Benjamin McLane Spock (May 2, 1903 – March 15, 1998) was an American pediatrician whose book Baby and Child Care, published in 1946, was one of the biggest best-sellers of all time. (Click here for full Wikipedia article)
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(Today is also the birthday of Rebecca West)
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Better to make a few mistakes from being natural than to try to do everything letter-perfect out of a feeling of worry.
Don't take too seriously all that the neighbors say. Don't be overawed by what the experts say. Don't be afraid to trust your own common sense.
Every child senses, with all the horse sense that's in him, that any parent is angry inside when children misbehave and they dread more the anger that is rarely or never expressed openly, wondering how awful it might be.
Happiness is mostly a by-product of doing what makes us feel fulfilled.
I really learned it all from mothers.
I would say that the surest measure of a man's or a woman's maturity is the harmony, style, joy, and dignity he creates in his marriage, and the pleasure and inspiration he provides for his spouse.
I've come to the realization that a lot of our problems are because of a dearth of spiritual values.
Man can be the most affectionate and altruistic of creatures, yet he's potentially more vicious than any other. He is the only one who can be persuaded to hate millions of his own kind whom he has never seen and to kill as many as he can lay his hands on in the name of his tribe or his God.
Most middle-class whites have no idea what it feels like to be subjected to police who are routinely suspicious, rude, belligerent, and brutal.
Parental trust is extremely important in the guidance of adolescent children as they get further and further away from the direct supervision of their parents and teachers. I don't mean that trust without clear guidance is enough, but guidance without trust is worthless.
Respect children because they're human beings and they deserve respect, and they'll grow up to be better people. But I've always said ask for respect from your children, ask for cooperation, ask for politeness. Give your children firm leadership.
The child supplies the power but the parents have to do the steering.
The fact is that child rearing is a long, hard job, the rewards are not always immediately obvious, the work is undervalued, and parents are just as human and almost as vulnerable as their children.
The loving person makes other people feel good, and he is usually a happy person himself. He is able to form strong, long-lasting friendships.
There are only two things a child will share willingly- communicable diseases and his mother's age.
There is no one way of raising your children.
Trust yourself. You know more than you think you do.
What is the use of physicians like myself trying to help parents to bring up children healthy and happy, to have them killed in such numbers for a cause that is ignoble?
Categories: Benjamin Spock, Quotes of the day
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