--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I think it's ill-advised to attribute…" description: "\"I think it's ill-advised to attribute pathologies to healthy people. It doesn't help normal, healthy, thriving children to be viewed as pitiable and fr..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/42e/christina-hoff-sommers-18174_attributes_i-think-it-s-ill-advised-to-attribute-pa_2877518.png" --- # I think it's ill-advised to attribute pathologies to… ![“I think it's ill-advised to attribute pathologies to healthy people. It doesn't help normal, healthy, thriving children to be viewed as pitiable and fragile.” quote by Christina Hoff Sommers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/42e/christina-hoff-sommers-18174_attributes_i-think-it-s-ill-advised-to-attribute-pa_2877518.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/42e/christina-hoff-sommers-18174_attributes_i-think-it-s-ill-advised-to-attribute-pa_2877518.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/42e/christina-hoff-sommers-18174_attributes_i-think-it-s-ill-advised-to-attribute-pa_2877518.png) > “I think it's ill-advised to attribute pathologies to healthy people. It doesn't help normal, healthy, thriving children to be viewed as pitiable and fragile.” [Christina Hoff Sommers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-hoff-sommers/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Labeling healthy children as fragile pathologizes normal behavior and undermines resilience. **In simple terms:** Calling normal kids fragile is harmful. Key Takeaway Encourage strength and realistic expectations. Themes child development psychology education resilience Mood thoughtful balanced Type educational psychological When to use this quote - parenting guidance - school curricula - media representation - public health messaging Key Concepts pathologization overprotection mental health stigma Questions to Reflect On - What are the risks of pathologizing normal behavior? - How can we promote healthy development without over‑protecting? A Different Perspective Over‑diagnosis can lead to unnecessary interventions and stigma. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Fragile](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fragile/) [Health](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/health/) [Ill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ill/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [I tend to look for pathologies everywhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/i-tend-to-look-for-pathologies-everywhere/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [Sometime they don't let you know that they know that they don't know everything, but the core of the medical approach is that you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-burgess/sometime-they-don-t-let-you-know-that-they-know-that-they-don-t-know/) [Guy Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-burgess/) > [Healthy people are not very motivated to manage their health. They just don't care.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frans-van-houten/healthy-people-are-not-very-motivated-to-manage-their-health-they/) [Frans van Houten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frans-van-houten/) > [People are beginning to understand there is nothing in the world so remote that it can't impact you as a person. It's not just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-foege/people-are-beginning-to-understand-there-is-nothing-in-the-world-so/) [William Foege](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-foege/) > [“But, there is still every reason for healthy people to take cold showers, or swim outside in cold water. It gives you the feeling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wim-hof/but-there-is-still-every-reason-for-healthy-people-to-take-cold/) [Wim Hof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wim-hof/) > [“My life could send healthy people into comas”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-sparks/my-life-could-send-healthy-people-into-comas/) [Nicholas Sparks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-sparks/) > [“Healthy people sleep eight hours, Wealthy people sleep four hours.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/healthy-people-sleep-eight-hours-wealthy-people-sleep-four-hours/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [“My therapist would later explain to me that “water seeks its own level” and that your partner’s flaws and issues usually go hand in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-j-elliott/my-therapist-would-later-explain-to-me-that-water-seeks-its-own-level/) [Susan J. Elliott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-j-elliott/) > [Healthy people have a natural skill of avoiding feverish eyes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/healthy-people-have-a-natural-skill-of-avoiding-feverish-eyes/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [“Healthy people don't think and act the way they do because they're healthy. They're healthy because they think and act the way they do.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darrin-wiggins/healthy-people-don-t-think-and-act-the-way-they-do-because-they-re/) [Darrin Wiggins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darrin-wiggins/) > [If you are going to go to the trouble of choosing healthy food for your plate, shouldn't you also choose healthy people for your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-are-going-to-go-to-the-trouble-of-choosing-healthy-food-for/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Money will not change how healthy you are or how many people love you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-buffett/money-will-not-change-how-healthy-you-are-or-how-many-people-love-you/) [Warren Buffett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-buffett/) > [Healthy people are invalids who don't know it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jules-romains/healthy-people-are-invalids-who-don-t-know-it/) [Jules Romains](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jules-romains/) > [Our starting point is not the individual: We do not subscribe to the view that one should feed the hungry, give drink to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-goebbels/our-starting-point-is-not-the-individual-we-do-not-subscribe-to-the/) [Joseph Goebbels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-goebbels/) > [“The ill or impaired may, in the sense of fulfilling life, be far more free than healthy people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-w-frank/the-ill-or-impaired-may-in-the-sense-of-fulfilling-life-be-far-more/) [Arthur W. Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-w-frank/) ## More by Christina Hoff Sommers > [Any child may go through periods during which they become less outspoken with their parents or teachers. But girls, like boys, live in many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-hoff-sommers/any-child-may-go-through-periods-during-which-they-become-less/) [Christina Hoff Sommers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-hoff-sommers/) > [In reality, American girls are among the most outspoken, ambitious, successful girls in the history of the human race.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-hoff-sommers/in-reality-american-girls-are-among-the-most-outspoken-ambitious/) [Christina Hoff Sommers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-hoff-sommers/) > [I think the fallacy is to think that Women's Liberation meant that men and women would become interchangeable. That has not happened, and most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-hoff-sommers/i-think-the-fallacy-is-to-think-that-women-s-liberation-meant-that/) [Christina Hoff Sommers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-hoff-sommers/) > [I think the rules will change and I think more and more young women are going to decide that having a family and taking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-hoff-sommers/i-think-the-rules-will-change-and-i-think-more-and-more-young-women/) [Christina Hoff Sommers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-hoff-sommers/) > [There is a theory behind the culture of victimhood: It's called "intersectionality." This theory posits that racism, sexism, classism, ableism, etc. are interconnected, overlapping,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-hoff-sommers/there-is-a-theory-behind-the-culture-of-victimhood-it-s-called/) [Christina Hoff Sommers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-hoff-sommers/) > [Harvard produces leaders. People with Harvard degrees go on to become administrators in high-level positions in state educational departments and in public schools around…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-hoff-sommers/harvard-produces-leaders-people-with-harvard-degrees-go-on-to-become/) [Christina Hoff Sommers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-hoff-sommers/) > [I'm concerned that boys have become politically incorrect, that we are a society in the process of turning against its male children.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-hoff-sommers/i-m-concerned-that-boys-have-become-politically-incorrect-that-we-are/) [Christina Hoff Sommers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-hoff-sommers/) > [I don't think anyone will deny that girls are academically superior as a group.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-hoff-sommers/i-don-t-think-anyone-will-deny-that-girls-are-academically-superior/) [Christina Hoff Sommers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-hoff-sommers/) > [Girls are more academically powerful. They make the grades, they run the student activities, they are the valedictorians.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-hoff-sommers/girls-are-more-academically-powerful-they-make-the-grades-they-run/) [Christina Hoff Sommers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-hoff-sommers/) > [ “I call \[fourth-wave feminism\] fainting–couch feminism, a la the delicate Victorian ladies who retreated to an elegant chaise when overcome with emotion. As an… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-hoff-sommers/i-call-fourth-wave-feminism-fainting-couch-feminism-a-la-the-delicate/) [Christina Hoff Sommers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-hoff-sommers/) > [We reject creationism because there is no evidence to support it. By contrast, the notion that biology is at least partially the basis of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-hoff-sommers/we-reject-creationism-because-there-is-no-evidence-to-support-it-by/) [Christina Hoff Sommers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-hoff-sommers/) > [So far there has been little discussion among gender scholars about the need to engage with skeptics. They tend to view skeptics and dissenters…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-hoff-sommers/so-far-there-has-been-little-discussion-among-gender-scholars-about/) [Christina Hoff Sommers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-hoff-sommers/) > [“Truth brought to public light recruits the best of us to work for change. On the other hand, even the best-intentioned "noble lie" ultimately…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-hoff-sommers/truth-brought-to-public-light-recruits-the-best-of-us-to-work-for/) [Christina Hoff Sommers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-hoff-sommers/) > ["Marginalized others" have access to other ways of knowing, and therefore to deeper, more authentic truths about human reality. They can share that knowledge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-hoff-sommers/marginalized-others-have-access-to-other-ways-of-knowing-and/) [Christina Hoff Sommers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-hoff-sommers/) > [We must have moral education in the schools, anti-bullying programs, but this does not mean programs to feminize boys.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-hoff-sommers/we-must-have-moral-education-in-the-schools-anti-bullying-programs/) [Christina Hoff Sommers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-hoff-sommers/) [Explore all 35 Christina Hoff Sommers quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-hoff-sommers/) ## More Attributes quotes > [Lutherans, whose arguments and mistakes will not be difficult to contest or discover, do not want to attribute any value to works, and they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-servetus/lutherans-whose-arguments-and-mistakes-will-not-be-difficult-to/) [Michael Servetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-servetus/) > [If, for instance, they have heard something from the postman, they attribute it to a semi-official statement; if they have fallen into conversation with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/if-for-instance-they-have-heard-something-from-the-postman-they/) [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) > [The love for all living creatures is the most noble attribute of man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/the-love-for-all-living-creatures-is-the-most-noble-attribute-of-man/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [I think the greatest imagination we can exercise is one that imagines how someone else feels. 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WE can't sideline His more difficult attributes to make room for the palatable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-chan/god-is-compassionate-and-just-loving-and-holy-wrathful-and-forgiving/) [Francis Chan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-chan/) > [I'm Irish and always will be, but America has taught me so much. Maybe it's here in the U.S. that we find a healing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fionnula-flanagan/i-m-irish-and-always-will-be-but-america-has-taught-me-so-much-maybe/) [Fionnula Flanagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fionnula-flanagan/) > [“It is this spirit of godliness that will bring forth the attributes, the principles and the life style of godliness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/it-is-this-spirit-of-godliness-that-will-bring-forth-the-attributes/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [My Calvinism persuades me that we are open to God, in the sense that we are not delimited, not organisms with fixed attributes in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/my-calvinism-persuades-me-that-we-are-open-to-god-in-the-sense-that/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [A pivotal spiritual attribute is that of self-mastery-th e strength to place reason over appetite. 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Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-m-nelson/) > [I have often noticed that the two nuclear powers on the Indian subcontinent, India and Pakistan, attribute to Kashmiris an inferior intellect, a lineage,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nyla-ali-khan/i-have-often-noticed-that-the-two-nuclear-powers-on-the-indian/) [Nyla Ali Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nyla-ali-khan/) > [Primarily affecting low-information voters and members of the mainstream media, Obama Worship Syndrome attributes impossible capabilities to Obama's political opponents, finds excuses for every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-shapiro/primarily-affecting-low-information-voters-and-members-of-the/) [Ben Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-shapiro/) > [Developing Christlike attributes in our lives is not an easy task, especially when we move away from generalities and abstractions and begin to deal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dieter-f-uchtdorf/developing-christlike-attributes-in-our-lives-is-not-an-easy-task/) [Dieter F. Uchtdorf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dieter-f-uchtdorf/) > [If I have any attribute that serves me well, it's I don't have a long-range plan in life. I have no idea. I just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-wilbon/if-i-have-any-attribute-that-serves-me-well-it-s-i-don-t-have-a-long/) [Michael Wilbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-wilbon/) Browse all 852 Attributes quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I think it's ill-advised to attribute pathologies to healthy people. 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