--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Never teach your child to be cunning or…" description: "\"Never teach your child to be cunning or you may be certain you will be one of the very first victims of his shrewdness.\" — Josh Billings" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eef/josh-billings-777_certain_never-teach-your-child-to-be-cunning-or_1719835.png" --- # Never teach your child to be cunning or you may be certain… ![“Never teach your child to be cunning or you may be certain you will be one of the very first victims of his shrewdness.” quote by Josh Billings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eef/josh-billings-777_certain_never-teach-your-child-to-be-cunning-or_1719835.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eef/josh-billings-777_certain_never-teach-your-child-to-be-cunning-or_1719835.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eef/josh-billings-777_certain_never-teach-your-child-to-be-cunning-or_1719835.png) > “Never teach your child to be cunning or you may be certain you will be one of the very first victims of his shrewdness.” [Josh Billings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-billings/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Teaching children deceit leads to them becoming manipulative adults. **In simple terms:** Teach honesty, not cunning. Key Takeaway Model honesty for children. Themes morality parenting trust Mood thoughtful cautionary Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - family life - school - leadership Key Concepts ethics psychology Questions to Reflect On - How do you teach honesty without fear? - What signs show a child is learning deceit? A Different Perspective Children may test boundaries, requiring consistent guidance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Shrewdness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shrewdness/) [Victim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/victim/) ## Related quotes > [“Awful things, children. Needy, self-centered tyrants, the boys all teeth and firsts, the girls all claws and spit. Gathering into sniveling packs and sniffing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-erikson/awful-things-children-needy-self-centered-tyrants-the-boys-all-teeth/) [Steven Erikson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-erikson/) > [Wise men have but few confidants, and cunning ones none.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-billings/wise-men-have-but-few-confidants-and-cunning-ones-none/) [Josh Billings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-billings/) > [All the shrewdness of 'man' seeks one thing: to be able to live without responsibility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/all-the-shrewdness-of-man-seeks-one-thing-to-be-able-to-live-without/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [The probability of finding a particular book increases in relation to the clarity of the store's focus, the diligence and shrewdness of the bookseller,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-zaid/the-probability-of-finding-a-particular-book-increases-in-relation-to/) [Gabriel Zaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-zaid/) > [Why do you need street smarts? Shrewdness? Toughness? It's to protect something soft that is going to be in danger if it's exposed at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-schjeldahl/why-do-you-need-street-smarts-shrewdness-toughness-it-s-to-protect/) [Peter Schjeldahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-schjeldahl/) > [There is a kind of shrewdness many men have that enables them to get money. It is the shrewdness of the fox after the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherwood-anderson/there-is-a-kind-of-shrewdness-many-men-have-that-enables-them-to-get/) [Sherwood Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherwood-anderson/) > [As far as the education of children is concerned I think they should be taught not the little virtues but the great ones. Not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalia-ginzburg/as-far-as-the-education-of-children-is-concerned-i-think-they-should/) [Natalia Ginzburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalia-ginzburg/) > [Jews are known for many things, but strength, swiftness, and agility are not among them. There is one trait, as controversial as it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/jews-are-known-for-many-things-but-strength-swiftness-and-agility-are/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [“But Pierre had been born with a shrewdness that made him early aware that a failure to believe that human events were ordered by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-auchincloss/but-pierre-had-been-born-with-a-shrewdness-that-made-him-early-aware/) [Louis Auchincloss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-auchincloss/) > [“If you feed a bird, you don't have to force it to come to you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matshona-dhliwayo/if-you-feed-a-bird-you-don-t-have-to-force-it-to-come-to-you/) [Matshona Dhliwayo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matshona-dhliwayo/) > [All you have to do is buy cheap and sell dear, act with thrift and shrewdness, and be persistent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hetty-green/all-you-have-to-do-is-buy-cheap-and-sell-dear-act-with-thrift-and/) Hetty Green > [A prince who is not himself wise cannot be wisely advised. . . . Good advice depends on the shrewdness of the prince who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niccolo-machiavelli/a-prince-who-is-not-himself-wise-cannot-be-wisely-advised-good-advice/) [Niccolo Machiavelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niccolo-machiavelli/) > [What boy well raised can compare with your street gamin who has the knowledge and the shrewdness of a grown-up broker.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elbert-hubbard/what-boy-well-raised-can-compare-with-your-street-gamin-who-has-the/) [Elbert Hubbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elbert-hubbard/) > [The good Bishop of Assisi expressed a sort of horror at the hard life which the Little Brothers lived at the Portiuncula, without comforts,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-good-bishop-of-assisi-expressed-a-sort-of-horror-at-the-hard-life/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“When a wolf is hungry it befriends sheep.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matshona-dhliwayo/when-a-wolf-is-hungry-it-befriends-sheep/) [Matshona Dhliwayo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matshona-dhliwayo/) ## More by Josh Billings > [It ain't because lovers are so sensitive that they quarrel so often; it is because there is so much fun n the making up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-billings/it-ain-t-because-lovers-are-so-sensitive-that-they-quarrel-so-often/) [Josh Billings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-billings/) > [Man was created a little lower than the angels and has been getting a little lower ever since.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-billings/man-was-created-a-little-lower-than-the-angels-and-has-been-getting-a/) [Josh Billings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-billings/) > [There is only one good substitute for the endearments of a sister, and that is the endearments of some other fellow's sister.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-billings/there-is-only-one-good-substitute-for-the-endearments-of-a-sister-and/) [Josh Billings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-billings/) > [Life is a grindstone, and whether it grinds a man down or polishes him up depends on the stuff he's made of.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-billings/life-is-a-grindstone-and-whether-it-grinds-a-man-down-or-polishes-him/) [Josh Billings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-billings/) > [Its harly my dog A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than you love yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-billings/its-harly-my-dog-a-dog-is-the-only-thing-on-earth-that-loves-you-more/) [Josh Billings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-billings/) > [Perseverance is king.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-billings/perseverance-is-king/) [Josh Billings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-billings/) > [Unless we put heart and soul into our labor we but brutify our actions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-billings/unless-we-put-heart-and-soul-into-our-labor-we-but-brutify-our-actions/) [Josh Billings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-billings/) > [A secret ceases to be a secret if it is once confided - it is like a dollar bill, once broken, it is never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-billings/a-secret-ceases-to-be-a-secret-if-it-is-once-confided-it-is-like-a/) [Josh Billings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-billings/) > [If a man is right, he can't be too radical; if he is wrong, he can't be too conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-billings/if-a-man-is-right-he-can-t-be-too-radical-if-he-is-wrong-he-can-t-be/) [Josh Billings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-billings/) > [As a general rule, if you want to get at the truth - hear both sides and believe neither.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-billings/as-a-general-rule-if-you-want-to-get-at-the-truth-hear-both-sides-and/) [Josh Billings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-billings/) > [Economy is a savings-bank, into which men drop pennies, and get dollars in return.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-billings/economy-is-a-savings-bank-into-which-men-drop-pennies-and-get-dollars/) [Josh Billings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-billings/) > [Self-made men are most always apt to be a little too proud of the job.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-billings/self-made-men-are-most-always-apt-to-be-a-little-too-proud-of-the-job/) [Josh Billings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-billings/) > [Poverty is one of them kind of misfortunes that we all of us dread but none of us pity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-billings/poverty-is-one-of-them-kind-of-misfortunes-that-we-all-of-us-dread/) [Josh Billings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-billings/) > [If the world despises a hypocrite, what must they think of him in heaven?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-billings/if-the-world-despises-a-hypocrite-what-must-they-think-of-him-in/) [Josh Billings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-billings/) > [The man who gets bit twice by the same dog is better adapted for that kind of business than any other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-billings/the-man-who-gets-bit-twice-by-the-same-dog-is-better-adapted-for-that/) [Josh Billings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-billings/) [Explore all 372 Josh Billings quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-billings/) ## More Certain quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [One can put some trust in the gratitude of a sovereign, and also in that of his family; under certain conditions, one can even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/otto-von-bismarck/one-can-put-some-trust-in-the-gratitude-of-a-sovereign-and-also-in/) [Otto von Bismarck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/otto-von-bismarck/) > [For successful education there must always be a certain freshness in the knowledge dealt with. 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I transitioned into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julianne-hough/i-started-out-dancing-on-a-reality-tv-show-but-always-with-the/) [Julianne Hough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julianne-hough/) > [One of the deepest and strangest of all human moods is the mood which will suddenly strike us perhaps in a garden at night,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/one-of-the-deepest-and-strangest-of-all-human-moods-is-the-mood-which/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [A dialogue is very important. It is a form of communication in which question and answer continue till a question is left without an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/a-dialogue-is-very-important-it-is-a-form-of-communication-in-which/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [I mean those people who are interested in good government will certainly contribute in order to make certain there's some counter-balance to those whose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-breyer/i-mean-those-people-who-are-interested-in-good-government-will/) [Stephen Breyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-breyer/) > [Why do we love certain homes, and why do they seem to love us? It is the warmth of our individual hearts reflected in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-h-robsjohn-gibbings/why-do-we-love-certain-homes-and-why-do-they-seem-to-love-us-it-is/) T. H. 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