--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I felt like all of the work was training…" description: "\"I felt like all of the work was training for just one central idea: Accept your child for who he is. I'm not saying that I've done a brilliant job with..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/097/andrew-solomon-1140_accepting_i-felt-like-all-of-the-work-was-training_1862848.jpg" --- # I felt like all of the work was training for just one… ![“I felt like all of the work was training for just one central idea: Accept your child for who he is. I'm not saying that I've done a brilliant job with that. But I've done my best.” quote by Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/097/andrew-solomon-1140_accepting_i-felt-like-all-of-the-work-was-training_1862848.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/097/andrew-solomon-1140_accepting_i-felt-like-all-of-the-work-was-training_1862848.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/097/andrew-solomon-1140_accepting_i-felt-like-all-of-the-work-was-training_1862848.jpg) > “I felt like all of the work was training for just one central idea: Accept your child for who he is. I'm not saying that I've done a brilliant job with that. But I've done my best.” [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Accepting a child’s identity is a lifelong learning process. **In simple terms:** Accept your child for who he is, doing your best. Key Takeaway Embrace unconditional acceptance and continual growth. Themes acceptance parenting identity Mood empathetic supportive Type advice inspirational When to use this quote - parent‑child conversations - school meetings - support groups - self‑reflection Key Concepts psychology family dynamics Questions to Reflect On - How can you improve acceptance skills? - What resources help parents grow? A Different Perspective Self‑doubt may hinder full acceptance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Brilliant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brilliant/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jobs/) [Training](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/training/) ## Related quotes > [“I’ll tell them all the good things and some difficulties. The parents may never accept what happened to them and yet accept their child.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/i-ll-tell-them-all-the-good-things-and-some-difficulties-the-parents/) [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) > [“Having a child is to show an absolute accord with mankind. If I have a child, it's as though I'm saying: I was born…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/having-a-child-is-to-show-an-absolute-accord-with-mankind-if-i-have-a/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [If you listen carefully to what a child is saying to you, you'll see that he has a point to make. So I listen.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-cosby/if-you-listen-carefully-to-what-a-child-is-saying-to-you-you-ll-see/) [Bill Cosby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-cosby/) > [I met with my lawyers. They gave me all the wrong advice. For a long time I refused to accept the child was mine.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-becker/i-met-with-my-lawyers-they-gave-me-all-the-wrong-advice-for-a-long/) [Boris Becker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-becker/) > [Please don't kill the child. I want the child. Please give me the child. I am willing to accept any child who would be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mother-teresa/please-don-t-kill-the-child-i-want-the-child-please-give-me-the-child-2/) [Mother Teresa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mother-teresa/) > [Give that child to me. I want it. I will care for it. I am willing to accept any child who would be aborted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mother-teresa/give-that-child-to-me-i-want-it-i-will-care-for-it-i-am-willing-to/) [Mother Teresa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mother-teresa/) > [“Accept each child as an individual, the way he is - And maybe in this atmosphere of accepting and trusting each other we can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marty-maccraken/accept-each-child-as-an-individual-the-way-he-is-and-maybe-in-this/) [Marty MacCraken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marty-maccraken/) > [“When you’ve known somebody since childhood, you never have to worry about them seeing the child that still exists inside of you. They’ve already…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-rozoff/when-you-ve-known-somebody-since-childhood-you-never-have-to-worry/) [James Rozoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-rozoff/) > [Some people never grow up and you have to accept them for the child they are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/some-people-never-grow-up-and-you-have-to-accept-them-for-the-child/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The Catholic community must offer support to those women who may find it difficult to accept a child, above all when they are isolated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-benedict-xvi/the-catholic-community-must-offer-support-to-those-women-who-may-find/) [Pope Benedict XVI](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-benedict-xvi/) > [I've got a very good team behind me. We're very good at figuring puzzles out and putting our camp towards fight-specific things. We're not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/belal-muhammad/i-ve-got-a-very-good-team-behind-me-we-re-very-good-at-figuring/) [Belal Muhammad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/belal-muhammad/) > [Back then though, you had a few months of training, and then you were just thrown into it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eve-hewson/back-then-though-you-had-a-few-months-of-training-and-then-you-were/) [Eve Hewson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eve-hewson/) > [A lifetime of training for just ten seconds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-owens/a-lifetime-of-training-for-just-ten-seconds/) [Jesse Owens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-owens/) > [Generally, I hate training - just like most people, I guess. I try to make it fun and varied.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-hamilton/generally-i-hate-training-just-like-most-people-i-guess-i-try-to-make/) [Lewis Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-hamilton/) > [All life's training is just exactly what is needed for the true Life-work, still out of view but far away from none of us.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-carmichael/all-life-s-training-is-just-exactly-what-is-needed-for-the-true-life/) [Amy Carmichael](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-carmichael/) ## More by Andrew Solomon > [“If you banish the dragons, you banish the heroes...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/if-you-banish-the-dragons-you-banish-the-heroes/) [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) > [I started traveling out of curiosity, but I have come to believe in travel's political importance, that encouraging a nation's citizenry to travel may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/i-started-traveling-out-of-curiosity-but-i-have-come-to-believe-in/) [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) > [When I was born, the wisdom was that homosexuality was an illness; that it was caused largely by somebody's mother, and a distorted relationship…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/when-i-was-born-the-wisdom-was-that-homosexuality-was-an-illness-that/) [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) > [A lot of people are very political when they are young, and then they outgrow it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/a-lot-of-people-are-very-political-when-they-are-young-and-then-they/) [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) > [Having always imagined myself in a fairly slim minority, I suddenly saw that I was in a vast company. Difference unites us. While each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/having-always-imagined-myself-in-a-fairly-slim-minority-i-suddenly/) [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) > [If your love didn't always contain the possibility of loss, it would be very different from human love as we know it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/if-your-love-didn-t-always-contain-the-possibility-of-loss-it-would/) [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) > [Antonin Artaud wrote on one of his drawings, "Never real and always true," and that is how depression feels. You know that it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/antonin-artaud-wrote-on-one-of-his-drawings-never-real-and-always/) [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) > [I met people on college campuses who were defining themselves as genderqueer to express revolutionary feelings, or to communicate their individuality; they were gender…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/i-met-people-on-college-campuses-who-were-defining-themselves-as/) [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) > [“In the throws of depression, one reaches a strange point at which it is impossible to see the line between ones own theatricality and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/in-the-throws-of-depression-one-reaches-a-strange-point-at-which-it/) [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) > [“Since I am writing a book about depression, I am often asked in social situations to describe my own experiences, and I usually end…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/since-i-am-writing-a-book-about-depression-i-am-often-asked-in-social/) [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) > [Loving our own children is an exercise for the imagination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/loving-our-own-children-is-an-exercise-for-the-imagination/) [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) > [One the one hand, the simple fact that there are children and that I do have an effect on them has been one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/one-the-one-hand-the-simple-fact-that-there-are-children-and-that-i/) [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) > [I grew up feeling that to be gay was a tragedy. I didn't grow up thinking that it was morally wrong, but I grew…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/i-grew-up-feeling-that-to-be-gay-was-a-tragedy-i-didn-t-grow-up/) [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) > [We need to acknowledge that families come in multiple shapes and sizes, that love is not a finite asset, and that caregiving involves more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/we-need-to-acknowledge-that-families-come-in-multiple-shapes-and/) [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) > [I had always wanted to have children, so it caused me a lot of grief when I was younger, and I had supposed that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/i-had-always-wanted-to-have-children-so-it-caused-me-a-lot-of-grief/) [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) [Explore all 282 Andrew Solomon quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) ## More Accepting quotes > [From Augustine down, theologians have tried to compel people to accept their special interpretation of the Scripture, and the tortures of the inquisition, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matilda-joslyn-gage/from-augustine-down-theologians-have-tried-to-compel-people-to-accept/) [Matilda Joslyn Gage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matilda-joslyn-gage/) > [Laughing, laughing, laughing, laughing! It is the jester! A voice from the Void, to cheer poor Cicero! I accept your gift, dearest Night Mother.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/laughing-laughing-laughing-laughing-it-is-the-jester-a-voice-from-the/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [This duo inside of me causes the perfect opportunity to live and learn twice as fast as those who choose to accept simplicity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tupac-shakur/this-duo-inside-of-me-causes-the-perfect-opportunity-to-live-and/) [Tupac Shakur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tupac-shakur/) > [There is something about the South that accepts the supernatural. If you don't accept it and you're having a conversation with someone who does,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-englert/there-is-something-about-the-south-that-accepts-the-supernatural-if/) [Alice Englert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-englert/) > [We only enter into the full life if our faith gives thanks. Because how else do we accept His free gift of salvation if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-voskamp/we-only-enter-into-the-full-life-if-our-faith-gives-thanks-because/) [Ann Voskamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-voskamp/) > [Don't be bitter. Everybody suffers. If you can accept your suffering then you will understand other people better. Be grateful for pain. Love life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-colbert/don-t-be-bitter-everybody-suffers-if-you-can-accept-your-suffering/) [Stephen Colbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-colbert/) > [It takes an unusually philosophic mind to accept that all one’s suffering might be to no end, really, in the larger scheme of things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-takes-an-unusually-philosophic-mind-to-accept-that-all-one-s/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [No nation being under another nation can accept gifts, and kick at the responsibility attached to those gifts, imposed by the conquering nation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/no-nation-being-under-another-nation-can-accept-gifts-and-kick-at-the/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Even with clothing naked animals, there were people who wanted to send in money. A woman in Santa Barbara, California, sent a $40,000 check.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-abel/even-with-clothing-naked-animals-there-were-people-who-wanted-to-send/) [Alan Abel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-abel/) > [Society understands the architecture of academia and knows there are relevant qualifications in different fields, and the media accepts the idea of specialisations and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-griffiths/society-understands-the-architecture-of-academia-and-knows-there-are/) [Jay Griffiths](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-griffiths/) > [Whatever your conscious mind assumes and believes to be true, your subconscious mind will accept and bring to pass. Believe in good fortune, divine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-murphy/whatever-your-conscious-mind-assumes-and-believes-to-be-true-your/) [Joseph Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-murphy/) > [Losing someone is easy, but accepting it is hard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/losing-someone-is-easy-but-accepting-it-is-hard/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [… and so he tried to accept the ache in his heart as what Dr. Larch would call the common symptoms of normal life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/and-so-he-tried-to-accept-the-ache-in-his-heart-as-what-dr-larch/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) > [I think what was special about 'Music by Prudence' was the classic story of the title subject's life path - from being an outcast…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ross-williams/i-think-what-was-special-about-music-by-prudence-was-the-classic/) [Roger Ross Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ross-williams/) > [As my films are born at the moment when they are reflected into another person's mind and memories, there are no misconceptions. I totally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pirjo-honkasalo/as-my-films-are-born-at-the-moment-when-they-are-reflected-into/) [Pirjo Honkasalo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pirjo-honkasalo/) Browse all 6,788 Accepting quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I felt like all of the work was training for just one central idea: Accept your child for who he is. I'm not saying that I've done a brilliant job with that. But I've done my best.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Andrew Solomon" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/i-felt-like-all-of-the-work-was-training-for-just-one-central-idea/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Accepting" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/i-felt-like-all-of-the-work-was-training-for-just-one-central-idea/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/097/andrew-solomon-1140_accepting_i-felt-like-all-of-the-work-was-training_1862848.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/097/andrew-solomon-1140_accepting_i-felt-like-all-of-the-work-was-training_1862848.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/097/andrew-solomon-1140_accepting_i-felt-like-all-of-the-work-was-training_1862848.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I felt like all of the work was training for just one central idea: Accept your child for who he is. I'm not…” — Andrew Solomon", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Andrew Solomon", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I felt like all of the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/i-felt-like-all-of-the-work-was-training-for-just-one-central-idea/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/i-felt-like-all-of-the-work-was-training-for-just-one-central-idea/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```