Monty Don Quotes

My father was very strong. I don't agree with a lot of the ways he brought me up. I don't agree with a lot of his values, but he did have a lot of integrity, and if he told us not to do something, he didn't do it either.

I know that everything my dad made me do made me better.

John and I were lucky because our mother was a strong woman with high expectations and a strong sense of values. She encouraged us to pursue things we were interested in and not think about what other people wanted us to do.

My parents gave me a strict upbringing, which at times has caused me to suffer distress but today I am grateful to them for it.

I want to learn from the mistakes my dad made.

When I was growing up my mother would say, 'Your dad may have to learn about being a father because he lost his own and that would have affected him'.

Hopefully the new breed of kids won't have to go through that hard lesson - my kids, my grandkids, my fans' kids, hopefully they won't have to go through it.

The best you can do is set your kids on the right track; staying on it without falling is up to the kids.

There will be no 'Mommie Dearest' in the lives of my children, and no books like the one the Crosby boy wrote about Bing, or Bette Davis's daughter has written. My children love me very much, and they are loved.

My father wasn't the best role model to me.

Our father always made us work. I think that's the greatest thing a parent could ever do.

If my parents didn't raise me in the way that they did, I wouldn't be in the position I am now. They raised me very independent and taught me you can do anything you want to. I have an average-sized brother and an average-sized sister, and I had to do everything they had to.

I can still hear my mom's voice echoing through the house, reminding me and my siblings to 'Make your beds!' It seems like such a small thing, but when you're one of 15 brothers and sisters like me, those small reminders about the importance of discipline and order are critical.

I was kicked out of the house, and I was really difficult as a kid. I'm happy it happened because I was able to grow so much from it, you know? It's always hurtful to feel that you can't be on the same page with people that you love as much as your family. Sometimes they don't know how to deal with all the things that are coming at them.

My dad was trying to prepare me for what he went through as a kid.

I learned from my dad and my mom somebody should only have to tell you once. Whether it's me getting in trouble, they said I should only have to tell you once. I've kind of took that and made that for all aspects.

My father had his demons; our relationship was difficult and fractured. But I don't ever think, 'Poor me,' I just feel blessed that I had my mother. She was such a great mum.

To me, it felt that if I give up my name, I am also sending a message to my children, saying my name was not important enough as your father's; I am not as important as your father. That is a message we are passing down generation after generation without realising.

Wounded?” was all I could manage. “Yes,” said Pat. “And you’re wounded in the same place. That’s what fathers do if they don’t heal their wounds. They wound their children in the same place.

I had lost my sister recently, too, which meant that my whole family was gone. I was the baby of the family. There were five Sendaks and there were five Wild Things, and now there's only one Sendak, and he's about to bite the dust, too! Life, as I said before, was very difficult at that time and so it was natural that there would be a change in the look of things. Also, I was very impressed with my own strength in doing this under the circumstances in which I was living.

And in the same way, FDR's not much of a father. Although the children in all their memoirs really talk about what a fun-loving guy Dad was, and how brooding and unhappy Mom was. The children sort of blame it all on the mother. Well, this is kind of standard and typical, and aggrieved Eleanor Roosevelt that she was not a happier mother. She wanted to be a happier mother. And I must say, she was a happier grandmother.

Family are the people who must make you feel ashamed when you are deserving of shame.

One thing I did have under my belt was, my mother lost her mother when she was 11. She mourned her mother her whole life and made my grandmother seem present even though I never met her. I couldn't imagine how my mom could go on but she did, she took care of us, she worked two jobs and had four children. She was such a good example of how to conduct oneself in a time of grief. When I lost my husband, I tried to model myself as much as I could on her.

I've seen my whole family struggle, with money, with relationships, with alcohol, and I thought there must be a better way. As you mature, you realize you don't choose your parents. It's not your fault what they do and you should not be ashamed.

I respect Donald Trump's children. His children are incredibly able and devoted, and I think that says a lot about Donald. I don't agree with nearly anything else he says or does, but I do respect that. And I think that is something that as a mother and a grandmother is very important to me.