Since the child knew his parents would give in, he tried the same trick again and again.

There’s nothing better than having a baby. I’ve always loved children. I used to work summers at the YMCA and be in charge of, like, 30 preschool kids. I knew that when I had a child, I’d be overwhelmed, and it’s true… I can’t tell you how much my attitude has changed since we’ve got Frances. Holding my baby is the best drug in the world.

Never lend your car to anyone to whom you have given birth.

If I were a woman, I would love to have lots of kids. But for men, I don’t believe in it.

You teach your daughters the diameters of the planets and wonder when you are done that they do not delight in your company.

Everybody, to some extent, manipulates. Even children learn to cry when they want something. There are all kinds of subtle things we do to get others to follow our lead, not bother us, and so on.

People are so caught in a routine, doing the same things over and over.

I’m not a fast thinker, but once I am interested in something, I am doing it for many years.

I take my kids to school. And if I go to work, I go to work, and they visit me on set. I come home. I have dinner with my family. I have breakfast with my family. I have a very solid, very warm home.

I think about the milestones from my childhood and what it will be like to watch our kids go through them. Taking Riley to her first day of school was a whirlwind. I can’t imagine what middle school is going to be like, and high school, and graduation.

My daughter doesn’t even get my humor. She’s like, ‚Um, no. I don’t get it, Dad. Mmm, no, not that one, Dad.‘

Flaming enthusiasm, backed up by horse sense and persistence, is the quality that most frequently makes for success.

It is not once nor twice but times without number that the same ideas make their appearance in the world.

Persistence is to the character of man as carbon is to steel.

In my divorce, I stood up and said to my ex-wife, ‚Hey, I messed up. This had nothing to do with you. I didn’t understand what marriage was. I cheated. I was wrong. We couldn’t fix it; it got worse. I stepped away because I didn’t want it to get any worse. You’re the mother of my kids – I don’t want to hate you.‘

Do you know what you call those who use towels and never wash them, eat meals and never do the dishes, sit in rooms they never clean, and are entertained till they drop? If you have just answered, ‚A house guest,‘ you’re wrong because I have just described my kids.

While I believed deeply in my husband’s vision for this country… and I was certain he would make an extraordinary President… like any mother, I was worried about what it would mean for our girls if he got that chance. How would we keep them grounded under the glare of the national spotlight?

I always have confidence, whether I miss four in a row or make four in a row, that the next one’s going in. To a coach, sometimes that might not make sense.

The unjustifiable severity of a parent is loaded with this aggravation, that those whom he injures are always in his sight.

What happens if you stick at something long enough, and study it for so long, you have a different kind of intelligence. It’s not an intellectual thing. It’s almost like an animal intelligence. I call it our form of instinct, almost how a lion knows exactly where its prey is.

Taking care of children has nothing to do with politics. I think perhaps with time, instead of there being a politicization of humanitarian aid, there will be a humanization of politics.

We make the Sabbath a delight when we teach the gospel to our children.

My son is becoming me – just a silly, silly prankster guy.

Most of us are raised to believe we are ordinary. The anchor of the universe is present in every child. A parent only needs to guide and step aside and let them fulfill their dharma. Help children remember that they can do or be anything.

My whole family have all been through a difficult time. My focus is my children, our children.

I was very worried about my mother, growing up – a lot. I do not want my children to be worried about me.

Of course it’s the same old story. Truth usually is the same old story.

Keep people off-balance and in the dark by never revealing the purpose behind your actions. If they have no clue what you are up to, they cannot prepare a defense.

Business opportunities are like buses, there’s always another one coming.

It took Simone a long time to understand why people want Daddy’s autograph. I’d tell her, and my wife would tell her, too, ‚People see Daddy in the movies, and they are excited to meet him.‘ But she couldn’t really grasp it.

My problem was my inability to spend much time at home. I thought my family was secure, so I went running around everyplace else. I guess I had more of an effect on other people’s kids than I did my own.

I do not think that I am a natural born mother… If I ever wanted to mother anyone, it was my father.

If you must hold yourself up to your children as an object lesson, hold yourself up as a warning and not as an example.

I don’t let a lot of reporters meet my children.

When you have kids, you see life through different eyes. You feel love more deeply and are maybe a little more compassionate. It’s inevitable that that would make its way into your songwriting.

Children wish fathers looked but with their eyes; fathers that children with their judgment looked; and either may be wrong.

I know from having had a child, and from having been a child myself, that children will copy you.

I always tried to do things by example, even though I was not a very good mother regarding routines and family life.

I will say this: one of the things that is a pain when you’re expecting children is how much advice unsolicited people give you when you’re not asking for it.

One of the things I realized is that if you do not take control over your time and your life, other people will gobble it up. If you don’t prioritize yourself, you constantly start falling lower and lower on your list, your kids fall lower and lower on your list.

Children sweeten labours, but they make misfortunes more bitter.

According to Ethiopian custom, parents wait to name a baby because children often die in the first weeks of life.

Don’t judge other people. For example, if you want God’s anointing to be on you for parenting, you need to be careful not to criticize other parents.

My next baby will be my new record.

Historically, the family has played the primary role in educating children for life, with the school providing supplemental scaffolding to the family.

With every word we utter, with every action we take, we know our kids are watching us. We as parents are their most important role models.

Be nice to your children. After all, they are going to choose your nursing home.

Many are stubborn in pursuit of the path they have chosen, few in pursuit of the goal.

I have ‚Parents‘ magazine in my home.

He who knows how to flatter also knows how to slander.

Of all nature’s gifts to the human race, what is sweeter to a man than his children?

The men who have succeeded are men who have chosen one line and stuck to it.

Be careful to leave your sons well instructed rather than rich, for the hopes of the instructed are better than the wealth of the ignorant.

History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce.

Actually, I didn’t start sweating until I had children.

Edison failed 10,000 times before he made the electric light. Do not be discouraged if you fail a few times.

Without education, your children can never really meet the challenges they will face. So it’s very important to give children education and explain that they should play a role for their country.

To bring a healthy child into this world, raise them right and watch them grow is the biggest miracle there is.

I had this child, and it destroyed my family.

Any teammate of mine that had a kid and a boy that was capable of playing baseball, I think I set a terrific example of ‚Don’t do this‘ and ‚Don’t do that.‘ And that’s one of the things that I’m most proud of.

I intend to live forever, or die trying.