Kahlil Gibran writes that a woman who is holding a babe against her bosom asks the prophet for advice about Children. The reply:
Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.
—From The Prophet, by Kahlil Gibran, 89th printing, 1972, Alfred A Knopf, Inc.
More content on Children’s Health:
Also see:
Food additives found to cause hyperactivity in children
Psychiatric Drugs, Our Children, and Marketing Madness
Pesticides and Children’s Health: The Myth of Safe Pesticides
A Smarter Way to Vaccinate & Children Need Fats to Be Healthy
Tylenol and Asthma in Children
Asthma and Food Additives: A Surprising Connection
Alternative Medicine & Children and Why Hepatitis B Vaccine for Infants?
Children, Chemicals, and Cholesterol
Children Copy Better Eating Habits & ADD: Is it Over Diagnosed?
Antibiotics & Children’s Ear Infections
New Studies Link Diet & Behavior
Paxil Being Tested on Children Despite Suicide Risks
What a Father Can Do for His Children
Identifying & Treating Food Allergies
Is it Good for Girls? The HPV Vaccine: Risks, Benefits & Alternatives
Why School Gardens are Good for Children
Equine Program Helps Troubled Youth
Why Children Act Up At School & How a Change in Diet Might Help
