Quotes: Parents and Children (3)

Parents and children 806 "Matt came out for the funeral, he flew out the night before with two of his kids and then broke down at the gravesite and they saw this and were astonished…were shocked to see this because they thought of him as a father, not a son…." DeLillo, Underworld. Children find it unsettling when a parent cries.

Parents and children 305 Mrs. Norris: "It is amazing…how much young people cost their parents, what with bringing them up and putting them out in the world!" Austen, Mansfield Park. If you knew the material and emotional cost of bringing up children, would you bring them into the world?

Parents and children 390 Fanny on her mother: "…she must and did feel that her mother was a partial, ill-judging parent, a dawdle, a slattern, who neither taught nor restrained her children, whose home was the scene of mismanagement and discomfort from beginning to end, and who had no talent, no conversation, no affection towards herself [Fanny]; no curiosity to know her better, no desire of her friendship, and no inclination for her company…." Austen, Mansfield Park. A blunt assessment of her mother.