You should make it hard on yourself to write so you’re easier to read.
Fran LebowitzRead
Your responsibility as a parent is not as great as you might imagine. You need not supply the world with the next conqueror of disease or major motion picture star. If your child simply grows up to be someone who does not use the word "collectible" as a noun, you can consider yourself an unqualified success.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Parenting is less about extraordinary achievements and more about raising a well-adjusted individual.
In this quote, Fran Lebowitz emphasizes that the primary role of a parent is not to mold their child into a future superstar or groundbreaking innovator but rather to instill basic decency and understanding. Success in parenting can be measured by the child's ability to navigate life with simple, meaningful values rather than lofty societal expectations.
Themes
ParentingSuccessValuesResponsibilityChildren
In practice
Example use cases
A speech at a parenting seminar to inspire new parents.
More from Fran Lebowitz
All quotes →Special-interest publications should realize that if they are attracting enough advertising and readers to make a profit, the interest is not so special.
Fran LebowitzRead
I place a high moral value on the way people behave. I find it repellent to have a lot, and to behave with anything other than courtesy in the old sense of the word - politeness of the heart, a gentleness of the spirit.
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I must take issue with the term 'a mere child,' for it has been my invariable experience that the company of a mere child is infinitely preferable to that of a mere adult.
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Original thought is like original sin: both happened before you were born to people you could not have possibly met.
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I never took hallucinogenic drugs because I never wanted my consciousness expanded one unnecessary iota.
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