“When I call to mind my earliest impressions, I wonder whether the process ordinarily referred to as growing up is not actually a process of growing down; whether experience, so much touted among adults as the thing children lack, is not actually a progressive dilution of the essentials by the trivialities of living.” MindChildrenProcessWonderGrowing UpGrowingEssentialsAdultsImpressionProgressiveTriviality Book:Aldo Leopold: A Sand County Almanac & Other Writings on Conservation and Ecology: (Library of America #238) Source: Aldo Leopold: A Sand County Almanac & Other Writings on Conservation and Ecology: (Library of America #238)
“In our imaginations the adults of our childhood remain extreme, essential - we might say radical since they are the roots that fed luxuriant later systems. Those first bohemians, for instance, stay operatic in memory even though were we to meet them today - well, what would we think, we who've elaborated our eccentricities with a patience, a professionalism they never knew?” ThinkingFirstsWellsMightTodayImaginationMemoriesChildhoodEssentialsAdultsRootsOur ChildrenExtremesInstanceRadicalFedsProfessionalismEccentricity Author:Edmund White
“There are certain functions that the family performs. In the first place the family provides society with an orderly means of reproduction, while at the same time the norms of marriage control the potentially disruptive forces of sexuality. Second, the family provides physical and economic support for the child during the early years of dependence. The child receives its primary socialization in the family, learning the essential ideas and values required for adult life.” YearsFirstsMeanChildrenIdeasCertainValuesForceSupportEconomicEssentialsAdultsFunctionSexualityPrimariesDependenceNormReproductionOrderlyDisruptiveSocialization Author:Adrian Wilson
“Some children naturally have more cognitive control than others, and in all kids this essential skill is being compromised by the usual suspects: smartphones, TV, etc. But there are many ways that adults can help kids learn better cognitive control.” WayChildrenHelpingKidsTvsSkillsEssentialsAdultsEtcSuspectsUsualCognitiveSmartphones Author:Daniel Goleman
“Anecdote: The extent of Michael Jackson's fame at its height, and his eagerness to exploit it is shown by an incident in 1984 when invited to a White House reception hosted by then President and First Lady Ronald and Nancy Reagan. Jackson had been assured that the only people there, besides the presidential couple, would be a few staff members' children. Aghast to find around 75 adults and no children, Jackson locked himself in an upstairs bathroom, refusing to emerge until assured that all non-essential adults had been replaced by a number of children.” PeopleFirstsChildrenWould BeHousePresidentWhiteNumbersCoupleFameMembersEssentialsAdultsPresidentialHeightWhite HouseLockedStaffReplacedInvitedBathroomAssuredExploitsIncidentsFirst LadyReceptionNancyEagernessAnecdotesUpstairsAghastStaff Members Author:Michael Jackson
“My father was from a secular Jewish family and my mother from a nominally Christian (Episcopalian) one. They were not religious as adults. They did, however, believe in educating their children about the Bible. They viewed this as an essential part of any education.” BelieveChildrenChristianMotherFatherReligiousEssentialsAdultsSecularEpiscopaliansJewish Family Author:Mike Berenstain
“The capital-T Truth is about life BEFORE death. It is about the real value of a real education, which has almost nothing to do with knowledge, and everything to do with simple awareness; awareness of what is so real and essential, so hidden in plain sight all around us, all the time, that we have to keep reminding ourselves over and over: "This is water." "This is water." It is unimaginably hard to do this, to stay conscious and alive in the adult world day in and day out.” WorldRealHardValuesWaterSimpleAliveAwarenessTruth IsEssentialsConsciousAdultsSightRemindingReal ValueBefore DeathReal EducationPlain Sight Author:David Foster Wallace