Mignon McLaughlin on Family

"There are children born to be children, and others who must mark time till they can take their natural places as adults."

"I have seen messed-up people of forty who still seemed salvageable, and children of six or seven who almost surely were not."

"The ideal home: big enough for you to hear the children, but not very well."

"There's only one person who needs a glass of water oftener than a small child tucked in for the night, and that's a writer sitting down to write."

"If you're a gifted flirt, talking about the price of eggs will do as well as any other subject."

"We tell our children things which we know are not so, but which we wish were so."

"Most of us become parents long before we have stopped being children."

"The fault no child ever loses is the one he was most punished for."

"Neurotics are always looking for something new to overdo."

"Children lack morality, but they also lack fake morality."

"When children are bored, it reflects on us all."

"Women gather together to wear silly hats, eat dainty food, and forget how unresponsive their husbands are. Men gather to talk sports, eat heavy food, and forget how demanding their wives are. Only where children gather is there any real chance of fun."