Marc Parent > Quotes

“Falling as deeply in love with as many people, places, and things as you possibly can -- that's the best revenge on the unjust brevity of this fragile life.”
― Marc Parent, Believing It All: Lessons I Learned from My Children

“The bittersweet side of appreciating life's most precious moments is the unbearable awareness that those moments are passing.”
― Marc Parent, Believing It All: Lessons I Learned from My Children

“In the end, it's not what we keep our children from that will save them. It's what we put into them in the first place.”
― Marc Parent, Believing It All: Lessons I Learned from My Children

“Simple kindness as a means to no other end than itself is not something that springs up and flourishes on its own. Compassion is cultivated. Empathy needs watching over. It's not enough to simply plant the seeds. Their fruits are not native to the soil. Left to itself, the untended heart grows cold.”
― Marc Parent, Believing It All: Lessons I Learned from My Children

“What I'm saying is that we all hold, in our minds, the ability to create images that would break us in half.”
― Marc Parent, Turning Stones: My Days and Nights with Children at Risk

“You gotta love the cops. They start the night ready to shoot someone's eyes off and at the same time ready to carry a child with a grandmother's tenderness. Ready to shatter and ready to soothe at the touch of a trigger, a good cop is an amazing animal.”
― Marc Parent, Turning Stones: My Days and Nights with Children at Risk

“Mastering the art of good casework is a little like staring into the shuttering eyes of a rabid canine and saying "nice doggie" until you find a shotgun.”
― Marc Parent, Turning Stones: My Days and Nights with Children at Risk

“Sean may have had his problems, but he was a smart kid - the day's lesson was not lost on him, I'm certain. It wasn't lost on me: It doesn't matter how good you are at flag signals if no one is watching - the distress call is only as good as the person looking out for it."

~"Turning Stones: My Days and Nights With Children at Risk”
― Marc Parent