the child.
George Bernard ShawRead
If you cannot get rid of the family skeleton, you may as well make it dance.
Interpretation
Embrace your family's flaws and challenges instead of hiding from them.
This quote by George Bernard Shaw suggests that rather than attempting to erase or conceal difficult truths or issues within a familyβwhat he metaphorically refers to as the 'family skeleton'βone might as well accept them and find a way to cope with or even celebrate them. It highlights the idea that acknowledging imperfections can lead to a healthier relationship with one's family and oneself.
In practice
During a family reunion, you might use this quote to lighten the mood when discussing past family issues.
What we want is to see the child in pursuit of knowledge, and not knowledge in pursuit of the child.
Marriage is good enough for the lower classes: they have facilities for desertion that are denied to us.
Forgive him, for he believes that the customs of his tribe are the laws of nature!
Those who talk most about the blessings of marriage and the constancy of its vows are the very people who declare that if the chain were broken and the prisoners left free to choose, the whole social fabric would fly asunder. You cannot have the argument both ways. If the prisoner is happy, why lock him in? If he is not, why pretend that he is?
Treat a friend as a person who may someday become your enemy; an enemy as a person who may someday become your friend.
The happiness of credulity is a cheap and dangerous quality.
I regret not having had more time with my kids when they were growing up.
Your children live or die without you. No matter what we do, no matter how we agonize or obsess, we cannot choose for our children whether they live or die. It's a devastating realization, but liberating.
Some mothers in today's world feel "cumbered" by home duties and are thus attracted by other more "romantic" challenges. Such women could make the same error of perspective that Martha made. The woman, for instance, who deserts the cradle in order to help defend civilization against the barbarians may well later meet, among the barbarians, her own neglected child.
I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father's protection.
I had a daughter who was 9 years old and I had the feeling I wasn't going to be a real parent if I didn't quit making movies for a while and spend time with her. I also felt that I'd made enough movies and said what I had to say at the time.
My mother... she is beautiful, softened at the edges and tempered with a spine of steel. I want to grow old and be like her.
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