John Rosemond Quotes & Sayings

We have forgotten what Thomas Jefferson told us in 1776: that we are endowed by the Creator "with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness." Not happiness, mind you, but its pursuit. By implication Jefferson warned that if you pursue happiness for someone else, you deny him the right to pursue it on his own. — John Rosemond

How do you prevent a little sociopath from becoming a big, full-blown sociopath? Sit on him. — John Rosemond

The combination of foolishness in the heart and free will in the head is extremely volatile. — John Rosemond

Parents make sure homework is returned without error, drill their kids on upcoming tests to the saturation point, and then complain if teachers do not give the grades they think their kids deserve. By that point, it's hard to tell whose grades they are. — John Rosemond

The assumption being that if high-risk children could be made to 'feel good about themselves,' these epidemics could be mitigated ... This prescription, unfortunately, has proven to be yet another in a long list of nouveau homilies that haven't lived up to their promises. — John Rosemond

Invariably, micromanaging results in four problems: deceit, disloyalty, conflict, and communication problems. — John Rosemond

Whats happening in America today is parents are emphasizing their relationship with their children instead of leadership. Anyone in leadership will tell you you cannot have a warm, fuzzy relationship with someone youre in charge of leading. — John Rosemond

We live in the age of "Everything Has Rights." Now, I'm not denying that the concept of rights is valid, but I wonder ... whatever happened to obligations? One rarely hears the term anymore. Indeed, have you ever heard of a "human obligations movement?" ... The very ideal that holds a democracy together
the willingness to make personal sacrifice for the common good
is going quickly by the wayside. — John Rosemond

Parents should not agonize over anything a child does or fails to do if the child is perfectly capable of agonizing over it himself. — John Rosemond

The essence of successful discipline is not technique; rather, it is self-confidence. — John Rosemond

The fewer words a parent uses, the more aurhoritative the parent sounds & the clearer the instruction. — John Rosemond

Give your children regular, daily doses of Vitamin N. This vital nutrient consists simply of the most character-building two-letter word in the English language No ... Unfortunately, many, if not most, of today's children suffer from Vitamin N deficiency. They've been overindulged by well-meaning parents who've given them far too much of what they want and far too little of what they truly need. — John Rosemond

Today's mom watches her every child-rearing step lest she commit some egregious and apocalyptic parenting faux pas that will certainly doom her child to a life spent sleeping under overpasses, or worse, not going to Harvard. — John Rosemond