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For Your Own Good: Hidden Cruelty in Child-Rearing and the Roots of Violence

Book by Alice Miller · 5 quotes · Children, Parent, Child Abuse

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For Your Own Good: Hidden Cruelty in Child-Rearing and the Roots of Violence Quotes

“someday we will regard our children not as creatures to manipulate or to change but rather as messengers from a world we once deeply knew, but which we have long since forgotten, who can reveal to us more about the true secrets of life, and also our own lives, than our parents were ever able to.”

WorldLifeChildrenLongAbleParentChangeSecretKnowledgeCreaturesRegardOur ChildrenForgottenSomedayManipulationManipulateRevealingMessengersSecret LifeDeepness
Book:For Your Own Good: Hidden Cruelty in Child-Rearing and the Roots of Violence
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“We are still barely conscious of how harmful it is to treat children in a degrading manner. Treating them with respect and recognizing the consequences of their being humiliated are by no means intellectual matters; otherwise, their importance would long since have been generally recognized.”

MeanChildrenLongHas BeensStillsMatterIntellectualConsciousConsequenceTreatsImportanceRecognizingHumiliatedDegrading
Book:For Your Own Good: Hidden Cruelty in Child-Rearing and the Roots of Violence
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“It is unlikely that someone could proclaim "truths" that are counter to physical laws for very long (for example, that it is healthy for children to run around in bathing suits in winter and in fur coats in summer) without appearing ridiculous. But it is perfectly normal to speak of the necessity of striking and humiliating children and robbing them of their autonomy, at the same time using such high-sounding words as chastising, upbringing, and guiding onto the right path.”

ChildrenLongRunningLawSpeakPathExampleHealthyNormalSummerWinterRidiculousSuitsCoatsAutonomyUnlikelyUpbringingFurAppearingRight PathHumiliatingBathingRobbingBathing SuitsPerfectly NormalFur Coats
Book:For Your Own Good: Hidden Cruelty in Child-Rearing and the Roots of Violence
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“Sadism is not an infectious disease that strikes a person all of a sudden. It has a long prehistory in childhood and always originates in the desperate fantasies of a child who is searching for a way out of a hopeless situation.”

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Book:For Your Own Good: Hidden Cruelty in Child-Rearing and the Roots of Violence
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