The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers

by Maxwell King

To Fred Rogers, every child required special attention, because every child needed assurance that he or she was someone who mattered.

“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news,” Rogers had told his young viewers, “my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’ To this day, especially in times of disaster, I remember my mother’s words, and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers—so many caring people in this world.”

“One of the most radical figures of contemporary history never ran a country or led a battle. . . . He became a legend by wearing a cardigan and taking off his shoes. . . . Rogers was a genius of empathy . . . fearless enough to be kind.”

Fred Rogers never—ever—let the urgency of work or life impede his focus on what he saw as basic human values: integrity, respect, responsibility, fairness and compassion, and of course his signature value, kindness.

“You don’t set out to be rich and famous; you set out to be helpful.”

His lesson is as simple and direct as Fred was: Human kindness will always make life better.

It always helps to have people we love beside us when we have to do difficult things in life. —FRED ROGERS

“Nothing can replace the influence of unconditional love in the life of a child. . . . Children love to belong, they long to belong.”

“And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”6

The real issue in life is not how many blessings we have, but what we do with our blessings. Some people have many blessings and hoard them. Some have few and give everything away. —FRED ROGERS