Jennifer Egan Quotes

Now that I have kids, I'm probably more overprotective than I've ever been. My wife's nickname for me is 'red alert.' I sometimes check just to see if the kids are breathing. But I try not to be a helicopter parent.

For me, I want my kids to find their way. If they're interested in something, I want them to try it out.

I'm not afraid to take chances or go off on my own.

I think our job as parents is to give our kids roots to grow and wings to fly.

If our parents fixed everything for us and did not allow us to do anything on our own, or intervened every single time, we would all grow up to be completely dependent.

...the more risks you allow children to take, the better they learn to take care of themselves. If you never let them take any risks, then I believe they become very prone to injury. Boys should be allowed to climb tall trees and walk along the tops of high walls and dive into the sea from high rocks... The same with girls. I like the type of child who takes risks. Better by far than the one who never does so.

Where parents do too much for their children, the children will not do much for themselves.

The more risks you allow your children to make, the better they learn to look after themselves.

I want my kids to be good. I want them to be safe and have a great, long life. And take what they need from me and leave what they don't. Definitely leave what they don't.

I've always been a risk taker. Growing up, I had a lot of freedom and room to roam and do what I wanted, and I think that's a huge part of my game.

Girls should empower themselves and be strong enough to protect themselves.

When you have responsible children, half the battle is over. So, you don't have to worry. But you are concerned. The concern will never go, and you'll always be conscious about them.

I think, initially, working on your own is really great because it allows you to just be really free and not worry about how things are perceived or if people are going to think you're an idiot. And once that becomes ingrained, at least for me, I think I'll feel really comfortable to work with other people and still feel that same freedom.

I can make my own decisions, I can do the music I like. If I fail, it's me failing - you know.

There is something so different and empowering about travelling solo. It's a unique experience and one that is so self-educating.

As a child, I was always getting into risky situations with the potential to hurt myself, but mum and dad never stopped me doing what I wanted to do, and they assumed that if I fell and hurt myself, I would learn from that and maybe not do it again.

I remember after a year in London, I was at an MTV party and a friend saying to me that it was such a brave thing to do to come over to London by myself. I never thought it was a big deal. It was my dream. I am so independent. It is just ridiculous. I am too independent for my own good.

I need to feel like I have that freedom to make mistakes and to just try things.

Children can become self-reliant and self-disciplined by being free to do what they want to do.

Traditional alpinism is to go where the others are not going and to be self-reliant.

I needed to be more self-determining, and the most self-determining thing you can do in comedy is stand-up.

I've realized that I am a strict mom. I don't want to think that nothing wrong can happen with me.

A tourist follows a trail; a mountaineer finds one.

You go real long in this business, and then you have these light-bulb moments. I just had this fleeting moment of fearlessness and a moment of trust in myself that I'm not going to listen to anyone. I'm going to do it how I want to do it. And how I want to do is what people are going to want to see and promoters want to pay for.

I worry about my children, actually. I'm trying to give them a decent upbringing but I sometimes worry that that means they're going to be kind of mediocre adults. Like maybe I should throw them out for a bit and give them some adversity.