Theodore Dalrymple Quotes

The story of Warner Brothers' movie, 'Mildred Pierce,' recounts the enormous and unrewarded sacrifices that a mother (Joan Crawford) makes for her spoiled, greedy daughter (Ann Blythe).

My father was my hero, and he died when I was 11. So, I really never experienced the kind of natural teenage rebellion or the anger at him. I never experienced those feelings as a young person.

Until late in life, I was never quite good enough for my father, and I suppose that is part of what drives me even now, well after his death in 1992.

When I was younger, I wasn't making it, and I was mad at everybody who was.

Moms and dads don't last forever. If you've got unfinished business, we need to face that, and that's not easy. Every child wants to love their mother and their father. Love is the most important thing, and when they feel rejected and unloved, that hole can never be filled by anyone else.

My father wasn't too crazy about me. I loved him anyway. One of the things I regretted for a long time was that he died before he could see that he would be proud of me. I was actually more what he wished for than he thought.

I only get angry at my brothers and at my father.

Parents forgive their children least readily for the faults they themselves instilled in them.

I haven't shaken my fists at the moon.

I only saw my father twice a year. If I'd seen him all the time I'd probably have murdered him by now. He was very strict.

If you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of your trouble, you wouldn't sit for a month.

When I was a player and hit into a double play, I felt as if I was letting everyone down.

Families can be the most detrimental things to have in your life. They are sometimes the most poisonous relationships that people have. Sometimes family is the thing that keeps you from ever achieving what you want to achieve, and yet people hold it and hold it and grab it and try to fix it and twist it and turn it.

I'm somebody who, if I went to the grocery store, and one of them wasn't with me, I would feel guilty. I would be like, 'I shouldn't be doing anything without them, anytime, ever.' A very codependent way of thinking. Also, motherhood is hugely about guilt.

I can see parts of my father in 'Kingdom' when I rage like that. I can see my father's frustrations in his life.

My dad died when I was 15 and worked way too much.

You can love and hate your family with equal measure, but the power of the bond you have to have with them, you can't really ever walk away.

I felt terrible when I went to Roma because I hadn't fulfilled the expectations of the Florentines.

I could live in a house in the sky with a golden car and have a billion dollars in the bank, and I'd still have a chip on my shoulder. When I feel slighted, I hold on to that. It's a good thing.

I don't have a chip on my shoulder. I have a boulder on my shoulder.

I'm sure it's one of the most frustrating aspects of human experience for all of us, that when we tell someone who's hurt us that they've hurt us, they tend to react with anger because they feel guilty, and we know we also get angry when we feel guilty.

I ought to file charges of uncommon stupidity against you for letting her try this alone." ~ Newt, Black Magic Sanction, Kim Harrison

Yes, it's your fault I'm alive.

Losers blame their parents; Failures blame their kids.

I gave you life. You’re wasting it.