Benjamin Spock > Quotes

“Trust yourself. You know more than you think you do.”
― Benjamin Spock

“Most middle-class whites have no idea what it feels like to be subjected to police who are routinely suspicious, rude, belligerent, and brutal.”
― Dr. Benjamin Spock

“The children who are appreciated for what they are, even if they are homely, or clumsy, or slow, will grow up with confidences in themselves - happy. They will have a spirit that will make the best of all the capacities that they have, and of all the opportunities that come their way. They will make light of any handicaps.”
― Benjamin Spock, Baby and Child Care

“It's not the words but the music that counts.”
― Benjamin Spock

“A word about TV: If a television is on, an infant will stare at it. This is not a sign of advanced development. TV entertains at a cost. Young children easily become dependent on the TV for stimulation and lose some of their natural drive to explore. A child with a plastic cup and spoon, a few wooden blocks, and a board book can think up fifty creative ways to use those objects; a child in front of a TV can only do one thing.”
― Benjamin Spock, Baby and Child Care

“In automobile terms, the child supplies the power but the parents have to do the steering.”
― Benjamin Spock

“Your baby doesn’t need a pillow for her head, and you should not use one. Likewise, it’s best to keep stuffed animals out of your baby’s crib or cradle; little babies don’t care much about them, and they may pose a suffocation”
― Benjamin Spock, Dr. Spock's Baby and Child Care

“The more people have studied different methods of bringing up children the more they have come to the conclusion that what good mothers and fathers instinctively feel like doing for their babies is the best after all.”
― Benjamin Spock, Dr. Spock's Baby and Child Care

“The surest way to raise mentally healthy children is to cultivate loving, nurturing, and mutually respectful relationships with them. Loving means, first of all, accepting your child as a person. Every child has strengths and weaknesses, gifts and challenges. Loving means adjusting your expectations to fit your child, not trying to adjust your child to fit your expectations.”
― Benjamin Spock, Dr. Spock's Baby and Child Care

“Perhaps a child who is fussed over gets a feeling of destiny; he thinks he is in the world for something important, and it gives him drive and confidence.”
― Benjamin Spock

“Another subtle but worrisome effect television has on its viewers is its tendency to promote passivity and a lack of creativity. Watching television requires little mental activity on the viewer’s part. You simply sit and let the images flow by. Some research suggests that this sort of nonparticipatory viewing fosters a short attention span, making it hard for children to apply themselves in school. Obesity”
― Benjamin Spock, Dr. Spock's Baby and Child Care

“Respect children because they're human beings and they deserve respect, and they'll grow up to be better people.”
― Benjamin Spock

“A boy, by the age of 3 years, senses that his destiny is to be a man, so he watches his father particularly-his interests, manner, speech, pleasures, his attitude toward work.

The fact is that child rearing is a long, hard job, the rewards are not always immediately obvious, the work is undervalued, and parents are just as human and almost as vulnerable as their children.

Without freedom of choice, there is no creativity. Without creativity, there is no life.

Respect children because they're human beings and they deserve respect, and they'll grow up to be better people.

Physical punishment teaches children that the larger, stronger person has the power to get his way, whether or not he is in the right, and they may resent this in the parent-for”
― Benjamin Spock

“Make out a schedule for yourself, on paper if necessary, that requires you to be busy with housework or anything else while your baby is awake. Go at it with a great bustle—to impress your baby and to impress yourself. Say you are the mother of a baby boy who has become accustomed to being carried all the time. When he frets and raises his arms, explain to him in a friendly but very firm tone that this job and that job must get done this afternoon. Though he doesn’t understand the words, he does understand the tone of voice. Stick to your busywork. The first hour of the first day is the hardest. One baby accepts the change better if his mother stays out of sight a good part of the time at first and talks little. This helps him to become absorbed in something else. Another adjusts more quickly if he can at least see his mother and hear her talking to him, even if she won’t pick him up. When you bring him a plaything or show him how to use it, or when you decide it’s time to play with him, sit down beside him on the floor. Let him climb into your arms if he wants, but don’t get back into the habit of walking him around. If you’re on the floor with him, he can crawl away when he eventually realizes you won’t walk. If you pick him up and walk him, he’ll surely object noisily just as soon as you start to put him down again. If he keeps on fretting indefinitely when you sit with him on the floor, remember another job and get busy again. What you are trying to do is to help your baby begin to build frustration tolerance—a little at a time. If she does not begin to learn this gradually between six and twelve months, it is a much harder lesson to learn later on.”
― Benjamin Spock M.D., Dr. Spock's Baby and Child Care

“إن ظهور وازع الضمير عند الطفل (6-10), و ارتباطه بالجهد العنيف الذي يبذله للحصول على مزيد من الإستقلال عن والديه, يتضحان في وقفه الجديد من الدين.
فهو عندما كان في الرابعه مثلاً كان يتقبل فكرة الله و يرتبط به على الأساس الذي يمليه عليه والداه. و لكنه حين يبداً في التباعد عن والديه و يأخذ في مناقشة سلامة آرائهما, و يتطلع إلى العالم الخارجي بحثاً عن سلطه جديده يستلهمها الرأي السديد, فمن الطبيعي أن يحل الله -إلى حد ما- محل أبيه بوصفه السلطه العليا.
لذا فإن حاجته النفسيه لأن يحدد الفرق بين الخطأ و الصواب تحديداً قاطعاً, تجعله مستعداً, بل سعيداً لأن يتقبل تعاليم الدين”
― Benjamin Spock, Dr. Spock Talks With Mothers: Growth and Guidance

“Having a good time together is the essence of lovingness and the best means of increasing it.

Boys and girls need chances to be around their father, to be enjoyed by him and if possible to do things with him. Better to play fifteen minutes enjoyably and then say, 'Now I'm going to read my paper' than to spend all day at the zoo crossly.

Parental trust is extremely important in the guidance of adolescent children as they get further and further away from the direct supervision of their parents and teachers. I don't mean that trust without clear guidance is enough, but guidance without trust is worthless.


Don't worry about trying to do a perfect job. There is no perfect job. There is no one way of raising your children.”
― Benjamin Spock

“Baby blues are common and normal. Sometimes you can chase them away by doing things that cheer you up: going for a walk, working out, hanging out with friends, doing creative things like writing or painting. Sometimes you have to give yourself time to feel better. Talk with your partner about your feelings and be prepared to listen, too. Many new fathers feel strangely down just when they think they should feel the opposite. Overwhelmed and uncertain about their new role, they might withdraw emotionally or become whiny and critical. This reaction couldn’t come at a worse time from the standpoint of a mother, who might respond by feeling angry, sad, or depressed. Good communication is essential to avoid this kind of vicious-circle misery.”
― Benjamin Spock, Dr. Spock's Baby and Child Care

“For little babies, nightgowns are practical day and night. The mittens on the ends of the sleeves, which keep babies from scratching themselves, can be worn open or closed. Long gowns make it harder for babies to kick off their coverings; short ones may be better in hot weather. Buy three or four, more if you can’t do laundry every day.”
― Benjamin Spock, Dr. Spock's Baby and Child Care

“There are only two things a child will share willingly: communicable diseases and his mother's age.”
― Benjamin Spock