Family
‹ 7 · Outline · 9 ›
8.The rearing and education of children
Saint Augustine, The Confessions of St. AugustineVol. 7
- p. 21Childhood is commended as an emblem of lowliness for the kingdom of heaven.read · scan
John Locke, Some Thoughts Concerning EducationVol. 37
- p. 5–6Parents are at a loss how to breed their children, and early corruption of youth is a general complaint.read · scan
- p. 6–7Educating children well is the duty and concern of parents.read · scan
- p. 10Parents, and mothers' and fathers' differing tempers, bear responsibility for children's upbringing and health.read · scan
Benjamin Franklin, His AutobiographyVol. 1
- p. 69Parents and young persons lack sound means of preparing for life.read · scan
Walt Whitman, Preface to Leaves of GrassVol. 39
- p. 398–399Nothing is greater than to conceive children and bring them up well.read · scan
- p. 408Asks whether it breeds good men and independent mates and nurses the young of the republic.read · scan
8a.Parental authority, discipline and its limits
See also: Education 4b · Punishment 6a · Honor 12a
Confucius, The Sayings of ConfuciusVol. 44
- p. 35Living father and elder brothers limit a son's freedom to act on all he learns.read · scan
Aesop, FablesVol. 17
- p. 35–36Father and son travelling together to market.read · scan
Sophocles, AntigoneVol. 8
- p. 275–276Creon says all stands below a father's will; sons should be obedient and not lose reason for a worthless wife.read · scan
Virgil, The AeneidVol. 13
- p. 366Metabus raises his daughter alone in the wilds, feeding and training her; she refuses marriage.read · scan
Saint Augustine, The Confessions of St. AugustineVol. 7
- p. 12Parents wished him no ill yet mocked his stripes.read · scan
Stories from the Thousand and One NightsVol. 16
- p. 83A father and daughter dispute whether she should veil herself before strange men, and he is surprised by her hidden learning.read · scan
Sir Thomas More, UtopiaVol. 36
- p. 210Husbands chastise wives and parents children.read · scan
Michel de Montaigne, Of the Institution and Education of ChildrenVol. 32
- p. 64–69His father required of his tutors mildness of temper; critics accuse him of neglecting parents and kinsfolk.read · scan
William Harrison, A Description of Elizabethan EnglandVol. 35
- p. 352–354The author's dog tried to shield his children from beating by catching the rod.read · scan
Miguel de Cervantes, The History of Don Quixote of the Mancha, Part IVol. 14
- p. 218Dulcinea's parents have kept her closely guarded and brought her up; she is Lorenzo Corcuelo's daughter.read · scan
William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of DenmarkVol. 46
- p. 118–120Polonius spies on his son Laertes in Paris, and Hamlet swears his friends to secrecy.read · scan
Nathaniel Ward, The Body of LibertiesVol. 43
- p. 78–79Children may complain against parents who deny marriage or show unnatural severity; orphans protected from arbitrary disposal by kin.read · scan
Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher, Philaster, or Love Lies A-BleedingVol. 47
- p. 708The King, as father, orders his daughter to dismiss her page for shaming their house.read · scan
Thomas Hobbes, Of Man, Being the First Part of LeviathanVol. 34
- p. 414–415Children, fools and madmen are represented by guardians and cannot be authors.read · scan
John Bunyan, The Pilgrim's ProgressVol. 15
- p. 196–198Christiana chides her sons, who go on eating despite her warning.read · scan
John Locke, Some Thoughts Concerning EducationVol. 37
- p. 32Children are treated tenderly and allowed play, but remain under the absolute restraint of parents.read · scan
- p. 34Fear and awe give parents first power, love and friendship hold it later; fear of disinheritance breeds slavish heirs.read · scan
- p. 38Children's innocent enjoyments should flow from the esteem in which parents and governors hold them.read · scan
- p. 39Parents' caresses and cold looks, with mother and father alike, make children feel the difference between doing well and ill.read · scan
- p. 40–41Parents must maintain coldness toward a faulty child, and servants' flattery undermines parental authority.read · scan
- p. 42Advice to parents on reproving and commending their children.read · scan
- p. 42Parental authority rightly established needs only a look or word to quiet children.read · scan
- p. 48Parents chide children to cover their own shame before bystanders.read · scan
- p. 60Parental authority is lessened by passionate chiding; parents must master a child's obstinacy, as a mother whipped her daughter repeatedly.read · scan
- p. 60–61Parental authority and children's obedience to the father's orders must be established, as in the mother and daughter example.read · scan
- p. 65–66Father's authority is preserved by having another inflict the blows, and he should seldom strike his child.read · scan
- p. 83–84Parents establish authority, awe and affection so the child holds love and fear toward them, the parents' hold on him.read · scan
- p. 84–85Parental authority must be applied differently to each child's temper.read · scan
- p. 86Parents must relieve children's natural wants tenderly but decide for them what is proper, not letting them choose.read · scan
- p. 89Parents and tutors should show they are beloved friends of the child's satisfaction, not enemies.read · scan
- p. 91Father and tutor may take away a child's possessions to teach him unjust gain does not pay.read · scan
- p. 95The father's authority should silence the child's disorderly crying.read · scan
- p. 99–100Kind parents may find this method unnatural toward their children.read · scan
- p. 111Children seek credit and favor with parents, who can make anything a reward.read · scan
- p. 111–112Parents should take care about children's playthings and not court children with presents.read · scan
- p. 114Displeasure of father and mother is a sanction against lying.read · scan
- p. 141Parents and governors should establish authority by awe but use it moderately, not as scare-crows.read · scan
William Penn, Some Fruits of SolitudeVol. 1
- p. 324He is humorous to his wife, beats his children, angry with servants.read · scan
William Penn, More Fruits of SolitudeVol. 1
- p. 384Upbringing of children should be hardy, masculine, active and healthy.read · scan
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, A Discourse upon the Origin and the Foundation of the Inequality among MankindVol. 34
- p. 218–219Parents have no right to strip their children of the liberty they hold from nature.read · scan
Edmund Burke, A Philosophical Inquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and BeautifulVol. 24
- p. 90A father's authority hinders love, which flows more to mothers and grandfathers, whose authority is softened.read · scan
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, EgmontVol. 19
- p. 269–270Mother anxiously warns and shames her daughter Clara over her impetuous outbursts before others.read · scan
- p. 304–305Alva rebukes his son Ferdinand for rashness and for his mother's levity, and Ferdinand answers with submission.read · scan
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Hermann and DorotheaVol. 19
- p. 354–356Parents dispute over their son Hermann; the mother says children are God-given and must be loved and taught according to their own natures.read · scan
Robert Burns, Poems and SongsVol. 6
- p. 360–362A waukrife mother beats her daughter for a night visit from her lover.read · scan
Alessandro Manzoni, I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed)Vol. 21
- p. 151–153A stern father wields authority over his daughter and guards the family's secret and reputation.read · scan
- p. 153–155She shrinks from her father and family yet sees that pleasing them could win their friendship.read · scan
- p. 159–160The Prince gratifies Gertrude in all but one thing, and she uses this to complain of her maid.read · scan
- p. 162–163The Prince coaches Gertrude to conceal the past, dictating her reply so the secret stays buried in the family.read · scan
- p. 165–166The Prince manages his daughter's destiny; her relief at his lost anger shows a child's dependence on paternal approval.read · scan
- p. 167The father pressures and veiledly threatens his daughter to keep up the pretence of a voluntary vocation.read · scan
- p. 167–169The father coaches her answers and leaves her alone with the examiner.read · scan
- p. 183–184Menico's parents terrified, forbid him to speak and shut him in the house.read · scan
- p. 642–643Renzo and Lucia's children are born, Agnese dotes on them, and Renzo has them taught to read and write.read · scan
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Household TalesVol. 17
- p. 48–49A father questions his frightened daughter and directs her conduct.read · scan
- p. 159–160Three sons, the youngest despised by all; parents provide food and the father warns that hurting oneself brings wisdom.read · scan
- p. 184The angry father scolds his son, worries over paying the neighbour, then relents and goes home with him.read · scan
Percy Bysshe Shelley, The CenciVol. 18
- p. 301The Pope upholds paternal power, leaving children unprotected against a persecuting father.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, PoliticsVol. 5
- p. 247Illustrates from putting oneself in the place of one's child; ordaining for him unshared will not be obeyed.read · scan
Hans Christian Andersen, TalesVol. 17
- p. 281–282The Mother of the Winds disciplines her sons with the sack, as parent over obstinate children.read · scan
- p. 283–284The mother threatens to sack her quarrelling sons; rough affection between them.read · scan
John Stuart Mill, AutobiographyVol. 25
- p. 25Mill's awe of his father and the father's control of his upbringing.read · scan
- p. 25Father tells the fourteen-year-old that his knowledge is due to a father's teaching, not merit.read · scan
- p. 27Children of energetic parents grow up unenergetic because they lean on parents.read · scan
- p. 27Father's severe admonitions over the son's shortcomings.read · scan
- p. 34–37Father lacked tenderness toward his children; fear dried up their affection, though younger children loved him.read · scan
8b.From authority to friendship between father and son
Homer, The OdysseyVol. 22
- p. 251Telemachus answers his mother's rebuke, claiming he now knows good and evil though once a child; Penelope recalls her husband.read · scan
Pliny the Younger, Letters of PlinyVol. 9
- p. 337–338Pliny counsels a father not to treat his son too harshly, reminding him he was once a boy and is a fallible man.read · scan
John Locke, Some Thoughts Concerning EducationVol. 37
- p. 32–33A father should establish authority in infancy, then become an affectionate friend as the son grows.read · scan
- p. 49Make parents' company easy and dear to children so they love it rather than servants'.read · scan
- p. 80A father should relax severity as his son grows, talk familiarly and consult him, treating him as a man.read · scan
- p. 81Fathers should confide in sons and share their affairs, winning friendship rather than distance and reserve.read · scan
- p. 81–82A father should advise as a friend, without command, allow youth some liberty, and build confidence by confiding first.read · scan
- p. 82Father's familiarity with his son is the model for the tutor's conduct toward his pupil.read · scan
- p. 178Father should recall his own youth and allow his son freedom over his allowance.read · scan
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, EgmontVol. 19
- p. 305–306Alva confides his plan to his son, promising him an inheritance and training him in command; Ferdinand obeys with a heavy heart.read · scan
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Hermann and DorotheaVol. 19
- p. 360–362The mother sees through her son's pretense and asks him to speak openly and honestly with her.read · scan
- p. 365–366The mother plans to reconcile father and son, noting the father's violent words rarely become deeds and he needs a kindly word.read · scan
Friedrich Schiller, William TellVol. 26
- p. 438–439Father instructs his son about the world in intimate conversation.read · scan
John Stuart Mill, AutobiographyVol. 25
- p. 23Father teaches son and is candidly open to being convinced by him.read · scan
- p. 37–38Fear can seal the child's frankness toward parents who should be trusted advisers.read · scan
- p. 111–113Mill feels distant from his father, whose mode of education fostered independent thinking, and avoids painful discussion of differences.read · scan
Robert Louis Stevenson, Truth of IntercourseVol. 28
- p. 282Parent and child intercourse degenerates into verbal fencing because the parent clings to a preconceived notion of the child's character.read · scan
8c.Education at home versus away
See also: Education 9d
Marcus Tullius Cicero, Letters of CiceroVol. 9
- p. 111–113Cicero says he loves his friend's son as much as the father does and offers to tutor the boy.read · scan
Plutarch, CiceroVol. 12
- p. 237Cicero writes to his son about study and forbids Gorgias' company.read · scan
Pliny the Younger, Letters of PlinyVol. 9
- p. 195He has three children, two of them sons, whom he educates with the utmost care.read · scan
Michel de Montaigne, Of the Institution and Education of ChildrenVol. 32
- p. 37–40Parents' tender fondness makes them unable to see children corrected or hardened, so children should not be raised under their eyes.read · scan
Izaak Walton, The Life of Mr. George HerbertVol. 15
- p. 376–377The widowed mother keeps her son near her at Oxford, ruling gently without sourness.read · scan
John Locke, Some Thoughts Concerning EducationVol. 37
- p. 50Fathers' choice of keeping a son at home or sending him abroad; daughters' home retirement does not make them less able women.read · scan
- p. 51Youth leaves the shelter of his father's house and the guard of a tutor.read · scan
- p. 52A father able to afford a tutor at home can better ripen his son into a man.read · scan
- p. 55A father breeding his son at home keeps him in his company, away from servants' taint; education is the best portion to leave a son.read · scan
- p. 71Choose a tutor as carefully as a wife for one's son, since changing is costly.read · scan
- p. 79–80Parents should choose a tutor carefully and watch what matters in their children's upbringing.read · scan
- p. 153A mother could herself teach her son Latin by reading the Gospels and fables with him two or three hours daily.read · scan
- p. 161The boy's mother, despised as unlearned, outdoes the schoolmaster in expressing herself in English.read · scan
- p. 179Youths at that age need the eye and authority of parents and friends, not distance from their view.read · scan
Edmund Burke, A Letter to a Noble LordVol. 24
- p. 398–399Every honest father of a family will rejoice at such schools being shut.read · scan
William Ellery Channing, On the Elevation of the Laboring ClassesVol. 28
- p. 358–360Parents should sacrifice show and pleasure to obtain the best guides for their children.read · scan
Hans Christian Andersen, TalesVol. 17
- p. 358One boy will not go anywhere strange without his parents and is mocked for it.read · scan
John Stuart Mill, AutobiographyVol. 25
- p. 9Father patiently endured constant interruption while teaching his son at his own writing table.read · scan
- p. 10Father teaches and walks with his son daily, correcting his childish partisanship.read · scan
- p. 12He taught siblings under responsibility to his father.read · scan
- p. 13–15Father's encouragement and not inspecting the boy's writing.read · scan
- p. 24Father's early training gave Mill a quarter-century's advantage over contemporaries.read · scan
- p. 86He could not turn to his father for help, since his father's education had not foreseen this result.read · scan
8d.Parents as examples and moral teachers
See also: Education 3b
Confucius, The Sayings of ConfuciusVol. 44
- p. 56–57A father's teaching to his son, and the gentleman keeping aloof; titles for a king's wife.read · scan
Aesop, FablesVol. 17
- p. 30Parent and child, rebuke against one's own fault.read · scan
The Book of JobVol. 44
- p. 71Job's sons and daughters feast together, and Job sacrifices for them in case they have sinned.read · scan
The Book of PsalmsVol. 44
- p. 239–240Law and God's works are to be handed from fathers to children through generations.read · scan
Plato, The Apology of SocratesVol. 2
- p. 28–30Socrates entrusts his sons' upbringing to his friends, asking them to correct the boys' faults.read · scan
Virgil, The AeneidVol. 13
- p. 389Aeneas embraces his son Ascanius, urging him to learn valor from his example and honor his lineage.read · scan
Luke, The Acts of the ApostlesVol. 44
- p. 427Peter says the promise is to you and to your children.read · scan
Plutarch, CoriolanusVol. 12
- p. 147–148Orphaned of his father and raised by his widowed mother, he still became virtuous; fatherlessness no excuse for corruption.read · scan
Marcus Aurelius, The Meditations of Marcus AureliusVol. 2
- p. 193Character traits learned from grandfather, father, mother and great-grandfather; household as source of moral formation.read · scan
- p. 268Recalls life under grandfather, mother and father as successive changes.read · scan
Saint Augustine, The Confessions of St. AugustineVol. 7
- p. 13Mother's hope in God, sealing him with the cross at birth; parents' wish that he learn.read · scan
- p. 14His pious mother prevailed over his unbelieving father so that God should be his father.read · scan
- p. 24His mother warned him against fornication and adultery; he scorned her advice as womanish.read · scan
- p. 25His mother urged chastity but avoided marriage for fear a wife would hinder his learning; his father cared little for God.read · scan
- p. 78–79The Church had been commended to him by his parents.read · scan
- p. 147Augustine begins his account of his mother Monica: her Christian upbringing and her discipline under an old maid-servant.read · scan
Martin Luther, Address to the Christian Nobility of the German NationVol. 36
- p. 325–326A mother teaches her daughter her trade, while children of Christendom are left untaught; Jeremiah's lament of children swooning in mothers' bosoms.read · scan
William Roper, The Life of Sir Thomas MoreVol. 36
- p. 91He prays with wife and children and exhorts them toward heaven and patient endurance of trouble.read · scan
- p. 103More talks with wife and children of heaven, hell and martyrs, preparing them for his coming trouble.read · scan
Michel de Montaigne, Of the Institution and Education of ChildrenVol. 32
- p. 64His father devised his upbringing, and the household and mother spoke only Latin to him.read · scan
- p. 64Father and mother and servants all learned Latin to raise him in it.read · scan
William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of DenmarkVol. 46
- p. 109A father blesses and counsels his son, and sternly questions his daughter about Hamlet's suit.read · scan
William Shakespeare, The TempestVol. 46
- p. 399Prospero tells Miranda her parentage and how his brother Antonio betrayed him; trust like a good parent begot falsehood.read · scan
- p. 399Miranda the cherubin sustained her father's spirits in exile; father as teacher of his daughter.read · scan
Izaak Walton, The Life of Dr. John DonneVol. 15
- p. 324His pious parents' example powerfully persuaded him toward their faith.read · scan
John Eliot, Eliot's Brief NarrativeVol. 43
- p. 138Children of the converts were baptized with their parents.read · scan
John Milton, Poems Written at Horton, 1632-1638Vol. 4
- p. 43–44The Earl's offspring, nursed in princely lore, come to attend their father's state.read · scan
Blaise Pascal, ThoughtsVol. 48
- p. 40–41Parents fear their children's natural love may fade; children take principles from fathers' habits.read · scan
Blaise Pascal, Minor WorksVol. 48
- p. 376Parental negligence leaves baptized children without knowledge of their faith.read · scan
John Bunyan, The Pilgrim's ProgressVol. 15
- p. 82–83His family suffers his temper and he brings up his sons to follow his ways.read · scan
- p. 181–183She is blamed for hardening her heart against her husband and keeping her children in ignorance.read · scan
- p. 220The boy recalls his mother's teaching about the way to Heaven and Hell; Christiana shares gifts with her companion.read · scan
- p. 227–228Prudence commends Christiana for bringing up her children well.read · scan
- p. 252–253Christiana presents her husband's children; Honest blesses each boy and urges them to imitate biblical namesakes.read · scan
John Dryden, PoemsVol. 40
- p. 386–387Her morals were fed by her father's life as the best of books.read · scan
John Locke, Some Thoughts Concerning EducationVol. 37
- p. 28–29Parents' management of their offspring shapes what kind of men the children become.read · scan
- p. 29–30Parents through folly encourage children's vanity, lying and gluttony, corrupting them by their own example.read · scan
- p. 30–31Locke urges parents' watchfulness over children beset by temptations and instructors in vice even at home.read · scan
- p. 55Parents must revere their children and set no example they would not have imitated, if they want respect and obedience.read · scan
- p. 69Parents' respect for the tutor determines the son's; servants' examples are the most dangerous.read · scan
- p. 105–106Adults' duty toward children's ignorance; parents and elders should courteously inform them.read · scan
- p. 108–109Father, mother and tutor act together; a father should spend days curing his son's sauntering.read · scan
Jonathan Swift, A Letter of Advice to a Young PoetVol. 27
- p. 105Religion is what your mother taught you, an early prejudice the poet must overcome.read · scan
Benjamin Franklin, His AutobiographyVol. 1
- p. 11–12Franklin portrays his father and his table conversation aimed at improving the children's minds.read · scan
- p. 55His parents gave him early religious impressions and a pious childhood.read · scan
Samuel Johnson, Life of Addison, 1672-1719Vol. 27
- p. 155–156Addison's father, a rector, gave him early piety and moved the family with his preferment.read · scan
John Woolman, The Journal of John WoolmanVol. 1
- p. 169Parents taught him to read and had the children read Scripture aloud on first-days; their pious instruction guarded him.read · scan
- p. 172Parents' admonitions had good effect for a season.read · scan
Oliver Goldsmith, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 509Children cling to the pastor, who shows a parent's warmth.read · scan
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, The Tragedy of Faust, Part IVol. 19
- p. 47–48Father and son relation: honoring one's sire's lore and passing knowledge to a son.read · scan
Robert Burns, Poems and SongsVol. 6
- p. 134–136Cotter returns to wife and children; the household's affection, elder children's help and parents' admonitions.read · scan
- p. 137–139Father as priest leads wife and children in prayer, hoping to meet again in future days.read · scan
Carolina Oliphant, Lady Nairne, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 563–565Rowan tree recalls childhood home, mother with children, father's prayer and psalm, all now gone.read · scan
Robert Southey, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 732–734Grandfather instructs grandchildren; his father's house was burnt and family fled.read · scan
Alessandro Manzoni, I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed)Vol. 21
- p. 598–599Renzo proposes naming their first daughter Maria as a more useful devotion; marriage is at stake.read · scan
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Household TalesVol. 17
- p. 109–110The mother instructs Red-Cap; grandmother's love and gifts; the child cares for her sick grandmother.read · scan
Thomas Carlyle, Sir Walter ScottVol. 25
- p. 409–410Scott's fortunate upbringing: comfortable parents, affectionate, prudent household, mother supplying legendary stories.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, WorshipVol. 5
- p. 287–288Children see through parents' traditional or hypocritical answers to their questions.read · scan
Hans Christian Andersen, TalesVol. 17
- p. 311–312The mother stork prepares her young for flying and migration, reassuring them while the father brings food and tells stories.read · scan
- p. 312–313Mother guides and admonishes her young, urging them to listen to her rather than take petty revenge.read · scan
John Stuart Mill, AutobiographyVol. 25
- p. 29Father shapes son's moral influences and religious upbringing.read · scan
- p. 32Father instructs son to keep unpopular opinions private.read · scan
- p. 126Mill reflects on his father's real opinions, his polemical exaggerations and their differences of thought.read · scan
Charles Darwin, The Voyage of the BeagleVol. 29
- p. 418Mothers' early impressed system of teaching shapes daughters' morality.read · scan
William Makepeace Thackeray, Jonathan SwiftVol. 28
- p. 16–17Swift held family devotions each morning in secrecy.read · scan
Richard Henry Dana, Jr., Two Years Before the MastVol. 23
- p. 369–371Tracts speaking of home, a praying mother or sister touch even the roughest sailors' hearts.read · scan
Richard Henry Dana, Jr., Twenty-Four Years AfterVol. 23
- p. 391Mrs. Fremont and her spirited, clever children are praised.read · scan
8e.The choice of vocation for children
See also: Will 3b · Education 3d
Herodotus, An Account of EgyptVol. 33
- p. 36Keepers' office inherited from father to son.read · scan
Dante Alighieri, HellVol. 20
- p. 89The Navarrese sinner says his mother put him in a lord's service because his father was a spendthrift.read · scan
Sir Thomas More, UtopiaVol. 36
- p. 177–178Sons commonly follow their father's craft, and households make their own garments.read · scan
Martin Luther, Address to the Christian Nobility of the German NationVol. 36
- p. 333–334Fear of being unable to maintain a family drives men into the priesthood; marriage is preferable to a false vocation.read · scan
Benvenuto Cellini, The Autobiography of Benvenuto CelliniVol. 31
- p. 12Father wants his son to be a great flute player; the boy resists, filial conflict over vocation.read · scan
- p. 13Father's loss of position leads the son to become a goldsmith.read · scan
- p. 14Father, despairing at son's fixed will, cannot bear to be parted from him and keeps him at music.read · scan
- p. 17Father Giovanni quarrels with his former pupil over his son's musical education; talk of children's inheritance, squandered property and parental wishes.read · scan
- p. 17–18A father urges his son to play music out of love for him and predicts his children's fortunes against a rival's.read · scan
- p. 19Father plans careers for his sons and favors the returned brother; the quarrel over the stolen clothes leads Cellini to leave home.read · scan
Michel de Montaigne, Of the Institution and Education of ChildrenVol. 32
- p. 51–53Children should be placed by their faculties of mind, not their fathers' condition, even a duke's son.read · scan
William Harrison, A Description of Elizabethan EnglandVol. 35
- p. 224–225Yeomen are settled married men maintaining a family; they send sons to schools to become gentlemen.read · scan
Miguel de Cervantes, The History of Don Quixote of the Mancha, Part IVol. 14
- p. 383Sons choose vocations, return part of their portions to their aged father out of filial duty, and part with tears and blessing.read · scan
- p. 427Father divided his goods among three sons with precepts and let them choose their callings.read · scan
Izaak Walton, The Life of Mr. George HerbertVol. 15
- p. 386His mother had often urged him toward sacred orders.read · scan
John Locke, Some Thoughts Concerning EducationVol. 37
- p. 107The father's duty to watch his son's disposition.read · scan
Sir Richard Steele, The Spectator ClubVol. 27
- p. 84The Templar obeys his humorsome father's wish, studying law at his direction rather than following his own inclination.read · scan
Benjamin Franklin, His AutobiographyVol. 1
- p. 9–10His father decides his sons' careers, intending him for the Church, then changing for cost.read · scan
- p. 13–14His father decides his trade and binds him to his brother James.read · scan
Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of NationsVol. 10
- p. 111–112A tender mother fears the sea-port will entice her son to sea; the sailor must maintain wife and family.read · scan
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Hermann and DorotheaVol. 19
- p. 354Father wishes his son to be better than himself and to travel.read · scan
William Wordsworth, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 620Michael and Isabel weigh sending their only son Luke away, sharing hopes and fears as parents; the household's cheer at the kinsman's letter.read · scan
Alessandro Manzoni, I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed)Vol. 21
- p. 17–18He acquiesced in his parents' wish to make him a priest.read · scan
- p. 54Ludovico was the only son of a wealthy merchant who retired from trade.read · scan
- p. 54A father's ambitions and inheritance shape his son's start in life.read · scan
- p. 145A prince sacrifices his younger children to the cloister to keep property whole for the eldest son, tormenting them.read · scan
- p. 145–146The father's immovable resolve about his daughter's future imposes a sense of fatal necessity on the child.read · scan
- p. 146Refusal is seen as rebellion against a father who already treats her vocation as settled.read · scan
- p. 150Her father and family treat her vocation as settled; the Abbess hints at his great anger at her letter.read · scan
- p. 157The Prince twists Gertrude's single 'yes' into a vocation and publicly presents the returning 'wandering sheep' to the family.read · scan
- p. 158Her family congratulates her, reading tears as satisfaction, and promises her splendid rank as the family's representative in the monastery.read · scan
- p. 160–161An old family servant urges the advantages nuns of high family enjoyed, showing how the household presses its plan.read · scan
- p. 164A father's threatening impatience compels his daughter to declare a religious vocation to serve family interests.read · scan
- p. 166Parents customarily select the godmother; the Prince manipulates his daughter as a matter of family policy.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, English TraitsVol. 5
- p. 370–371Offices, farms and trades descend hereditarily, grandfather, father and son.read · scan
8f.Parents' duty to provide, and the poor family
Herodotus, An Account of EgyptVol. 33
- p. 58The dying builder reveals his secret to his two sons so they may have ample means of living.read · scan
Marcus Tullius Cicero, Letters of CiceroVol. 9
- p. 172–173Cicero worries over his son's allowance at Athens, arranging funds so the young man is treated generously, befitting the father's position.read · scan
Paul, The Second Epistle of Paul to the CorinthiansVol. 45
- p. 531Parents ought to lay up for children; Paul as spiritual parent spends himself gladly for the Corinthians' souls.read · scan
Plutarch, AristidesVol. 12
- p. 105Athens dowers Aristides's daughters, endows his son and granddaughter; descendants remain poor and are cared for by the city.read · scan
Saint Augustine, The Confessions of St. AugustineVol. 7
- p. 23–24His father took pride in funding his studies but not his chastity; his mother, a believer, feared for him.read · scan
Stories from the Thousand and One NightsVol. 16
- p. 25The fisherman supports a wife and three children.read · scan
- p. 217Kerim says the wants of his family impelled him to disobey the mandate.read · scan
- p. 359A mother tells her son about the sorcerer, shares the household's poverty, and offers to sell her spun yarn to feed him.read · scan
Sir Thomas More, UtopiaVol. 36
- p. 142Evicted husbands, wives, widows, fatherless children and mothers with babes are driven from their homes with nowhere to rest.read · scan
- p. 232–236Utopians are free of worry over wives, children's poverty and daughters' dowries.read · scan
Martin Luther, Address to the Christian Nobility of the German NationVol. 36
- p. 298Pilgrims leave wives and children in want at home while spending money on Rome.read · scan
- p. 299Money and labour spent on pilgrimage should go to one's family and poor neighbours.read · scan
Benvenuto Cellini, The Autobiography of Benvenuto CelliniVol. 31
- p. 304He refuses to maintain another man's bastards.read · scan
- p. 318–319Cellini fathers a daughter, Costanza, by his model; godparents are named and he settles a dowry and places her under an aunt.read · scan
- p. 336–337He travels to bring alms to his sister and her six daughters, fearing poverty may lead them to a bad life.read · scan
- p. 340–341He finds his sister with six daughters and an honest brother-in-law in want, and resolves to raise their pension and provide for the girls.read · scan
Michel de Montaigne, Of FriendshipVol. 32
- p. 80Charixenus cares for Eudamidas's mother and marries off his daughter, honoring the will.read · scan
William Harrison, A Description of Elizabethan EnglandVol. 35
- p. 312Hop profits maintain a farmer's family.read · scan
- p. 350Rebukes those who love lap dogs more than children capable of wisdom, feeding pets while poor men's children go hungry.read · scan
Sir Francis Drake, Sir Francis Drake RevivedVol. 33
- p. 128Drake's persecuted father fled and lived in a ship's hull, where his twelve sons were born; most died at sea.read · scan
Miguel de Cervantes, The History of Don Quixote of the Mancha, Part IVol. 14
- p. 111Sancho declines to fight as a peaceable man with wife and children to maintain.read · scan
Izaak Walton, The Life of Dr. John DonneVol. 15
- p. 329Donne's wife bears his sufferings and a child yearly; kinsman Wolly shelters the growing household.read · scan
- p. 333Wife miscarries and children are sick, with no means for physic or even burials.read · scan
Izaak Walton, The Life of Mr. George HerbertVol. 15
- p. 377–378Donne's wife and seven children depend on support.read · scan
John Woolman, The Journal of John WoolmanVol. 1
- p. 181Settlers must educate children amid hardship; employer's wife's death noted.read · scan
Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of NationsVol. 10
- p. 69–70Wages must suffice to rear children, since half die before manhood, or the race of workmen would not last.read · scan
- p. 72Labourers in China find it hard to bring up families.read · scan
- p. 77Labourer's family of six or three and a half persons needs about twenty pence a head weekly.read · scan
- p. 80Poverty permits fruitful marriages but causes heavy child mortality, since the poor cannot tend children as well as the better-off.read · scan
- p. 81Better reward lets labourers rear more children, extending limits on their multiplication.read · scan
- p. 376–377Dearer subsistence reduces the poor's ability to educate and bring up children, restraining population.read · scan
- p. 518–519The sober industrious poor rear the largest families; dissolute parents' children perish from neglect or are corrupted by bad example.read · scan
- p. 520Rising prices of necessaries diminish the poor's ability to bring up numerous families.read · scan
Robert Burns, Poems and SongsVol. 6
- p. 151–152The cottar supports wife and ragged children, who grow up sturdy and contented despite hardship.read · scan
- p. 153Children and faithful wives are the dearest comfort and pride of poor households.read · scan
Friedrich Schiller, William TellVol. 26
- p. 470–471Her husband is imprisoned and her orphans cry for bread.read · scan
Alessandro Manzoni, I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed)Vol. 21
- p. 236–237Portions scale with wife and children; Renzo hopes for a wife and more bread when married.read · scan
- p. 560–561A widowed mother with dying children pleads for food after her husband's death.read · scan
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Household TalesVol. 17
- p. 128He takes leave of his father and mother, who equip him and feed him before he goes.read · scan
- p. 182A poor woodcutter sacrifices his savings for his only son's schooling, expecting support in old age; son offers to help.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, English TraitsVol. 5
- p. 393Mr. Wortley argued family affections were not for the lower orders, so apprenticed children could be sent far away.read · scan
John Stuart Mill, AutobiographyVol. 25
- p. 8Describes his father's origins, marriage, large family, and his labour supporting them and instructing his eldest son.read · scan
John Stuart Mill, On LibertyVol. 25
- p. 275–276Self-injury harms dependents and near connections.read · scan
- p. 276A man who fails to support or educate his family through extravagance is reprobated for breach of duty to them.read · scan
- p. 301–302Bringing a child into being without prospect of providing for its body and mind is a moral crime; the father must be compelled to fulfil the duty.read · scan
- p. 303–305Parents bear grave responsibility in causing a child's existence; bringing children into wretched prospects is a crime against them and society.read · scan
John Ruskin, Sesame and LiliesVol. 28
- p. 93–94Parents, especially mothers, write anxiously about their children's education and prospects.read · scan
- p. 117Even a poor family could once in life buy books as they buy bread.read · scan
- p. 154Children will suffer for parents' sacrifice of their play-garden to profit.read · scan
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