Bruno Bettelheim Quotes

I sincerely believe that for the child, and for the parent seeking to guide him, it is not half so important to 'know' as to 'feel'.

The moment when you are most repelled by a child's behavior, that is your warning light to draw the very closest to that child.

Here is the beginning of understanding: most parents are doing their best, and most children are doing their best, and they're doing pretty well, all things considered.

It is much easier to condemn a child than to understand a child.

I try to listen to my children. I try to change with my children.

Many people think that discipline is the essence of parenting. But that isn't parenting. Parenting is not telling your child what to do when he or she misbehaves. Parenting is providing the conditions in which a child can realize his or her full human potential.

Kids need to open up to their parents. And parents should realize that when kids are pushing you away, that's the time to really step in.

With my son, falling off his bike is usually what makes him upset, so a hug goes a long way. But girls are more complicated; my daughter will get bummed out because her friend hurt her feelings. In that case, we'll talk about it. I'll tell her that she's a great friend, and that she needs to talk to her friends about it.

Kids teach you a lot of patience.

Children love and want to be loved and they very much prefer the joy of accomplishment to the triumph of hateful failure. Do not mistake a child for his symptom.

It's tough to work with kids. Kids are animals!

It's harder for me, never having brought up a child, to enter the universe of the child.

You have to empathize with your children. If you love them, you never really get too angry with them when they make a mistake, because kids are expected to make mistakes. Having children, you start to see yourself through them.

If you see in your children most of your own faults, you have failed as a parent, but succeeded as a neurotic.

Children almost always hang onto things tighter than their parents think they will.

A parent who has never apologized to his children is a monster. If he's always apologizing, his children are monsters.

There is but one way to eliminate juvenile delinquency - that is by providing each child in America with competent parents.

In order for me to parent well I have to empathize and stay open with my son.

Leave your pride, ego, and narcissism somewhere else. Reactions from those parts of you will reinforce your children's most primitive fears.

Obviously, you want to teach your child between right and wrong, respect and being kind to others, whether it's their sisters or parents. You try to teach them by example, talk to them and explain certain situations. But there's also a time to put them in time out or let them know they've made a mistake and try to learn from it.

To implant fear in the minds of children is a crime. If parents try to rule the child by fear, then fear rules the child.

If you can control your behavior when everything around you is out of control, you can model for your children a valuable lesson in patience and understanding... and snatch an opportunity to shape character.

Reasoning with a child is fine, if you can reach the child's reason without destroying your own.

The one thing I think you must do is, as painful as it is as a parent, is listen.

I've decided to tell my kids things like: 'I love the way each of you tilted back your heads when you laughed.' I will give them specific stuff they can grasp.