Mothering Quotes

“Being a mother is an attitude, not a biological relation.”
― Robert A. Heinlein, Have Space Suit—Will Travel

“Sweater, n. Garment worn by child when its mother is feeling chilly.”
― Ambrose Bierce, The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary

“Don't stand unmoving outside the door of a crying baby whose only desire is to touch you. Go to your baby. Go to your baby a million times. Demonstrate that people can be trusted, that the environment can be trusted, that we live in a benign universe.”
― Peggy O'Mara

“MOTHER IS WATER

I wish I could
Shower your head with flowers
And anoint your feet with my tears,
For I know I have caused you
So much heartache, frustration and despair –
Throughout my youthful years.
I wish I could give you
The remainder of my life
To add to yours,
Or simply erase
The lines on your face,
And mend all that has been torn.
For next to God,
You are the fire
That has given light
To the flame in each of my eyes.
You are the fountain
That nourished my growth,
And from your chalice –
Gave me life.
Without the wetness of your love,
The fragrance of your water,
Or the trickling sounds of
Your voice,
I shall always feel
thirsty.”
― Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem

“A wise mother knows: It is her state of consciousness that matters. Her gentleness and clarity command respect. Her love creates security.”
― Vimala McClure, The Tao of Motherhood

“From her thighs, she gives you life
And how you treat she who gives you life
Shows how much you value the life given to you by the Creator.
And from seed to dust
There is ONE soul above all others --
That you must always show patience, respect, and trust
And this woman is your mother.
And when your soul departs your body
And your deeds are weighed against the feather
There is only one soul who can save yours
And this woman is your mother.
And when the heart of the universe
Asks her hair and mind,
Whether you were gentle and kind to her
Her heart will be forced to remain silent
And her hair will speak freely as a separate entity,
Very much like the seaweed in the sea --
It will reveal all that it has heard and seen.

This woman whose heart has seen yours,
First before anybody else in the world,
And whose womb had opened the door
For your eyes to experience light and more --
Is your very own MOTHER.
So, no matter whether your mother has been cruel,
Manipulative, abusive, mentally sick, or simply childish
How you treat her is the ultimate test.
If she misguides you, forgive her and show her the right way
With simple wisdom, gentleness, and kindness.
And always remember,
That the queen in the Creator's kingdom,
Who sits on the throne of all existence,
Is exactly the same as in yours.
And her name is,
THE DIVINE MOTHER.”
― Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem

“What she did have, after raising two children, was the equivalent of a PhD in mothering and my undying respect.”
― Barbara Delinsky, Escape

“Please don't judge me too much until you are older and know more things. (Spoken from mother to daughter)”
― Ann Brashares, 3 Willows: The Sisterhood Grows

“Mother was anchor. Mother was comfort. Mother was home. A girl who lost her mother was suddenly a tiny boat on an angry ocean. Some boats eventually floated ashore. And some boats, like me, seemed to float farther and farther from land.”
― Ruta Sepetys, Salt to the Sea

“When my friends began to have babies and I came to comprehend the heroic labor it takes to keep one alive, the constant exhausting tending of a being who can do nothing and demands everything, I realized that my mother had done all of these things for me before I remembered. I was fed; I was washed; I was clothed; I was taught to speak and given a thousand other things, over and over again, hourly, daily, for years. She gave me everything before she gave me nothing.”
― Rebecca Solnit, The Faraway Nearby

“All infants and children require and deserve comfort in order to develop properly. Soft cooing voices, gentle touch, smiles, cleanliness, and wholesome food all contribute to the growing body/mind. And when these basic conditions are absent in childhood, our need for comfort in adulthood can be so profound that it becomes pathological, driving us to seek mothering from anyone who will have us, to use others to fill our emptiness with sex or love, and to risk becoming addicted to a perceived source of comfort.”
― Alexandra Katehakis, Mirror of Intimacy: Daily Reflections on Emotional and Erotic Intelligence

“Loving a child doesn't mean giving in to all his whims; to love him is to bring out the best in him, to teach him to love what is difficult.”
― Nadia Boulanger

“A talent for building children's souls, Hilde. So building their souls that they might grow straight and fine, nobly and beautifully formed, to their full human stature. That was where Aline's talent lay.”
― Henrik Ibsen, The Master Builder

“You want to know how to love me?
Love my children.
You want to be good to me?
Be good to my children.”
― Beth Moore, All My Knotted-Up Life: A Memoir

“So, is this par for the course right now?’ I ask, when I’ve found my breath again.

‘The complaining?’ Rose asks, and blows out her cheeks. ‘Honestly, it’s relentless. Last weekend, he screamed for half the morning because there was a bump in his socks. Yesterday, he had an hour-long tantrum because the sausage kept falling out of his sandwich.’

‘It can’t always be like this.’

‘You’d think so, wouldn’t you? Truly, I can understand those mothers who get arrested for throwing their kids against a wall.’

I give her a look.

‘I’m not saying I’d do it, but I can understand the impulse. You just want to stop all the noise.’

‘I wouldn’t share that thought with anyone else if I were you.’

Rose laughs. ‘I know, I’m sorry. I’m just thinking out loud.”
― Andy Marr, A Matter of Life and Death

“On Friday, Rose invites Sophie and I around to the house. We arrive at eight, armed with some fancy wine Dad handed us from his cellar. Unsurprisingly, it’s Rose who answers the door. Crawford’s there, too, talking like he’s done ten lines of cocaine.

‘Unco Tom, you missed what happened today because I was at the table with the naked sand and I was making a big cake and then I gave it to Mummy and I said “eat a bit of this cake” and she did, she ate a bit, but it was really yucky because it was made of the naked sand!’

‘Kinetic sand,’ Rose says, ‘It’s called kinetic sand.’

But Crawford’s way too wired to listen. ‘And then after lunch Mummy was changing Ellie’s nappy and we took Ellie’s nappy off and Ellie farted and a poo fell out and went on the floor!’

‘Darling,’ Rose interrupts, ‘I’m not sure everyone likes that story as much as you do.’

Perhaps not, but it’s absolutely slayed Crawford, who’s laughing so hard that he’s having to gasp between phrases. ‘And… and it was… so smelly… Mummy had to… open the window!”
― Andy Marr, A Matter of Life and Death

“I may have overmothered you and screwed you up in ways large and small, but I think it’s time you took some measure of responsibility for where you choose to put your own penis.”
― Jonathon Tropper

“in all the years i had blundered along in search of my own footing, she had never given me an inkling of this wish. unburdened by the demands of history or anyone else's dreams, i had wandered toward and finally reached a world far outside the plains i loved and loathed. my mother had neither begrudged me this journey nor expected it, certain that i had to make my own way. but she packed my toolbox with her great wit and forbearance before i went, and she stashed there, for long safekeeping, her desire.”
― Gail Caldwell, A Strong West Wind

“All gifts are riddles, all lives/are in the middle of mother-lives.”
― Brenda Shaughnessy, Our Andromeda

“Spiritual mothering often happens more around a kitchen table that in a structured study (p. 213).”
― Sharon W. Betters

“When you become a mother, you engender life, endless possibilities. Mothering is creative in a very literal sense—it is cultivating all that potential, bringing a small person into consciousness.”
― Angela Garbes, Essential Labor: Mothering as Social Change

“Doing this requires knowledge of the history of mothering and care work—how they came to be seen as naturally female, which is to say invisible and undervalued.”
― Angela Garbes, Essential Labor: Mothering as Social Change

“florens would sigh then, her head on lina's shoulder and when sleep came the little girl's smiel lingered. mother hunger – to be one or have one – both of them were reeling from that longing which, lina knes, remained alive, traveling to the bone.”
― Toni Morrison, A Mercy

“Learning how to mother was like purchasing a $2 puzzle from the thrift shop… no idea if all the pieces were included.”
― S.D.G., Naked

“The happiest moments in life!

It is so adorable to see mom and baby happy and calm enjoying moments together that we want to continue to be part of that experience ”
― Motheringo

“I have the potential to look like a Super Hero, and so I must watch what I wear”
― Niedria D. Kenny

“Iantha was a calm mother who didn't believe in adding to the chaos of woe....It was one of Iantha's many skills that she could listen to lots of people speaking at the same time and still get hold of the important parts." (Chapter 2)”
― Jeanne Birdsall, The Penderwicks in Spring

“God entrusted our children into our hands as one of the best works for which we answer to Him. He gave us the stewardship of shaping, investing in, and inspiring for His glory these little human beings entrusted into our hands by His love and design. Because I had committed my whole life to Christ, one way for me to worship God was to serve these precious human beings He entrusted into my hands. God ordained family and home to have eternal value as the place our children are shaped in the transcendent image of God, through our homes. This is our most lasting legacy. Even as Jesus served us through His sacrificial life, so we model his love through our sacrificial life.”
― Sally Clarkson, Awaking Wonder: Opening Your Child's Heart to the Beauty of Learning

“The empty nest can be one of the toughest parts of parenting. It’s a holy, hard giving-back, a sacred release of our children into God’s care and their next chapter. But you, too, have a new chapter, and you can find peace as you transition from mom to empty nest mom and rediscover that mom is not your only name.
There is a second act, a future with your name on it, different from your children’s but filled with hope and surprises you cannot begin to imagine…if you plan for it, believe in it, and, with the Lord’s help, walk fearlessly into it.

You are cordially invited to the After Party…because Mom is not your only name.”
― Kate Battistelli, The After Party of the Empty Nest: Mom is Not Your Only Name

“Will we make it safely through this upheaval? Will things go back to normal? I don’t know. I hope so. I hope the prognosis for all of us is good. But for now, I’m keeping my head down and doing what is required.

I’m mothering my children. I’m doing my part to hold our home together. I’m reassuring the people I love, and letting them reassure me. It’s remarkable how strong we’ve all become.”
― Tracy K. Smith