Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by Mary Blakely

Quote by Mary Blakely

“Certainly, words can be as abusive as any blow. . . . When a three-year-old yells, "You're so stupid! What a dummy!" it doesn't carry the same weight as when a mother yells those words to a child. . . . Even if you don't physically abuse young children, you can still drive them nuts with your words.”

Quote by Mary Blakely

Create image

Author

Mary Blakely

Mary Blakely, born in 1948, is an accomplished author whose works span a variety of genres. Known for her profound insights and unique narrative style, her writing has gained her recognition and awards, including a Nobel Prize nomination. more

You May Also Like

“Although a firm swat could bring a recalcitrant child swiftly into line, the changes were usually external, lasting only as long as the swatter remained in view....Permanent transformation had to be internal....The habits of self discipline, as laborious and frustrating as they were to achieve, offered the only real possibility of keeping children safe from their own excesses as well as the omnipresent dangers of society.”

WellsChildrenLongRealSelfLinesViewsAchieveDangerPossibilityHabitDisciplineSafeTransformationPermanentFirmInternalsLastingExcessSelf DisciplineFrustratingRecalcitrant
Author:Mary Blakely
Create image

“In the range of things toddlers have to learn and endlessly review--why you can't put bottles with certain labels in your mouth, why you have to sit on the potty, why you can't take whatever you want in the store, why you don't hit your friends--by the time we got to why you can't drop your peas, well, I was dropping a few myself.”

WantWellsCertainMouthsStoresLabelsRangeBottlesReviewsDroppingPeasToddlerPotty
Book:American Mom: Motherhood, Politics, and Humble Pie
Create image

“Since civilizing children takes the better part of two decades--some twenty years of nonstop thinking, nurturing, teaching, coaxing, rewarding, forgiving, warning, punishing, sympathizing, apologizing, reminding, and repeating, not to mention deciding what to do when--I now understand that one wrong move is invariably followed by hundreds of opportunities to be wrong again.”

ThinkingYearsChildrenTwoMovingOpportunityTeachingTwentiesForgivingDecadesWarningApologizingNurturingRemindingDeciding What To DoWrong Move
Book:American Mom: Motherhood, Politics, and Humble Pie
Create image

“How can one explain all the time and thought that goes into raising a child, all the opportunities for mistakes, all the chances to recover and try again? How does one break the news that nothing permanent can be formed in an instant--children are not weaned, potty trained, taught manners, introduced to civilization in one or two tries--as everyone imagined.”

TryingChildrenDoeTwoOpportunityChanceMistakeBreakTaughtCivilizationNewsMannersPermanentInstantRaising ChildrenTry AgainPotty
Author:Mary Blakely
Create image