100 Inspiring Quotes for Parents: Wisdom and Encouragement for Every Journey

"You can’t teach children to behave better by making them feel worse. When children feel better, they behave better."

- Pam Leo

"There are no bad children. There are bad choices. There are bad moments. There are bad days. There are bad situations. But there are no bad children. Period."

- L.R. Knost

"If I expect my children to be kind, gentle, compassionate, and respectful, I must be kind, gentle, compassionate, and respectful. Children do not listen to the instruction of hypocrites; it is your actions that guide their actions, not your lectures or punishment."

- Rebecca Eanes

"There is no friendship, no love, like that of the parent for the child."

- Henry Ward Beecher

"Empathy with children during a tantrum is not rewarding behavior. It’s meeting a need, the need for connection and understanding."

- Rebecca Eanes

"Children must never work for our love, they must rest in it."

- Gordon Neufeld

"There is no way to be a perfect mother and a million ways to be a good one."

- Jill Churchill

"Your children need your presence more than your presents."

- Jesse Jackson

"Children are not a distraction from more important work. They are the most important work."

- C.S. Lewis

"Many believe parenting is about controlling children’s behavior and training them to act like adults. I believe that parenting is about controlling my own behavior and acting like an adult myself. Children learn what they live and live what they learn."

- L.R. Knost

"Remember you are not managing an inconvenience. You are raising a human being."

- Kittie Franz

"One day your child will make a mistake or a bad choice and run to you instead of away from you and at that moment you will know the immense value of peaceful, positive, respectful parenting."

- L.R. Knost

"My message is very simple. Love your kids. Just love them. Love, appreciate, show that you value them, remind them of their greatness, encourage them, respect, honor, trust, and treat them with dignity."

- Eric D. Greene

"It’s time we stop buying the lie that we need to be hard on kids because “the world is hard”. Love them as hard as you can. That’s what they need."

- Tara Vogler

"When your child is in the midst of a meltdown, remember that they are not giving you a hard time, they are having a hard time."

- Dr. Laura Markham

"Behind every young child who believes in himself is a parent who believed first."

- Matthew L. Jacobson

"Your kids require you most of all to love them for who they are, not to spend your whole time trying to correct them."

- Bill Ayers

"You must first teach a child he is loved. Only then is he ready to learn everything else."

- Amanda Morgan

"To be in your children’s memories tomorrow, you have to be in their lives today."

- Barbara Johnson

"Meltdowns and tantrums can be valuable moments for parents to strengthen their bond with their child. Approach them with compassion, patience, and a willingness to understand."

- Dr. Ross Greene

"The greatest gift a parent can give a child is self-confidence."

- Stewart Stafford

"It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken adults."

- F. Douglas

"Parents are the ultimate role models for children. Every word, movement and action has an effect. No other person or outside force has a greater influence on a child than the parent."

- Bob Keeshan

"Children do not need us to shape them; they need us to respond to who they are."

- Naomi Aldort

"Don’t worry that children never listen to you; worry that they are always watching you."

- Robert Fulghum

"We never know the love of a parent till we become parents ourselves."

- Henry Ward Beecher

"A mother's love is patient and forgiving when all others are forsaking. It never fails or falters, even though the heart is breaking."

- Helen Rice

"The most beautiful thing in the world is to see your children smiling, and knowing that you are the reason behind that smile."

- John Wooden

"The best way to raise positive children in a negative world is to have positive parents who love them unconditionally and serve as excellent role models."

- Zig Ziglar

"Parenting is the art of guiding a child to discover the world while rediscovering it through their innocent eyes, and in doing so, finding the magic in everyday moments."

- Diane Loomans

"It's not only children who grow. Parents do too. As much as we watch to see what our children do with their lives, they are watching us to see what we do with ours."

- Joyce Maynard

"The beauty of parenthood lies in the ability to witness your child's firsts and be a part of their every moment, creating a tapestry of memories that lasts a lifetime."

- Sharon Jaynes

"Parenting is a grand adventure, a journey of self-discovery, resilience, and the pure joy of witnessing a little soul blossom into its unique brilliance."

- Sarah Ban Breathnach

"Parenting is a dance between making memories and letting go, a delicate balance of holding on and encouraging your child to soar to new heights."

- Karen Salmansohn

"A mother's love is endless; it goes beyond words, time, and distance."

- Preeti Shenoy

"Parenthood is a sacred privilege, a profound responsibility, and a boundless wellspring of unconditional love that knows no bounds."

- Michael Josephson

"There is no such thing as a perfect parent. So just be a real one."

- Sue Atkins

"Sometimes the strength of motherhood is greater than natural laws."

- Barbara Kingsolver

"The way that we talk to our children becomes their inner voice."

- Peggy O’Mara

"Parenting is about raising and celebrating the child you have, not the child you thought you’d have."

- Brené Brown

"The golden rule of parenting is do unto your children as you wish your parents had done unto you!"

- Louise Hart

"By loving them for more than their abilities we show our children that they are much more than the sum of their accomplishments."

- Eileen Kennedy-Moore

"The most powerful way to change the world is to live in front of our children the way we would like the world to be."

- Graham White

"We must remember that one day our children are going to follow our example instead of our advice."

- Carolina King

"If your children fear you, they cannot trust you. If they don’t trust you, they cannot learn from you."

- Lori Petro

"So often children are punished for being human. Children are not allowed to have grumpy moods, bad days, disrespectful tones, or bad attitudes. Yet, us adults have them all the time. None of us are perfect. We must stop holding our children to a higher standard of perfection than we can attain ourselves."

- Rebecca Eanes

"It is the sunlight of parental love and encouragement that enables a child to grow in competence and slowly gain mastery over his environment."

- Felicity Bauer

"Parenting is the easiest thing in the world to have an opinion about, but the hardest thing in the world to do."

- Matt Walsh

"The best kind of parent you can be is to lead by example."

- Drew Barrymore

"The way you help heal the world is you start with your own family."

- Mother Teresa

"The most precious jewels you'll ever have around your neck are the arms of your children."

- Cardinal Mermillod

"Being a parent means loving your children more than you've ever loved yourself."

- Drew Barrymore

"The best part about being a parent is the moment you realize you wouldn't want your life any other way."

- John Wooden

"Children learn more from what you are than what you teach."

- W.E.B. Du Bois

"Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body."

- Elizabeth Stone

"Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands."

- Anne Frank

"Parenting is not a perfect journey, but a perfect opportunity to love and guide your child."

- Peter Krause

"Don't worry that children never listen to you; worry that they are always watching you."

- Robert Fulghum

"The greatest gift a father can give his children is to love their mother."

- John Wooden

"Children are like wet cement. Whatever falls on them makes an impression."

- Dr. Haim Ginott

"The best thing to spend on your children is time."

- Louise Hart

"A child's mind is not a container to be filled but rather a fire to be kindled."

- Dorothea Brande

"Parents are the ultimate role models for children. Every word, movement, and action has an effect. No other person or outside force has a greater influence on a child than the parent."

- Bob Keeshan

"A baby is born with a need to be loved — and never outgrows it."

- Frank A. Clark

"Children are great imitators, so give them something great to imitate."

- John Wooden

"The art of mothering is to teach the art of living to children."

- Elaine Heffner

"It's not what you do for your children, but what you have taught them to do for themselves, that will make them successful human beings."

- Ann Landers

"Parenting is about guiding your children to discover their own paths, not paving the way for them."

- Lisa Wingate

"Children do not need us to shape them. They need us to respond to who they are."

- Naomi Aldort

"Your children will become who you are, so be who you want them to be."

- David Bly

"The best way to make children good is to make them happy."

- Oscar Wilde

"Too much love never spoils children. Children become spoiled when we substitute presents for presence."

- Dr. Anthony Withman

"It is ironic that adults want children to control their own behavior when the adults have difficulty controlling their own behavior."

- Jane Nelson

"Children harbor a great many doubts and sorrows that could be eased by a loving hug from a parent."

- Richelle E. Goodrich

"It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength."

- Maya Angelou

"If we are wonderful parents and family members, then there’s really nothing else to prove."

- Ron Baratono

"My father didn’t tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it."

- Clarence Budington Kelland

"Every day our children spread their dreams beneath our feet. We should tread softly."

- Ken Robinson

"To love someone is to strive to accept that person exactly the way he or she is."

- Fred Rogers

"If a child can’t learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn."

- Ignacio Estrada

"It’s not only children who grow. Parents do, too. As much as we watch to see what our children do with their lives, they are watching us to see what we do with ours. I can’t tell my children to reach for the sun. All I can do is reach for it myself."

- Joyce Maynard

"I wish children could grow according to their natural pace: sleep when sleepy, wake up when rested, eat when hungry, cry when upset, play and explore without being unnecessarily interrupted; in other words, be allowed to grow and blossom as each was meant to."

- Magda Gerber

"I’m always amazed when adults say that children “just did that to get attention”. Naturally, children who need attention will do all kinds of things to get it. Why not just give it to them?"

- Lawrence J. Cohen

"Feeling heard and understood allows children to release their feelings, let go and move on."

- Janet Lansbury

"Children do well if they can, if they can’t we need to figure out why so we can help."

- Dr. Ross Greene

"One of the greatest titles in the world is parent, and one of the biggest blessings in the world is to have parents to call mom and dad."

- Jim Demint

"The depth of the love of parents for their children cannot be measured. It is like no other relationship. It exceeds concern for life itself. The love of a parent for a child is continuous and transcends heartbreak and disappointment."

- James E. Faust

"My parents are my backbone. Still are. They're the only group that will support you if you score zero or you score 40."

- Kobe Bryant

"The best inheritance a parent can give his children is a few minutes of his time each day."

- Orlando Aloysius Battista

"Parenting is a life time job and does not stop when a child grows up."

- Jake Slope

"Parents are living gods. They do everything to make their children happy and expect nothing in return."

- Saravana Kumar Murugan

"To understand your parents’ love you must raise children yourself."

- Chinese Proverb

"We don’t always do the things our parents want us to do, but it is their mistake if they can’t find a way to love us anyway."

- J. Courtney Sullivan

"Love is the chain whereby to bind a child to its parents."

- Abraham Lincoln

"All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my mother."

- Abraham Lincoln

"My heroes are and were my parents. I can’t see having anyone else as my heroes."

- Michael Jordan

"While we try to teach our children all about life, Our children teach us what life is all about."

- Angela Schwindt

"A good father is a source of inspiration and self-restraint. A good mother is the root of kindness and humbleness."

- Dr. T.P.Chia

"Parenthood…It’s about guiding the next generation, and forgiving the last."

- Peter Krause

"A mother understands what a child does not say."

- Jewish Proverb

"The point of parenting is not to have all the answers before we start out but instead to figure it out on the go as our children grow. Because as they do, so will we."

- Bridgett Miller

"A child seldom needs a good talking to as much as a good listening to."

- Robert Brault

"Where did we ever get the crazy idea that in order to make children do better, first we have to make them feel worse? Think of the last time you felt humiliated or treated unfairly. Did you feel like cooperating or doing better?"

- Jane Nelson

"We are apt to forget that children watch examples better than they listen to preaching."

- Roy L. Smith

"Parents aren’t the people you come from. They’re the people you want to be, when you grow up."

- Jodi Picoult

"A parent’s love is whole no matter how many times divided."

- Robert Brault

"Listen earnestly to anything your children want to tell you, no matter what. If you don’t listen eagerly to the little stuff when they are little, they won’t tell you the big stuff when they are big, because to them all of it has always been big stuff."

- Catherine M. Wallace

"No matter how far we come, our parents are always in us."

- Brad Meltzer

"You do not have to make your children into wonderful people. You just have to remind them that they are wonderful people."

- William Martin

"The sign of great parenting is not the child’s behavior. The sign of truly great parenting is the parent’s behavior."

- Andy Smithson

"If you really want your children to respect you, let them speak! Give them a safe space to say how they really feel without fear of how your pride will react. It doesn’t matter if they are always right or “good”, it matters that they are allowed to be real with you."

- Brooke Hampton

"At the end of the day, the most overwhelming key to a child’s success is the positive involvement of parents."

- Jane D. Hull

"The way kids learn to make good decisions is by making decisions, not following directions."

- Alfie Kohn

"The more risks you allow your children to make, the better they learn to look after themselves."

- Roald Dahl

"Don’t let yourself become so concerned with raising a good kid that you forget you already have one."

- Glennon Doyle

"Being hard on children does not make them stronger. People are strengthened through compassion and understanding. No matter their age or gender."

- Lella Schott

"Toddlers test, and that’s exactly what they are supposed to do. A toddler has failed if he makes life too easy for us."

- Janet Lansbury

"The way we talk to our children becomes their inner voice."

- Peggy O’Mara

"Parenthood. It's about guiding the next generation and forgiving the last."

- Peter Krause

"Nothing that grieves us can be called little. By the eternal law of proportions, a child’s loss of a doll and a king’s loss of his crown are events of the same size."

- Mark Twain

"So much is asked of parents, and so little is given."

- Virginia Satir

"Children are not things to be molded, but are people to be unfolded."

- Jess Lair

"There’s no way to be a perfect mother and a million ways to be a good one."

- Jill Churchill

"If you’ve told a child a thousand times and he still does not understand, then it is not the child who is the slow learner."

- Walter Barbe

"Children begin by loving their parents; after a time they judge them; rarely, if ever, do they forgive them."

- Oscar Wilde

"Raising a child is like planting a seed and watching it grow into a beautiful flower."

- Lisa Wingate

"Parenting is about guiding the next generation, and forgiving the last."

- Peter Krause

"Children are the anchors that hold a mother to life."

- Sophocles

"Counteract conflict by connection and communicating calmly."

- Kirsty Lee

"Let parents bequeath to their children not riches, but the spirit of reverence."

- Plato

"The most important thing that parents can teach their children is how to get along without them."

- Frank A. Clark

"A good youth ought to have a fear of God, to be subject to his parents, to give honor to his elders, to preserve his purity; he ought not to despise humility, but should love forbearance and modesty. All these are an ornament to youthful years."

- Saint Ambrose

"A baby is God's opinion that the world should go on."

- Carl Sandburg

"The best parenting advice I can give: Do less. Seriously. Just stop — right now — and don't do a thing."

- Heather Wittenberg

"Parents were the only ones obligated to love you; from the rest of the world you had to earn it."

- Ann Brashares

"It is one thing to show your child the way, and a harder thing to then stand out of it."

- Robert Brault

"No matter how old a mother is, she watches her middle-aged children for signs of improvement."

- Florida Scott-Maxwell

"In raising my children, I have lost my mind but found my soul."

- Lisa T. Shepherd

"My parents said that sitting at home playing video games all day won't bring you anywhere in life."

- PewDiePie

"The biggest thrill a ballplayer can have is when your son takes after you. That happened when my Bobby was in his championship Little League game. He really showed me something. Struck out three times. Made an error that lost the game. Parents were throwing things at our car and swearing at us as we drove off. Gosh, I was proud."

- Bob Uecker

"When I was a kid my parents moved a lot, but I always found them."

- Rodney Dangerfield

"Little League baseball is a very good thing because it keeps the parents off the streets."

- Yogi Berra

"My parents wanted me to go to school."

- SZA

"To be in your children's memories tomorrow, you have to be in their lives today."

"Love your parents and treat them with loving care. For you will only know their value when you see their empty chair."

"Love your parents. We are so busy growing up, we often forget they are also growing old."