The true secret of giving advice is, after you have honestly given it, to be perfectly indifferent whether it is taken or not, and never persist in trying to set people right.
Henry Ward BeecherRead
Children are the hands by which we take hold of heaven.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Children are our connection to a greater existence and ideal world.
This quote emphasizes the profound role that children play in our lives, not just as individuals but as a means for adults to connect with the purity, innocence, and potential of a better life or 'heaven.' It suggests that through raising and nurturing children, we gain access to ideals and joys that may otherwise feel unattainable.
Themes
ChildrenHeavenFamilyConnectionLife
In practice
Example use cases
During a family gathering, a parent might share this quote to reflect on the joys of raising children.
More from Henry Ward Beecher
All quotes βA man who cannot get angry is like a stream that cannot overflow, that is always turbid. Sometimes indignation is as good as a thunderstorm in summer, clearing and cooling the air.
Henry Ward BeecherRead
No one can deal with the hearts of men unless he has the sympathy which is given by love.
Henry Ward BeecherRead
We are always on the anvil; by trials God is shaping us for higher things.
Henry Ward BeecherRead
No man can tell if he is rich or poor by turning to his ledger. It is the heart that makes a man rich. He is rich according to what he is, not according to what he has.
Henry Ward BeecherRead
There are joys which long to be ours. God sends ten thousands truths, which come about us like birds seeking inlet; but we are shut up to them, and so they bring us nothing, but sit and sing awhile upon the roof, and then fly away.
Henry Ward BeecherRead
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My father used to play with my brother and me in the yard. Mother would come out and say, 'You're tearing up the grass'; 'We're not raising grass,' Dad would reply. 'We're raising boys.'
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I'm serious when I do my work. I'm not serious when I'm home with my kids.
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