Parental Authority Quotes

“Power is confusing for us, perhaps even terrifying, because our relationship with it had an unfortunate beginning. Someone in a position of power over us used and abused us…It seems as if power were something to be wielded, always at someone’s expense, usually our own.”
― Maureen Brady, Beyond Survival: A Writing Journey for Healing Childhood Sexual Abuse

“At times I am flabbergasted that my memory is considered false and my alcoholic father's memory is considered rational and sane.

Am I not believed because I am a woman?

If Peter Freyd were a man who lived in my neighborhood during my childhood instead of my father, would he and his wife be so believable? If not, what is it about his status as my father that makes him more credible?”
― Jennifer J. Freyd

“For the Christian, parental authority does not come from God placing us over our children. It comes from God having given us the responsibility to serve His children whom He, for a time, has entrusted to our care.”
― Greg and Lisa Popcak

“To drive the point home, Tocqueville stressed the need for individual initiatives in democracy. Tocqueville had shown in his central theoretical part that democracy had severed the aristocratic chain and, with it, social hierarchies. But in concluding, he saw a multitude of atomized individuals lacking in energy and initiative. He blamed widespread popular indolence on the supervisory grip of the state on citizens' lives that amounted to soft despotism. Democratic men submitted to the authority of 'an immense tutelary power, which assumes sole responsibility for securing their pleasure and watching over their fate. It is absolute, meticulous, regular, provident, and mild. It would resemble paternal authority if only its purpose were the same, namely, to prepare men for manhood. But on the contrary, it seeks only to keep them in childhood irrevocably.”
― Olivier Zunz, The Man Who Understood Democracy: The Life of Alexis de Tocqueville

“We wish grandparents would remember these two truths about grandchildren: 1. They are NOT your children; 2. They ARE your grandchildren.
The first truth seems obvious, and yet forgetting it can cause untold problems. Because you are not their parents, you should never overstep the right and authority of the parents. This means that you need to consult their parents before you give or loan them money, let them to events, or make extravagant plans. Similarly, talk to the parents before you give the grandchildren major advice. Your failure to respect parental authority can create extreme conflict between you and your adult children.”
― Ross Campbell, Gary Chapman

“He’s not like his brother and sister. No sense of accountability. His mother and I molded him into something useful, and he tried to throw it away as soon as he was out of the house.”
― Vincent H. O'Neil, Lovecraftiana: The Magazine of Eldritch Horror