I love my mother for all the times she said absolutely nothing.... Thinking back on it all, it must have been the most difficult part of mothering she ever had to do: knowing the outcome, yet feeling she had no right to keep me from charting my own path. I thank her for all her virtues, but mostly for never once having said, "I told you so.

Babies should enjoy the freedom to vocalize whether it be in church, a public meeting place, during a movie, or after hours when the lights are out. They have not yet learned that joy and laughter have to last a lifetime and must be conserved.

Let me put it this way. According to my girth, I should be a ninety-foot redwood.

Encourage independence in your children by regularly losing them in the supermarket.

Explain to me how he [her son] can ride a bicycle, run, play ball, set up a camp, swing, fight a war, swim and race for eight hours ... and has to be driven to the garbage can.

Did you ever notice that the first piece of luggage on the carousel never belongs to anyone?

Laughter rises out of tragedy when you need it the most, and rewards you for your courage.