Barry Levinson Quotes

Nobody seems to know yet how television is going to affect the radio, movies, love, housekeeping or the church, but it has definitely revived vaudeville.

I was quite able at the insignificant work I did in MI6, but absolutely dysfunctional in my domestic life. I had no experience of fatherhood. I had no example of marital bliss or the family unit.

The concept of the strong linkage to the family is breaking down in Western nations.

The main interest of most members of the Christian Coalition is the breakdown of the family. I think that's our biggest problem, and if the whole country was as concerned and active in issues of the family as members of the Christian Coalition are, we'd probably be better off as a country.

It's really important to recognize that family life in America has changed pretty dramatically.

… the idea that children have rights they can claim against their parents, rather than obligations, seems to strike at the heart of the most valued social institution of all, the family.

In families you can find the source of every human drama. It is interesting because the cell of a society, the cell of a country, the cell of humanity - everything lies in the family.

Every generation revolts against its fathers and makes friends with its grandfathers.

Everything has changed in recent decades - the economy, technology, cultural attitudes, the demographics of the workforce, the role of women in society and the structure of the American family. It's about time our laws caught up. We watch 'Modern Family' on television, but we're still living by 'Leave It To Beaver' rules.

I think television has had a vast, unbelievable impact on us.

We're never going to have democratic countries or peaceful countries until we have democratic or peaceful families.

The attempt to redefine the family as a purely voluntary arrangement grows out of the modern delusion that people can keep all their options open all the time.

For hundreds of years, that was the major form of entertainment: The grown-ups sat around and watched the kids play. Now they sit around and watch the television. The actors are the kids.

A growing awareness of the depth of popular attachment to the family has led some liberals to concede that family is not just a buzzword for reaction.

I don't think children themselves have changed that much. It's the world that has changed.

This is my life. I don't need a piece of paper to make it a family unit.

Nothing seems to matter but ourselves. That's not how I was brought up. I don't recognize the country I live in anymore.

These days politics, religion, media seem to get all mixed up. Television became the new religion a long time back and the media has taken over.

I am hoping, though, that many of them have kids, who, when they have a moment to take a break from their iPods, Internet, or Google, will explain to their parents running the country just how the world is being flattened.

Television has changed the American child from an irresistable force to an immovable object.

In most places and times in human history, babies have had not just one person but lots of people around who were really paying attention to them around, dedicated to them, cared to them, were related to them. I think the big shift in our culture is the isolation in which many children are growing up.

As a society, we've evolved, and we've recognized that the American family structure has undergone enormous changes. Divorce is all around us, and who among us doesn't know someone who is divorced or has been impacted by divorce. It's not as scandalous as it was.

Athenians govern the Greeks; I govern the Athenians; you, my wife, govern me; your son governs you.

Cultures need stable families to raise stable children.

When I was a boy, there were three influences on children. The school, the family, and the church. Now there is a fourth---television.