--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The average parent may, for example…" description: "\"The average parent may, for example, plant an artist or fertilize a ballet dancer and end up with a certified public accountant. We cannot train childr..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/546/ellen-goodman-6219_accountants_the-average-parent-may-for-example-plant_1365741.png" --- # The average parent may, for example, plant an artist or… ![“The average parent may, for example, plant an artist or fertilize a ballet dancer and end up with a certified public accountant. We cannot train children along chicken wire to make them grow in the right direction. Tying them to stakes is frowned upon, even in Massachusetts.” quote by Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/546/ellen-goodman-6219_accountants_the-average-parent-may-for-example-plant_1365741.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/546/ellen-goodman-6219_accountants_the-average-parent-may-for-example-plant_1365741.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/546/ellen-goodman-6219_accountants_the-average-parent-may-for-example-plant_1365741.png) > “The average parent may, for example, plant an artist or fertilize a ballet dancer and end up with a certified public accountant. We cannot train children along chicken wire to make them grow in the right direction. Tying them to stakes is frowned upon, even in Massachusetts.” [Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Parents cannot force specific talents; children develop uniquely despite attempts to control. **In simple terms:** Parents shouldn't try to shape children into specific careers. Key Takeaway Allow children to find their own paths. Themes parenting individuality expectations growth Mood thoughtful analytical Type reflective educational When to use this quote - career guidance - child upbringing - talent nurturing Key Concepts developmental psychology education theory Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance guidance with freedom? - What signs show a child’s authentic interests? A Different Perspective Over‑guidance can stifle creativity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Ballet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ballet/) [Ballet dance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ballet-dance/) [Ballet dancer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ballet-dancer/) [Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/child/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Dancer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dancer/) [Massachusetts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/massachusetts/) [Parent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parent/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) [Plant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plant/) [Right direction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/right-direction/) [Train](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/train/) ## Related quotes > [Librarian like Stewardess, Certified Public Accountant, Used Car Salesman is one of those occupations that people assume attract a certain deformed personality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-mccracken/librarian-like-stewardess-certified-public-accountant-used-car/) [Elizabeth McCracken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-mccracken/) > [The income tax was devised to give lawyers and certified public accountants business. Few persons can make head, tail, or middle out of it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-c-fields/the-income-tax-was-devised-to-give-lawyers-and-certified-public/) [W. C. Fields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-c-fields/) > [Parents who wish to train up their children in the way they should go must go in the way in which they would have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/parents-who-wish-to-train-up-their-children-in-the-way-they-should-go/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We must establish all over the country schools of our own to train our own children to become scientists, to become mathematicians. We must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/we-must-establish-all-over-the-country-schools-of-our-own-to-train/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [Work is the greatest means of education. To train children to work, to work systematically, to love work, and to put their brains into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-wayland-parker/work-is-the-greatest-means-of-education-to-train-children-to-work-to/) Francis Wayland Parker > [Oh, dear friend, if you love your children, I charge you, do not let the early impression of a habit of prayer slip by.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-c-ryle/oh-dear-friend-if-you-love-your-children-i-charge-you-do-not-let-the/) [J. C. Ryle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-c-ryle/) > [Earlier, I would not train children under the age of six because they were so difficult to deal with, but now I have brought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shobana/earlier-i-would-not-train-children-under-the-age-of-six-because-they/) [Shobana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shobana/) > [Do not train children to learning by force and harshness, but direct them to it by what amuses their minds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/do-not-train-children-to-learning-by-force-and-harshness-but-direct/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [Train our children to love God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/train-our-children-to-love-god/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“If I had received good instruction as a child I would be with my family today and at peace with my neighbors. I hope…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-portis/if-i-had-received-good-instruction-as-a-child-i-would-be-with-my/) [Charles Portis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-portis/) > [The parents have not only to train their children: it is of at least equal importance that they should train themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/havelock-ellis/the-parents-have-not-only-to-train-their-children-it-is-of-at-least/) [Havelock Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/havelock-ellis/) > [If you train your children to anything, train them, at least, to a habit of prayer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-c-ryle/if-you-train-your-children-to-anything-train-them-at-least-to-a-habit/) [J. C. Ryle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-c-ryle/) > [Train children to bear responsibility as you would train them to build muscle. Add what they can handle, then prepare them for more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wes-fesler/train-children-to-bear-responsibility-as-you-would-train-them-to/) [Wes Fesler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wes-fesler/) > [Train children not by compulsion but as if they were playing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/train-children-not-by-compulsion-but-as-if-they-were-playing/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [In early childhood you may lay the foundation of poverty or riches, industry or idleness, good or evil, by the habits to which you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-sigourney/in-early-childhood-you-may-lay-the-foundation-of-poverty-or-riches/) [Lydia Sigourney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-sigourney/) ## More by Ellen Goodman > [Age is an accumulation of life and loss. Adulthood is a series of lines crossed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-goodman/age-is-an-accumulation-of-life-and-loss-adulthood-is-a-series-of/) [Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/) > [Once upon a time we were just plain people. But that was before we began having relationships with mechanical systems. Get involved with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-goodman/once-upon-a-time-we-were-just-plain-people-but-that-was-before-we/) [Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/) > [I think most of us become self-critical as soon as we become self-conscious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-goodman/i-think-most-of-us-become-self-critical-as-soon-as-we-become-self/) [Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/) > [I don't know exactly why the notion of homeownership has such a grasp on the American imagination. Perhaps as descendants of landless immigrants we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-goodman/i-don-t-know-exactly-why-the-notion-of-homeownership-has-such-a-grasp/) [Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/) > [The central paradox of motherhood is that while our children become the absolute center of our lives, they must also push us backout in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-goodman/the-central-paradox-of-motherhood-is-that-while-our-children-become/) [Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/) > [You can believe in women's rights without believing that every woman is right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-goodman/you-can-believe-in-women-s-rights-without-believing-that-every-woman/) [Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/) > [Maybe this year, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives not looking for flaws, but looking for potential.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-goodman/maybe-this-year-we-ought-to-walk-through-the-rooms-of-our-lives-not/) [Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/) > [The same people who tell us that smoking doesn't cause cancer are now telling us that advertising cigarettes doesn't cause smoking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-goodman/the-same-people-who-tell-us-that-smoking-doesn-t-cause-cancer-are-now/) [Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/) > [You can teach someone who cares to write columns, but you can’t teach someone who writes columns to care.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-goodman/you-can-teach-someone-who-cares-to-write-columns-but-you-can-t-teach/) [Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/) > [instant opinion is an oxymoron. You don't get real opinions in an instant. You get reactions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-goodman/instant-opinion-is-an-oxymoron-you-don-t-get-real-opinions-in-an/) [Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/) > [I would like to say we're at a point where global warming is impossible to deny. Let's just say that global warming deniers are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-goodman/i-would-like-to-say-we-re-at-a-point-where-global-warming-is/) [Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/) > [We owned what we learned back there; the experience and the growth are grafted into our lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-goodman/we-owned-what-we-learned-back-there-the-experience-and-the-growth-are/) [Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/) > [We each have a litany of holiday rituals and everyday habits that we hold on to, and we often greet radical innovation with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-goodman/we-each-have-a-litany-of-holiday-rituals-and-everyday-habits-that-we/) [Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/) > [Those inevitable dreams where you can't get your column in, you know, and at first they were the Xerox telecopy, and then they were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-goodman/those-inevitable-dreams-where-you-can-t-get-your-column-in-you-know/) [Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/) > [Saving time, it seems, has a primacy that's too rarely examined.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-goodman/saving-time-it-seems-has-a-primacy-that-s-too-rarely-examined/) [Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/) [Explore all 99 Ellen Goodman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/) ## More Accountants quotes > [Once we allow ourselves to be disobedient to the test of an accountant's profit, we have begun to change our civilization.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-maynard-keynes/once-we-allow-ourselves-to-be-disobedient-to-the-test-of-an/) [John Maynard Keynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-maynard-keynes/) > [I deliberately look for colorful people. They're very right for theatre. Theatre has to be theatrical. If you can get color into the accountant,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lanford-wilson/i-deliberately-look-for-colorful-people-they-re-very-right-for/) [Lanford Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lanford-wilson/) > [I could never have been an accountant. I got a D in math.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-marshall/i-could-never-have-been-an-accountant-i-got-a-d-in-math/) [Rob Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-marshall/) > [My greatest reward is knowing for certain, as I do with many other acts and artistes, that without Jonathan King being alive and involved,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-king/my-greatest-reward-is-knowing-for-certain-as-i-do-with-many-other/) [Jonathan King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-king/) > [It is a maxim of cryptology that what one man can devise, another can unravel. This principle keeps armies of tax lawyers and accountants…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-wriston/it-is-a-maxim-of-cryptology-that-what-one-man-can-devise-another-can/) [Walter Wriston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-wriston/) > [Fact is, the work place to a great extent is "where we live." We need star accountants. Boffo saleswomen. Over-the-top creatives in marketing and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-peters/fact-is-the-work-place-to-a-great-extent-is-where-we-live-we-need/) [Tom Peters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-peters/) > [Films are now made by accountants. They pick a pretty young female or male face out of the air and give them a part…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-lee/films-are-now-made-by-accountants-they-pick-a-pretty-young-female-or/) [Christopher Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-lee/) > [She was my accountant, so I just believed her.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-howard/she-was-my-accountant-so-i-just-believed-her/) [John Howard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-howard/) > [The rich hire lawyers and accountants for a reason - to pass the tax bill on to you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/the-rich-hire-lawyers-and-accountants-for-a-reason-to-pass-the-tax/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [A lot of labels are hiring a lot more accountants than people that know music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-hanson/a-lot-of-labels-are-hiring-a-lot-more-accountants-than-people-that/) [Taylor Hanson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-hanson/) > [We're living in a time period where if a kid is on a plastic scooter that's one inch off the ground, mom and dad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramin-bahrani/we-re-living-in-a-time-period-where-if-a-kid-is-on-a-plastic-scooter/) [Ramin Bahrani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramin-bahrani/) > [And it does no harm to repeat, as often as you can, 'Without me the literary industry would not exist: the publishers, the agents,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/and-it-does-no-harm-to-repeat-as-often-as-you-can-without-me-the/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [I didn't do anything differently than what my father was doing. It's a really hard family to rebel in. I could have become an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-townes-earle/i-didn-t-do-anything-differently-than-what-my-father-was-doing-it-s-a/) [Justin Townes Earle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-townes-earle/) > [While Donald Trump was busy with his accountants trying to figure out how to keep living like a billionaire, and all the while he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/while-donald-trump-was-busy-with-his-accountants-trying-to-figure-out/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [Property is my major investment. My accountant has put money into various long-term savings arrangements. To be honest, I am a bit vague about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-robinson/property-is-my-major-investment-my-accountant-has-put-money-into/) [Anne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-robinson/) Browse all 226 Accountants quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The average parent may, for example, plant an artist or fertilize a ballet dancer and end up with a certified public accountant. We cannot train children along chicken wire to make them grow in the right direction. 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