Who of us is mature enough for offspring before the offspring themselves arrive? The value of marriage is not that adults produce children but that children produce adults.
Interpretation
This quote highlights the idea that parenting promotes maturity in adults rather than just being a means to create children.
Peter De Vries suggests that the true essence of marriage is not just to bear children, but rather that the experience of raising children is what fosters growth and maturity in adults. It implies that the responsibilities associated with parenthood shape individuals, helping them evolve into more responsible and mature beings, thereby emphasizing the transformative nature of raising offspring.
In practice
During a parenting seminar, I shared this quote to illustrate the impact of raising children on personal growth.
We must love one another, yes, yes, that's all true enough, but nothing says we have to like each other. It may be the very recognition of all men as our brothers that accounts for the sibling rivalry, and even enmity, we have toward so many of them.
I am not impressed by the Ivy League establishments. Of course they graduate the best -- it's all they'll take, leaving to others the problem of educating the country. They will give you an education the way the banks will give you money -- provided you can prove to their satisfaction that you don't need it.
There are times when parenthood seems nothing more than feeding the hand that bites you.
The universe is like a safe to which there is a combination. But the combination is locked up in the safe.
Confession is good for the soul only in the sense that a tweed coat is good for dandruff - it is a palliative rather than a remedy.
The value of marriage is not that adults produce children but that children produce adults.
I'm every father. I'm not only a black father. I'm a white father. I'm a Chinese father. I'm a Mexican father. I'm all fathers that want their sons out of the house and stop eating up all the food. Get a job, please. Stop looking at the TV.
My dad is a Chatty Cathy, the social butterfly; friendly; knows everybody in the whole world by six degrees; tells me that every performance is the greatest he's ever seen, every new outfit is the coolest. Constant cheerleader.
It was the beginning of the greatest Christmas ever. Little food. No presents. But there was a snowman in their basement.
There is no job more important than parenting. This I believe.
My dad woke up at 5:30 every morning - every single day - and drove an hour-and-a-half to work. My mom was constantly working odd jobs, whether it was at Sizzler or babysitting. I didn't realize how hard they worked. Most kids rarely do. But they were building something for us.
And I think my daughter knows now that our life is split in two. Half of the year is spent with Mommy working and the other is spent with no work in sight.
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