---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Just as parents care for their children…"
description: "\"Just as parents care for their children, you should bear in mind the whole universe.\" — Dogen"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b59/dogen-2979_bears_just-as-parents-care-for-their-children_73783.jpg"
---

#  Just as parents care for their children, you should bear…

![“Just as parents care for their children, you should bear in mind the whole universe.” quote by Dogen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b59/dogen-2979_bears_just-as-parents-care-for-their-children_73783.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b59/dogen-2979_bears_just-as-parents-care-for-their-children_73783.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b59/dogen-2979_bears_just-as-parents-care-for-their-children_73783.jpg)

> “Just as parents care for their children, you should bear in mind the whole universe.”

[Dogen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dogen/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

The quote urges a compassionate, all-encompassing responsibility, extending parental care to the entire cosmos.

**In simple terms:** Universal responsibility

Key Takeaway

Care beyond self

Themes

compassion interconnectedness ethics spirituality

Mood

reverent inspired

Type

philosophical spiritual

When to use this quote

- environmental stewardship
- community leadership
- global policy making

Key Concepts

parental care cosmic perspective

Practical Applications

- ethical decision making
- sustainability initiatives

Questions to Reflect On

- How does expanding care beyond immediate circles affect our actions?
- What limits, if any, should be placed on this responsibility?

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Bears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bears/) [Care](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/care/) [Care Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/care-children/) [Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/child/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Just Parents](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/just-parents-698673/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Mind Universe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind-universe-960018/) [Parent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parent/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) [Parents](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parents/) [Parents Care](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parents-care-311273/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Should](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should/) [Stewardship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stewardship/) [Universe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/universe/) [Whole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/whole/)

## Related quotes

> [In Sweden, both parents take care of the children.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/in-sweden-both-parents-take-care-of-the-children/)

[Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/)

> [They are just my parents. They never tried to make me an actor or anything. They were like how did the test go and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miles-robbins/they-are-just-my-parents-they-never-tried-to-make-me-an-actor-or/)

[Miles Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miles-robbins/)

> [“My son regressed. I have my own thoughts on that, just as all parents do. It doesn't mean that I would ever think of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liz-becker/my-son-regressed-i-have-my-own-thoughts-on-that-just-as-all-parents/)

[Liz Becker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liz-becker/)

> [Religion isn't in your DNA. you don't believe just because your parents believe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-picoult/religion-isn-t-in-your-dna-you-don-t-believe-just-because-your/)

[Jodi Picoult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-picoult/)

> [Just because my parents left Ramannagudem does not mean that I do not hail from Telangana.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vijayashanti/just-because-my-parents-left-ramannagudem-does-not-mean-that-i-do-not/)

[Vijayashanti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vijayashanti/)

> [My parents were just my parents. My dad was doing what he loves to do, he genuinely doesnt care about anything else. And that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenya-kinski-jones/my-parents-were-just-my-parents-my-dad-was-doing-what-he-loves-to-do/)

[Kenya Kinski-Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenya-kinski-jones/)

> [I guess my parents were strict. There were a few times when being with my friends and had bring my sister. It was just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vanessa-hudgens/i-guess-my-parents-were-strict-there-were-a-few-times-when-being-with/)

[Vanessa Hudgens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vanessa-hudgens/)

> [I hate the bad rap that people give my parents. Because they are just parents, really, at the end of the day trying to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lindsay-lohan/i-hate-the-bad-rap-that-people-give-my-parents-because-they-are-just/)

[Lindsay Lohan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lindsay-lohan/)

> [Parents aren't sex education experts just because they are parents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pepper-schwartz/parents-aren-t-sex-education-experts-just-because-they-are-parents/)

[Pepper Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pepper-schwartz/)

> [The hard thing is, coming home and crying yourself to sleep because your parents could care less what's going on in your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-hard-thing-is-coming-home-and-crying-yourself-to-sleep-because/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [My mother lives with me in Milan, while my father travels to and from Savona. My parents take care of my money, too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephan-el-shaarawy/my-mother-lives-with-me-in-milan-while-my-father-travels-to-and-from/)

[Stephan El Shaarawy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephan-el-shaarawy/)

> [A wretched child Is he who does not return his parents' care.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/euripides/a-wretched-child-is-he-who-does-not-return-his-parents-care/)

[Euripides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/euripides/)

> [It means caring for one another in our families: husbands and wives first protect one another, and then, as parents, they care for their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/it-means-caring-for-one-another-in-our-families-husbands-and-wives/)

[Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/)

> [Would Americans really feel better with insurance companies deciding whether they or their parents get the care they need? Probably not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neera-tanden/would-americans-really-feel-better-with-insurance-companies-deciding/)

[Neera Tanden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neera-tanden/)

> [Take the government away. Let the parents take care of their kids.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-bickford/take-the-government-away-let-the-parents-take-care-of-their-kids/)

[Bruce Bickford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-bickford/)

## More by Dogen

> [The whole moon and the entire sky are reflected in one dewdrop on the grass.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dogen/the-whole-moon-and-the-entire-sky-are-reflected-in-one-dewdrop-on-the/)

[Dogen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dogen/)

> [When a buddha is painted, not only a clay altar or lump of earth is used, but the thirty-two marks, a blade of grass,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dogen/when-a-buddha-is-painted-not-only-a-clay-altar-or-lump-of-earth-is/)

[Dogen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dogen/)

> [Yet you must not cling to the words of the old sages either; they, too, may not be right. Even if you believe them,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dogen/yet-you-must-not-cling-to-the-words-of-the-old-sages-either-they-too/)

[Dogen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dogen/)

> [Set aside all involvements and let the myriad things rest. Zazen is not thinking of good, not thinking of bad. It is not conscious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dogen/set-aside-all-involvements-and-let-the-myriad-things-rest-zazen-is/)

[Dogen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dogen/)

> [Though it has no thought of keeping watch, it's not for naught that the scarecrow stands in the grain field.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dogen/though-it-has-no-thought-of-keeping-watch-it-s-not-for-naught-that/)

[Dogen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dogen/)

> [Continuous practice, day after day, is the most appropriate way of expressing gratitude. This means that you practice continuously, without wasting a single day…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dogen/continuous-practice-day-after-day-is-the-most-appropriate-way-of/)

[Dogen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dogen/)

> [Whenever learners or those beyond learning awaken the mind, for the first time they plant one buddha-nature. Working with the four elements and five…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dogen/whenever-learners-or-those-beyond-learning-awaken-the-mind-for-the/)

[Dogen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dogen/)

> [“If you are unable to find the truth right where you are, where else do you expect to find it?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dogen/if-you-are-unable-to-find-the-truth-right-where-you-are-where-else-do/)

[Dogen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dogen/)

> [Realization doesn't destroy the individual any more than the reflection of the moon breaks a drop of water. A drop of water can reflect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dogen/realization-doesn-t-destroy-the-individual-any-more-than-the/)

[Dogen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dogen/)

> [“If you attain unsurpassable, complete enlightenment, all sentient beings also attain it. The reason is that all sentient beings are aspects of enlightenment.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dogen/if-you-attain-unsurpassable-complete-enlightenment-all-sentient/)

[Dōgen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dogen/)

> [To study the Way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dogen/to-study-the-way-is-to-study-the-self-to-study-the-self-is-to-forget/)

[Dogen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dogen/)

> [“Every man possesses the Buddha-nature. Do not demean yourselves.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dogen/every-man-possesses-the-buddha-nature-do-not-demean-yourselves/)

[Dōgen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dogen/)

> [Because mountains are high and broad, the way of riding the clouds is always reached in the mountains; the inconceivable power of soaring in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dogen/because-mountains-are-high-and-broad-the-way-of-riding-the-clouds-is/)

[Dogen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dogen/)

> [Working with plants, trees, fences and walls, if they practice sincerely they will attain enlightenment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dogen/working-with-plants-trees-fences-and-walls-if-they-practice-sincerely/)

[Dogen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dogen/)

> [We must always be disturbed by the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dogen/we-must-always-be-disturbed-by-the-truth/)

[Dogen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dogen/)

[Explore all 143 Dogen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dogen/)

## More Bears quotes

> [For not only every democracy, but certainly every republic, bears within itself the seeds of its own destruction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/for-not-only-every-democracy-but-certainly-every-republic-bears/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [She'd read once that if you ran into a bear in the woods you should avoid eye contact and you shouldn't run away, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-ursu/she-d-read-once-that-if-you-ran-into-a-bear-in-the-woods-you-should/)

[Anne Ursu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-ursu/)

> [In the movie, the stars above the ship bear no correspondence to any constellations in a real sky. Worse yet, while the heroine bobs...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/in-the-movie-the-stars-above-the-ship-bear-no-correspondence-to-any/)

[Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/)

> [Television series are like the stock market. There's room for bears and bulls but no room for pigs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-newhart/television-series-are-like-the-stock-market-there-s-room-for-bears/)

[Bob Newhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-newhart/)

> [The Germans are the most philosophic people in the world, and the greatest smokers: now I trace their philosophy to their smoking. Smoking has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-henry-borrow/the-germans-are-the-most-philosophic-people-in-the-world-and-the/)

[George Henry Borrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-henry-borrow/)

> [...Gratitude transforms the torment of memory of good things now gone into silent joy. One bears what was lovely in the past not as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/gratitude-transforms-the-torment-of-memory-of-good-things-now-gone/)

[Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/)

> [You've had a whole lot of experience, but everything is also radically new at each moment, and you have to bring a kind of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-houston/you-ve-had-a-whole-lot-of-experience-but-everything-is-also-radically/)

[Jean Houston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-houston/)

> [The rationale which accompanies that imposition of male authority euphemistically referred to as 'the battle of the sexes' bears a certain resemblance to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-millett/the-rationale-which-accompanies-that-imposition-of-male-authority/)

[Kate Millett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-millett/)

> [Pay no heed to the passing religious vogue. Go back to the grass roots. Open your hearts and search the Scriptures. Bear your cross,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/pay-no-heed-to-the-passing-religious-vogue-go-back-to-the-grass-roots/)

[Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/)

> [I want you to take a red-hot bath as hot as you can bear it, and just relax your nerves. You can read in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/i-want-you-to-take-a-red-hot-bath-as-hot-as-you-can-bear-it-and-just/)

[F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/)

> [He sank into the rocking chair, the same one in which Rebecca had sat during the early days of the house to give embroidery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/he-sank-into-the-rocking-chair-the-same-one-in-which-rebecca-had-sat/)

[Gabriel Garcia Marquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/)

> [Some things in this world just ain't meant to be, not in the times we want 'em to, and the heart has to hold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-mcbride/some-things-in-this-world-just-ain-t-meant-to-be-not-in-the-times-we/)

[James McBride](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-mcbride/)

> [And if anyone knows anything about anything," said Bear to himself, "it's Owl who knows something about something," he said, "or my name's not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/and-if-anyone-knows-anything-about-anything-said-bear-to-himself-it-s/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [I'm totally independent. I don't bear any responsibility to any system.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ai-weiwei/i-m-totally-independent-i-don-t-bear-any-responsibility-to-any-system/)

[Ai Weiwei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ai-weiwei/)

> [I'm supportive of women, absolutely, and it's so gratifying to have girls come up and say, 'I'm really inspired by your guitar playing.' I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-vincent/i-m-supportive-of-women-absolutely-and-it-s-so-gratifying-to-have/)

[St. Vincent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-vincent/)

[Browse all 4,111 Bears quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bears/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "Just as parents care for their children, you should bear in mind the whole universe.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Dogen"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dogen/just-as-parents-care-for-their-children-you-should-bear-in-mind-the/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Bears"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dogen/just-as-parents-care-for-their-children-you-should-bear-in-mind-the/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b59/dogen-2979_bears_just-as-parents-care-for-their-children_73783.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b59/dogen-2979_bears_just-as-parents-care-for-their-children_73783.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b59/dogen-2979_bears_just-as-parents-care-for-their-children_73783.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Just as parents care for their children, you should bear in mind the whole universe.” — Dogen",
                "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": "Dogen",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dogen/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Just as parents care for their...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dogen/just-as-parents-care-for-their-children-you-should-bear-in-mind-the/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dogen/just-as-parents-care-for-their-children-you-should-bear-in-mind-the/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
