Motherhood is a biological fact, while fatherhood is a social invention.

Parents feel like immigrants in the country of the young.

I approached the idea of college with the expectation of taking part in an intellectual feast. ... In college, in some way that I devoutly believed in but could not explain, I expected to become a person.

in all cultures, human beings - in order to be human - must understand the nonhuman.

... some veil between childhood and the present is necessary. If the veil is withdrawn, the artistic imagination sickens and dies, the prophet looks in the mirror with a disillusioned and cynical sneer, the scientist goes fishing.

the task of each family is also the task of all humanity. This is to cherish the living, remember those who have gone before, and prepare for those who are not yet born.

Any town that doesn't have sidewalks doesn't love its children.