The kids are a big part of my schedule.

Who will take responsibility for raising the next generation?

Kids will remind you that, even though you’ve gone down a road 100 times, it’s brand new for them – and that’s healthy.

Friends are thieves of time.

One cannot become a saint when one works sixteen hours a day.

I would as soon leave my son a curse as the almighty dollar.

He that raises a large family does, indeed, while he lives to observe them, stand a broader mark for sorrow; but then he stands a broader mark for pleasure too.

I always wanted a family.

Just talk to me as a father – not what the Constitution says. What do you feel?

If you calculate 15 minutes a day to shave, that is 5,000 minutes a year spent shaving.

When you’re around the kids, you feel like you act the most grown up just because you’re supposed to lead. I say things, like every other parent, that reminds you of your own parents. One thing I do know about being a parent, you understand why your father was in a bad mood a lot.

I believe everyone should have a good death. You know, with your grandchildren around you, a bit of sobbing. Because after all, tears are appropriate on a death bed. And you say goodbye to your loved ones, making certain that one of them has been left behind to look after the shop.

I love being American, and I love family. I love having a family, and I feel so blessed, and I feel like God gave me exactly what I wanted, so now I have to do the right thing in God’s eyes also. Just follow what God wants me to do.

My ultimate life dream project is my kids. My family.

I was baptized by my father when I was 4 years old.

Part of our tradition as black women is that we are universalists. Black children, yellow children, red children, brown children, that is the black woman’s normal, day-to-day relationship. In my family alone, we are about four different colors.

Clearly this is a tough economic time, and a lot of families are hurting. So when we talk to parents, we talk about small changes for kids and things that don’t cost extra money. Like adding water and eliminating sugary drinks and sodas. That’s going to save money right there. Or adding a few more vegetables.

The ideal death, I think, is what was the ideal Victorian death, you know, with your grandchildren around you, a bit of sobbing. And you say goodbye to your loved ones, making certain that one of them has been left behind to look after the shop.

I have no time to think about other writers. I am too busy with my own problems.

I think, because I started Virgin when I was a teenager, it has become a part of me, like my family, and I am motivated by ambition for it, almost as if it were a child.

I am like a man so busy in letting rooms in one end of his house, that he can’t stop to put out the fire that is burning the other.

An armchair Jungian would say the whole thing is about my own ongoing spiritual search. My interior life has always been one of trying to find a spiritual link, maybe because I’m from a family of separate religious philosophies: Protestant and Catholic.

I had my first baby at twenty-one.

Any man can call time out, but no man can say how long the time out will be.

I have a little bit of that gamer spirit in me. I just don’t have the time to be a gamer. But in another life, I would be one.

A family shares hardships and a connected history.

As a father, safety is always a top of mind issue for me.

I can have people around a lot more because I’m not always chasing them away so I can work on my novel. My non-novel, I mean.

As a single withered tree, if set aflame, causes a whole forest to burn, so does a rascal son destroy a whole family.

To be honest, I think kids have got a lot more going on than adults. They’ve got their heads screwed on a lot better.

My experiences in life are getting bigger and better. The more stuff I do, the more stuff I talk about – having kids, traveling, going through relationship problems, dealing with things in my own family. All that stuff builds character.

My own eight children all march to the beat of their inner music, and in some cases, it is definitely far away from what I hear. I’ve had to honor their instincts and their choices, and merely guided them out of harm’s way until they could be their own guides.

Whenever something went wrong when I was young – if I had a pimple or if my hair broke – my mom would say, ‚Sister mine, I’m going to make you some soup.‘ And I really thought the soup would make my pimple go away or my hair stronger.

It takes three to make a child.

There is no such thing as fun for the whole family.

I think a simple rule of business is, if you do the things that are easier first, then you can actually make a lot of progress.

He didn’t come out of my belly, but my God, I’ve made his bones, because I’ve attended to every meal, and how he sleeps, and the fact that he swims like a fish because I took him to the ocean. I’m so proud of all those things. But he is my biggest pride.

Good executives never put off until tomorrow what they can get someone else to do today.

Heavenly Father loves every one of His children. After all, He is their Father.

I sang a song at my sister’s wedding. My mother forced me into that, too. But that one felt all right.

Time and money spent in helping men to do more for themselves is far better than mere giving.

My parents taught me never to judge others based on whom they love, what color their skin is, or their religion.

I didn’t have a father figure in the house.

Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.

Sometimes if you got a problem deep rooted in your life, it takes a little bit of time to overcome it in that area.

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

Plan your work for today and every day, then work your plan.

No man goes before his time – unless the boss leaves early.

Love begins by taking care of the closest ones – the ones at home.

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

People who have time on their hands will inevitably waste the time of people who have work to do.

Live so that when your children think of fairness, caring, and integrity, they think of you.

My friends ask me if I want more kids, and I always say yes, I want more; it’s the best thing you can have in your life.

My father opened a restaurant. It’s so amazing… it’s so freaking delicious, but I’m telling you I gain five pounds every time I go in there.

My family has never been there for me. They expect things because we’re blood.

The least productive people are usually the ones who are most in favor of holding meetings.

I like to do things quickly because I’m easily bored.

God’s dream is that you and I and all of us will realize that we are family, that we are made for togetherness, for goodness, and for compassion.

I always had a sense of discipline in me. However, there was a time when I couldn’t divide my time properly between off-field things and on-field assignments. The focus would be missing at times, and that would affect my preparation for matches. I managed to change that.

Mothers all want their sons to grow up to be president, but they don’t want them to become politicians in the process.

As a father and now a grandfather to three wonderful grandchildren, I know how magical the first year of a child’s life is but also how much hard work it takes. Being able to spend as much time as possible with your loved ones is absolutely vital, especially early on.