9 Quotes about What It Means to Be a Parent
Parents wear many different hats, from teacher and nurturer to entertainer and provider. Some people call it the most important job in the world – and the UN full-heartedly agrees. Today is Global Day of Parents, an occasion to honor and thank all of the wonderful parents out there who have taken on the lifetime responsibility of caring and loving their children.
MORE: Daily inspirational quotes from Goodnet
For those who have parents and those who are parents, take a moment to step back and smile for all that you give and receive with these nine beautiful quotes about parenthood.
1. “To the world you may be one person; but to one person you may be the world.”
– Dr. Seuss, writer and cartoonist
Children look up to their parents. [Steve Buckley / Shutterstock.com]
2. “Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.”
– Elizabeth Stone, teacher and author
Wearing your heart on your sleeve. [Tetyana Kaganska / Shutterstock.com]
3. “One thing I had learned from watching chimpanzees with their infants is that having a child should be fun.”
– Jane Goodall, primatologist, ethologist, anthropologist
A chimpanzee mother and baby. [Shutterstock]
4. “Your children need your presence more than your presents.”
– Jesse Jackson, American civil rights activist and Baptist minister
Quality family time means tuning in to one another. [wavebreakmedia / Shutterstock.com]
4. “There really are places in the heart you don’t even know exist until you love a child.”
– Anne Lamott, novelist and nonfiction writer
Kids have the ability to unlock those undiscovered places of loving and caring. [Evgeny Atamanenko / Shutterstock.org]
5. “Give the ones you love wings to fly, roots to come back and reasons to stay.”
– The 14th Dalai Lama, Tibetan spiritual leader and advocate for peace
Parents can imbue kids with a sense of confidence so that they may explore, discover and grow. [Sunny studio / Shutterstock.com]
6. “Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person’s character lies in their own hands.”
– Anne Frank, diarist and writer
Parents provide the building blocks of relationships, values and behaviors, as modeled by their parents. [Daxiao Productions / Shutterstock.com]
7. “Parenthood… It’s about guiding the next generation, and forgiving the last.”
– Peter Krause, actor
Families represent an ongoing cycle of growth. [fizkes / Shutterstock.com]
9. “Children are apt to live up to what you believe of them.”
– Lady Bird Johnson, Former First Lady of the United States
