When a child is locked in the bathroom with water running and he says he’s doing nothing but the dog is barking, call 911.

I do not like broccoli. And I haven’t liked it since I was a little kid and my mother made me eat it. And I’m President of the United States and I’m not going to eat any more broccoli.

Whoever does not have a good father should procure one.

My mother, I suppose, is still a main figure in my life because her life was so sad and unfair, and she so brave, but also because she was determined to make me into the Sunday-school-recitation little girl I was, from the age of seven or so, fighting not to be.

Children make your life important.

Which painting in the National Gallery would I save if there was a fire? The one nearest the door of course.

As a mom, I know it is my responsibility, and no one else’s, to raise my kids. But we have to ask ourselves, what does it mean when so many parents are finding their best efforts undermined by an avalanche of advertisements aimed at our kids.

I’ve always put everybody else’s child first before my own health, before my own outfit, before my own time frame.

The side of fairytales I don’t like is that they always have happy endings, that there’s just good and evil, and things are perfect. But life is a little more complicated, and that’s what I try to teach my kids.

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

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.

Modern cynics and skeptics… see no harm in paying those to whom they entrust the minds of their children a smaller wage than is paid to those to whom they entrust the care of their plumbing.

There is nothing so strong or safe in an emergency of life as the simple truth.

We cannot fashion our children after our desires, we must have them and love them as God has given them to us.

I love being a dad. I just love it.

Ultimately this issue is on us. We’re the ones who make the decisions about what our kids eat.

People wonder aloud about whether I am an okay mother. That is obviously painful because it’s so important to me. It’s hard to hear that people think I’m not a capable mother and a good person, that they just think I’m nuts.

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

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

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 want parents to teach that academic intelligence is essential, but so is financial intelligence.

The moment you have a child, in an instant your life is not for you, and your life is completely, 100 percent dedicated to another human being, and they will always come first. It changes you forever. It changes your perspective, and it gives you a nice purpose and focus.

When we talk about mortality, we are talking about our children.

Never have more children than you have car windows.

The biggest thrill a ballplayer can have is when your son takes after you. That happened when my Bobby was in his championship Little League game. He really showed me something. Struck out three times. Made an error that lost the game. Parents were throwing things at our car and swearing at us as we drove off. Gosh, I was proud.

Those who educate children well are more to be honored than they who produce them; for these only gave them life, those the art of living well.

These technologies can make life easier, can let us touch people we might not otherwise. You may have a child with a birth defect and be able to get in touch with other parents and support groups, get medical information, the latest experimental drugs. These things can profoundly influence life. I’m not downplaying that.

I have a brother and sister; my mother does not care for thought, and father, too busy with his briefs to notice what we do. He buys me many books, but begs me not to read them, because he fears they joggle the mind.

I would like to see people more aware of where their food comes from. I would like to see small farmers empowered. I feed my daughter almost exclusively organic food.

I’m sure most parents read to their children to explain what certain things mean. So books are a good way to convey a message to anybody. Everybody reads.

I go to sleep thinking about my kids being spoiled and I wake up thinking about it.

But I was the most unashamed lone parent you were ever going to meet.

Someday I want to have children and give them all the love I never had.

I think a father is important for everyone. If you don’t have, then maybe not so much. In the world today, it’s possible that you grow up with only one parent in the family.

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

I understand the importance of bondage between parent and child.

Brad and I have never wanted our kids to be actors, but we also want them to be around film and be a part of Mommy and Daddy’s life and for it not to be kept from them, either. We just want them to have a good, healthy relationship with it.

It takes three to make a child.

I used to meditate all the time in bed. That was when I was raising my daughter, and I’d get her up and off to school, and then I would go back to bed and meditate. And then I would do the same in the evening, and that was very good for that period because I had so many things to juggle as a single mother.

If you’re working 50 hours a week to try to maintain family income, and your children have the kinds of aspirations that come from being flooded with television from age one, and associations have declined, people end up hopeless, even though they have every option.

I want my kids to see me as Dad, for God’s sake, not a television personality.

I don’t think my parents liked me. They put a live teddy bear in my crib.

There is a ‚sanctity‘ involved with bringing a child into this world: it is better than bombing one out of it.

Giving responsibility is the key to success with boys, especially with the rowdiest and most difficult boys.

If you raise your children to feel that they can accomplish any goal or task they decide upon, you will have succeeded as a parent and you will have given your children the greatest of all blessings.

After momma gave birth to 12 of us kids, we put her up on a pedestal. It was mostly to keep Daddy away from her.

I poured spot remover on my dog. Now he’s gone.

You definitely want your kids to understand their heritage, but I don’t want my kids to just focus on being black. They are people. I don’t want them to judge other people or to be judged. I want them to be good people, so good people will treat them accordingly. I preach that to my kids and everything else falls into place.

If you’re the parent, be a parent. You know what I mean? I’m a parent. I have daughters.

There’s no political point worth my son’s life.

Let parents bequeath to their children not riches, but the spirit of reverence.

My mother had a great deal of trouble with me, but I think she enjoyed it.

I would say the most satisfying thing actually is watching my three children each pick up on their own interests and work many more hours per week than most people that have jobs at trying to intelligently give away that money in fields that they particularly care about.

You see, at the end of the day, my most important title is still ‚mom-in-chief.‘ My daughters are still the heart of my heart and the center of my world.

The great thing about having a bunch of kids is they just remind you that you’re the person who takes them to go poop!

Children are our most valuable natural resource.

We’re all bombarded with so many dietary messages that it’s hard to find time to sort through all this information, but we do have time to take a look at our kids‘ plates.

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.

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

If you are a parent, you have probably already realized that your children are always watching what you do. And just as children watch their parents and emulate their behavior, so do employees who are watching their bosses.

You can never really live anyone else’s life, not even your child’s. The influence you exert is through your own life, and what you’ve become yourself.