Clifton Fadiman Quotes

My kids think I'm old and over the hill.

I think I'm a much better father as an older man than I was with my first kids. Occasionally, I have to yell at the little guys, but they don't take me seriously. 'Listen to the old guy,' they say. 'Isn't he great? He's mad.'

I do discuss things with him, but as a father, not a friend.

Judges don't age; time decorates them.

Parents are trying to be friends with their kids rather than draw the line and tell them what proper public behavior would be.

Well, I just can't play the game anymore. I'm 63 years old, and I've been in the business for 40 years now. I take good advice and direction really well, but I don't need somebody that finished college two years ago to come in and tell me what I should be recording.

We looked up to our father. He still is much greater than us.

As you get older you have more respect and empathy for your parents. Now I have a great relationship with both of them.

While they are kids, my children must do as I say.

A wise parent humors the desire for independent action, so as to become the friend and advisor when his absolute rule shall cease.

It's my old girl that advises. She has the head. But I never own to it before her. Discipline must be maintained.

What the tech industry often forgets is that with age comes wisdom. Older workers are usually better at following direction, mentoring, and leading.

My children didn't when they were little because I thought that they had to be of a certain age. I hoped they liked me well enough not to want to see me in that sort of a spot.

It's much better being an older father. You don't have to go prove to the world and to yourself that you're who you want to be, for better or worse.

If you're an old cat around young girls, you got to have somethin' to bring to the table.

I say to my kids all the time - and this is absolutely true - I always say, 'Who's the boss?' and they go, 'You are.'

If you're older, you're smarter. I just believe that. If you're in an argument with someone older than you, you should listen to 'em ... even if they're wrong, their wrongness is rooted in more information than you have.

It's very important that we instill some respect for the parents. In America especially, the kids are unruly, screaming at Mommy and Daddy, running the show.

I think you have to be a little bit strict. You can't be friend and their parent in a lot of situations, especially in this day and age where it's so dangerous for kids. So there's a bit of sternness, I guess, in the way I raise my kids.

In order to influence a child, one must be careful not to be that child's parent or grandparent.

The passions of the young are vices in the old.

Experience is a great advantage. The problem is that when you get the experience, you're too damned old to do anything about it.

Forty is when you actually begin even deserving to be on stage telling people what you think.

No matter how long he lives, no man ever becomes as wise as the average woman of forty-eight.

I'd rather be the king of kids, than the prince of fools.