Saturday, October 24, 2009

Parenting for Everyone: Section 1.2. About Love & Conscience

This is the third episode in my series Parenting for Everyone, which is my summary of the book of the same name by Simon Soloveychik.

People often say about their children: "Let him (her) be a good person, that'd be enough." Good means kind and honest.

We all think of ourselves as kind. Why then is there so little kindness in the world?

It is possible to bring up kind and honest children under almost any circumstances. But to do that, there must be at least one person around them who sincerely and deeply believes that kindness and honesty (or, which is the same, love and conscience) are the most important things in the world, let alone that they are not signs of weakness or silliness.

Love and conscience rule the world! This is the essence of parenting.

Love and conscience are the oxygen of the ethical atmosphere. The union of the two is the key. Conscience is uncompromising, love forgives and reconciles.

Love alone, without truth and conscience, is not enough to bring up a child. Responsibility alone, without love and kind heart, will ruin him.

If we wish that our children develop into kind and honest people, it is not enough, however difficult, to show forth these qualities towards them. We must also believe in love and conscience.

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