Quotes

“The child must know that he is a miracle, that since the beginning of the world there hasn’t been, and until the end of the world there will not be, another child like him.”
–Pablo Casals

I think that this is a beautiful quote. Whether we tell them directly, or let them know through our actions (preferably both!), children need to know how special they are.

It’s very important that we choose our actions carefully, however. There are too many children in this country who associate material possessions with their self-worth. For me, a kind word, or some quality time with my son does wonders in communicating to him that he is important to me. When it comes to material things, both my husband and I make sure that the gifts are few and far between. He doesn’t expect anything when he goes into the store, for example.

Just keeping in mind that any child should never be taken for granted will help us all to lead better lives. What do you think?

“While we try to teach our children all about life,
Our children teach us what life is all about.”
–Angela Schwindt

We all need to slow down a bit and absorb this quote. I think that part of the problem in society today is that we aren’t taking enough time to learn from our kids. I’m not saying that we all need to act like immature children, but we do need to slow down and take the time to appreciate what wonderful gifts they are and their sense of wonder.

I see a lot of kids these days who are another task on their parents to-do list. Drop off the kid at daycare on the way to work, pick the kid up, feed them, and put them to bed. Lather, rinse, and repeat. I understand that people have hectic, busy schedules, but we need to slow down enough to take even the smallest amounts of time to listen and appreciate our little ones. Sing a song with the kids on the way to daycare, or ask them about their day on the way home. Read an extra story at bedtime. Just showing kids that we care can mean so much to them.

They’ll learn about life soon enough - too soon, in the opinion of some.

“If our American way of life fails the child, it fails us all.”
–Pearl S. Buck

As a member of the “sandwich” generation, where it is more common to be caring for both children and elders at the same time, I feel that America has already failed us to some degree. My mom is worrying about Social Security being there for her, my grandmother is using her Social Security to budget to the nearest dollar, and my expectation is that I won’t be getting Social Security at all. With enough time to plan for retirement, I am fine. But my parents and grandparents deserve to not have to worry so much.

And that’s just us older folks! With the ballooning costs of higher education, I don’t see things looking brighter for my young son. And my son is so blessed. He has health care, food on the table, warm clothes to wear, and a caring family. He even has a college fund! But many of his little friends are not so lucky.

I think that the American dream is failing our children. A large house and new cars are nice, but this form of the American dream is leaving out all of the quality time that our children need. Maybe I am just old-fashioned, but I think a return to simpler times where we live more modestly would benefit our children most!

“Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.”
–Albert Einstein

This is a great quote! What do you think about the role of imagination in a child’s life? In an adults?

Personally, I love watching the imagination of children. Anything is possible, and they are so creative in their endeavors. In a majority of cases, I think that it is healthy to let children engage in imaginary play - it helps them to broaden their horizons and experience their world.

With adults, I think that it is unrealistic to live in a completely imaginary world, but it is still nice to engage in imaginary activities. Whether it is reading a book, or playing with kids, opening up these doors in our mind can help us to see things from a different perspective. For me, it also helps me when prioritizing my life; it helps me to live life with no regrets.

“Children require guidance and sympathy far more than instruction.”
–Ambrose Gwinett Bierce

How many facts do you remember from high school? Have you ever looked back at an old test or exam and wonder who wrote down those answers?

This situation isn’t too unusual for me. Personally, it wasn’t until graduate school that information started to “stick” for me, and this is primarily because I had to walk into a lab and apply my knowledge. I certainly did not want to be the one responsible for blowing the lab up!

For me, college was a time of self-discovery. I spent a lot of time figuring out what I did not like, and ended up loving biology purely by chance (an elective course). I wish that I had opportunities prior to college to help me out with this - I could have saved myself some money!

Which brings us back to the original quote. I think that all kids should have an understanding of all the basic subjects, but is it really necessary to make kids take 4 years of science, or math, or history, if they really know that they don’t like it? In addition, given the opportunity, many kids could have their fill of these subjects indirectly through other coursework - for example, an art class could teach history, or basic finance could teach math.

Especially with the internet these days, people can always go back and refresh their memories via online courses (or sometimes just a google search will do!) In my opinion, material would be more likely to “stick” in these situations, since the person is hungry for the knowledge…

What do you think?

“We are shut up in schools and college recitation rooms for ten or fifteen years, and come out at last with a bellyful of words and do not know a thing.”
–Ralph Waldo Emerson

This is how I felt after I obtained my undergraduate degree, and I had multiple majors! I think that today’s education system is failing a majority of children, and they end up leaving college with a sheet of paper and a lot of debt, but not much else.

Even in elementary school and high school, the thirst for learning is replaced by the pressure to get good grades and do well on standardized tests. As a tutor, I constantly see students who have no concern for anything except what the correct answer is. It’s a pretty sad state of affairs.

On the other hand, if you take a look at American politics, it seems like as long as you learn how to be greedy and deceitful, you can become very rich. Perhaps if this is a personal life goal, a bellyful of words is all you really need!

“A child must learn early to believe that she is somebody worthwhile, and that she can do many praiseworthy things.”
–Benjamin Mays

There is so much truth to this statement. What would this world be like today if every person, as a child, believed that they were a worthwhile individual? I don’t think that the world would be perfect by any means, but it would be a lot better than it is today!

I think that most people can agree that children represent hope because of their unlimited potential. If we, as adults, can help children understand how important they are to us, then hopefully their future (and our own) will be brighter. For me personally, this means trying my best to not take my son for granted, and living with him in the moment as much as possible.

By no means am I saying that raising children is a walk in the park. But I do know that one of the only reasons that I turned out to be a decent kid was because I had a grandmother who took the time to let me know how much I meant to her. If I can do the same thing for my son that she did for me, then it will be a small testimony to what a wonderful person she is.

“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”
–Abraham Lincoln

What good advice from Honest Abe! We all need to remember the importance of preparation - it is one of the keys to being an educated person and citizen. Preparation also helps us to save energy and time in the long run.

It is amazing to me to see so many people who are extremely frazzled, but do not make changes in their life to help them be more prepared in their daily activities. Simple things such as laying out clothes the night before, getting the coffee maker ready, and making lunch ahead of time can make a huge difference in starting the day out right.

What type of person are you? Are you prepared or generally frazzled? If you are the frazzled type, are you actively seeking out ways to change?

“Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence.”
–Robert Frost

I think that this quote is interesting. In the best cases, this quote is true.

However, I have some colleagues, including my former boss, who is a genius in his field, but his temperament is unpredictable at best. He is very self-confident, though, and this is one of his greatest strengths. On the other side of the spectrum, I have seen people who are self-confident but are ignorant, and are not very temperamental. It is almost like they don’t know any better.

If I could add a condition to this quote, I would include that the greatest leaders are educated (not necessarily by a traditional education), and can listen to opposing viewpoints without losing their temper or self-confidence. What do you think?

“Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune.”
– Jim Rohn

What do you think of this quote? I think that there is a lot of truth to this statement.

To start with, our schools generally do not teach personal finance or investing courses. Teaching simple concepts such as balancing a checkbook and how credit cards work could go a long way in helping our youth to become financially responsible citizens.

Secondly, there is a shift in today’s society in terms of holding one job for an extended period of time. Formal education can help people get their feet in the door, but people need to increasingly keep their resume and experience relevant in order to move ahead to the next position or next job. Continuing on with more formal education can help with this, but only to a point. These days, it’s much more about networking and self-learning. That’s just my opinion…