--- title: "4 Being a parent Quotes By Alison Gopnik" description: "4 Being a parent quotes by Alison Gopnik. Plus more from Alison Gopnik and more Being a parent sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28a/alison-gopnik-4163_being-a-parent_i-think-at-the-end-of-the-century-we-ll_379695.jpg" --- > [I think, at the end of the century we'll have a generation of parents and a generation of children who won't have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-gopnik/i-think-at-the-end-of-the-century-we-ll-have-a-generation-of-parents/) [Alison Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-gopnik/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28a/alison-gopnik-4163_being-a-parent_i-think-at-the-end-of-the-century-we-ll_379695.jpg) > [We pass our values, ideas and moral character on to our children, but we do that knowing that our children are going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-gopnik/we-pass-our-values-ideas-and-moral-character-on-to-our-children-but/) [Alison Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-gopnik/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ced/alison-gopnik-4163_being-a-parent_we-pass-our-values-ideas-and-moral-chara_1789231.jpg) > [Children are the most amazing thing in the universe, as far as I'm concerned. If you're worrying about how it's going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-gopnik/children-are-the-most-amazing-thing-in-the-universe-as-far-as-i-m/) [Alison Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-gopnik/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ca/alison-gopnik-4163_being-a-parent_children-are-the-most-amazing-thing-in-t_2114126.png) > [People talked about being a parent, or being a mother or a father. We don't talk about "wiving" our husbands or "friending"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-gopnik/people-talked-about-being-a-parent-or-being-a-mother-or-a-father-we/) [Alison Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-gopnik/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/436/alison-gopnik-4163_being-a-mother_people-talked-about-being-a-parent-or-be_2757578.jpg) ## Other authors on Being a parent - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b004/author-anne-lamott-13804.jpg) Anne Lamott 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/being-a-parent/anne-lamott/) ## More by Alison Gopnik > [Philosophers and psychologists have long puzzled over the question of how we know as much as we do despite our limited experiences. One way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-gopnik/philosophers-and-psychologists-have-long-puzzled-over-the-question-of/) [Alison Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-gopnik/) > [Adults often assume that most learning is the result of teaching and that exploratory, spontaneous learning is unusual. But actually, spontaneous learning is more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-gopnik/adults-often-assume-that-most-learning-is-the-result-of-teaching-and/) [Alison Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-gopnik/) > [Adults tend to think they have much free will. Kids younger than six are less sure. They may be more realistic!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-gopnik/adults-tend-to-think-they-have-much-free-will-kids-younger-than-six/) [Alison Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-gopnik/) > [From an evolutionary perspective children are, literally, designed to learn. Childhood is a special period of protected immaturity. It gives the young breathing time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-gopnik/from-an-evolutionary-perspective-children-are-literally-designed-to/) [Alison Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-gopnik/) > [We don't wife our husbands and we don't child our parents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-gopnik/we-don-t-wife-our-husbands-and-we-don-t-child-our-parents/) [Alison Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-gopnik/) > [There is a tension between our desire to get our kids to turn out a particular way versus letting them develop to be their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-gopnik/there-is-a-tension-between-our-desire-to-get-our-kids-to-turn-out-a/) [Alison Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-gopnik/) > [“Instead, it may be that experience itself has changed our brains so that we perceive and interpret the world in a certain way. Once…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-gopnik/instead-it-may-be-that-experience-itself-has-changed-our-brains-so/) [Alison Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-gopnik/) > [Caring for children has always been one of the deepest and most satisfying things that a human being does, and yet it is hard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-gopnik/caring-for-children-has-always-been-one-of-the-deepest-and-most/) [Alison Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-gopnik/) > [Imaginary friends are one of the weirder forms of pretend play in childhood. But the research shows that imaginary friends actually help children understand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-gopnik/imaginary-friends-are-one-of-the-weirder-forms-of-pretend-play-in/) [Alison Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-gopnik/) > [“Like their parents, the Korean children used more verbs than the English-speaking kids, while the English-speaking kids used more nouns. But in addition, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-gopnik/like-their-parents-the-korean-children-used-more-verbs-than-the/) [Alison Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-gopnik/) > [“We decided to become development psychologists and study children because there aren't any Martians. These brilliant beings with the little bodies and big heads…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-gopnik/we-decided-to-become-development-psychologists-and-study-children/) [Alison Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-gopnik/) > [Each new generation of children grows up in the new environment its parents have created, and each generation of brains becomes wired in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-gopnik/each-new-generation-of-children-grows-up-in-the-new-environment-its/) [Alison Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-gopnik/) > [I'm the oldest of six children and I had my own first baby when I was 23. So I've always been interested in babies,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-gopnik/i-m-the-oldest-of-six-children-and-i-had-my-own-first-baby-when-i-was/) [Alison Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-gopnik/) > [“‎Literature is the equivalent of the climate scientist’s computer simulations: set up some new starting conditions, run the whole complicated process and see what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-gopnik/literature-is-the-equivalent-of-the-climate-scientist-s-computer/) [Alison Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-gopnik/) > [The brain knows the real secret of seduction, more effective than even music and martinis. Just keep whispering, 'Gee, you are really special' to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-gopnik/the-brain-knows-the-real-secret-of-seduction-more-effective-than-even/) [Alison Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-gopnik/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/being-a-parent/alison-gopnik/#itemlist", "name": "4 Being a parent Quotes By Alison Gopnik", "numberOfItems": 4, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I think, at the end of the century we'll have a generation of parents and a generation of children who won't have had the deep satisfactions of being parents and being children in the way that they might have and are going to spend a lot of time fretting and worrying and being hovered over for nothing. 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