My husband and I had to raise five of my younger brothers and sisters. They lived with us. We sent them to school.
Dolly PartonI’m just wanting to make the proper breakfast and keep the house. That’s my passion. At the request of my kids, I’m taking cooking classes. As I go to sleep at night, I think, ‚Did I do a great job as a mom, or was that an average day?‘
Angelina JolieBrad will tell you. He puts a movie on, I’m asleep in 10 minutes. I have no patience. But the kids love action movies with comedy, Jackie Chan and all that.
Angelina JolieI never had a mother. I suppose a mother is one to whom you hurry when you are troubled.
Emily DickinsonI don’t let a lot of reporters meet my children.
Angelina JolieI refuse to feel guilty. I feel guilty about too much in my life but not about money. I went through periods when I had nothing, so somebody in my family has to get stinkin‘ wealthy.
Jim CarreyBut, you know, you can’t be a star at home.
Jim CarreyThat’s the most terrible thing about being an author – standing there at your mother’s funeral, but you don’t switch the author off. So your own innermost thoughts are grist for the mill. Who was it said – one of the famous lady novelists – ‚unhappy is the family that contains an author‘?
Terry PratchettI remember my mother’s prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life.
Abraham LincolnI wasn’t allowed to go to movies when I was kid; my father was a minister. 101 Dalmatians and King of Kings, that was the extent of it.
Denzel WashingtonI’ve never been a hands-on dad. I’m not ashamed to admit it, but you can’t run a restaurant and be home for tea at 4:30 and bath and change nappies.
Gordon RamsayI 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.
Alice WalkerMy father wasn’t a cruel man. And I loved him. But he was a pretty tough character. His own father was even tougher – one of those Victorians, hard as iron – but my dad was tough enough.
Anthony Hopkins‚Love Story‘ is actually about a guy that I almost dated. But when I introduced him to my family and my friends, they all said they didn’t like him. All of them!
Taylor SwiftI was set free because my greatest fear had been realized, and I still had a daughter who I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became a solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.
J. K. RowlingI had a really good childhood up until I was nine, then a classic case of divorce really affected me.
Kurt CobainI think I have had so much blessing – I’ve had my brother, who was brilliant – I think my family came closest to making a genius when they made my brother – Bailey was just all of that. He loved me.
Maya AngelouI don’t feel much pressure to fit in. I never have. I’ve always just wanted to do my thing. I have really good friends and good family, and if I don’t fit in somewhere else, I fit in at home.
Ariana GrandeI’m happy that I have my family, and I’m happy that I had Virginia, where I grew up, to retreat to any time I felt overwhelmed. Whenever there were times when I felt like the rug was being pulled out from under me and I was floating in this crazy space, I would stop and go back to that neighborhood and realize nothing’s changed, really.
Dave GrohlI’ve been through natural disasters. I lived down in Miami and was down there for Hurricane Andrew which was a Category 5. There were members of my family that thought they were going to die. Everyone was in the bathtub.
Dwayne JohnsonI don’t even call them fans. I don’t like that. They’re literally just a part of my life; they’re a part of my family. I don’t think of them as on a lower level than me. I don’t think I’m anything but equal to all of them. So yeah, they’re basically all of my siblings.
Billie EilishThat’s what I do this for, to secure my family’s future. I don’t care about anything else. I’m able to spoil people, and that’s the best thing.
Conor McGregorI’ve always felt heroic about my life… As a child, I remember little girls in the playground moaning about how boys could do more than they could. I didn’t think that was the case at all. My parents didn’t treat me as a girl.
Vivienne WestwoodThanksgiving dinners take eighteen hours to prepare. They are consumed in twelve minutes. Half-times take twelve minutes. This is not coincidence.
Erma BombeckI soothe my conscience now with the thought that it is better for hard words to be on paper than that Mummy should carry them in her heart.
Anne FrankIf a woman can, by careful selection of a father and nourishment of herself, produce a citizen with efficient senses, sound organs and a good digestion, she should clearly be secured a sufficient reward for that natural service to make her willing to undertake and repeat it.
George Bernard ShawI’m not a parenting expert. In fact, I’m not sure that I even believe in the idea of ‚parenting experts.‘ I’m an engaged, imperfect parent and a passionate researcher. I’m an experienced mapmaker and a stumbling traveler. Like many of you, parenting is by far my boldest and most daring adventure.
Brene BrownPerhaps the greatest social service that can be rendered by anybody to the country and to mankind is to bring up a family.
George Bernard ShawMy mom, she was a very, very soft woman. It was hard for her to yell or even curse. But when it came to fighting for her kids, she found a strength she didn’t always know she had.
Angelina JolieModern 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.
John F. KennedyIf you want someone to say, ‚She’s so sweet, and she’s so cute, and, honey, point your foot,‘ that’s not my school. You can go to the YMCA and have a nobody teach your kid if that’s what you want to hear.
Abby Lee MillerDon’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.
Joyce MeyerMy chances of developing breast cancer have dropped from 87 percent to under 5 percent. I can tell my children that they don’t need to fear they will lose me to breast cancer.
Angelina JolieWhenever 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.
Maya AngelouNo matter what, I always make it home for Christmas. I love to go to my Tennessee Mountain Home and invite all of my nieces and nephews and their spouses and kids and do what we all like to do – eat, laugh, trade presents and just enjoy each other… and sometimes I even dress up like Santa Claus!
Dolly PartonFor me, the opposite of scarcity is not abundance. It’s enough. I’m enough. My kids are enough.
Brene BrownMaria is the best reason to come home.
Arnold SchwarzeneggerAll the songs I write are about human dynamics, whether it’s with girlfriends, boyfriends, or family.
Amy WinehouseNone of my kids want to be actors. They are actually very interested in being musicians. I think they like the process of film from the outside. Mad is interested in editing. Pax loves music and deejaying.
Angelina JolieI didn’t have any children of my own.
Abby Lee MillerMy fans saw me get engaged, saw me make that woman my wife, me having kids, me divorcing, me talking about divorce before the divorce, me talking about my kids‘ reaction to that divorce.
Kevin HartI’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.
Joyce MeyerYou are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
Khalil GibranA mother defends herself with a heart filled with love before doing so with words. I wonder whether there is any love for the church in the hearts of those who pay so much attention to the scandals.
Pope FrancisReturning to your family and where you came from, and your history… this is what makes you strong. It’s not looking out that’s going to do that – it’s looking in.
Lady GagaLike all the best families, we have our share of eccentricities, of impetuous and wayward youngsters and of family disagreements.
Queen Elizabeth IIThere’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.
Kurt CobainI would as soon leave my son a curse as the almighty dollar.
Andrew CarnegieI have spent so much time and so much energy making other people’s children stars.
Abby Lee MillerI actually feel like women in my position, when we have all at our disposal to help us, shouldn’t complain when we consider all of the people who are really struggling and don’t have the means or support. Many people are single, raising children. That’s hard.
Angelina JolieOur lifestyle was not in any way a negative. That was not the problem. That is and will remain one of the wonderful opportunities we are able to give our children.
Angelina JolieMy brother Bob doesn’t want to be in government – he promised Dad he’d go straight.
John F. KennedyAll men are children, and of one family. The same tale sends them all to bed, and wakes them in the morning.
Henry David ThoreauThe place of the father in the modern suburban family is a very small one, particularly if he plays golf.
Bertrand RussellBeing the only man in the household with my mom definitely helped me grow up fast.
LeBron JamesOnce you have six children, you’re committed.
Angelina JolieTreat your children like the blessings they are or don’t have them at all.
John KennedyMarriage is a school itself. Also, having children. Becoming a father changed my whole life. It taught me as if by revelation.
Abraham MaslowMy son has died of AIDS.
Nelson MandelaThere was the time I bought three cars in the span of three or four weeks. It was crazy; it wasn’t greedy. It was mine, my girl’s, my mom’s. I got Benzes for my ladies. But I felt crazy. You have to understand I come from a world where we’re very modest. But that’s not greedy. That’s nice, right?
J. Cole