--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: All parents damage their children. This…" description: "\"“All parents damage their children. This was their life together. Neglect. Violence. Silence.”\" — Mitch Albom" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/271/mitch-albom-187_children_all-parents-damage-their-children-this-w_2725136.png" --- # All parents damage their children. This was their life… ![“All parents damage their children. This was their life together. Neglect. Violence. Silence.” quote by Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/271/mitch-albom-187_children_all-parents-damage-their-children-this-w_2725136.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/271/mitch-albom-187_children_all-parents-damage-their-children-this-w_2725136.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/271/mitch-albom-187_children_all-parents-damage-their-children-this-w_2725136.png) > ““All parents damage their children. This was their life together. Neglect. Violence. Silence.”” [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Parents inevitably cause harm through neglect, violence, or silence, reflecting shared life struggles. **In simple terms:** Parents can hurt kids unintentionally. Key Takeaway Acknowledge and heal family wounds. Themes family pain responsibility Mood somber reflective Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - parenting - therapy - family gatherings - conflict resolution Key Concepts psychology trauma communication Questions to Reflect On - How can families break cycles of neglect? - What role does silence play in family pain? A Different Perspective Healing requires confronting uncomfortable truths. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life together](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-together/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) ## Related quotes > [“All parents damage their children. IT cannot be helped. Youth, like pristine glass, absorbs the prints of its handlers. Some parents smudge, others crack,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/all-parents-damage-their-children-it-cannot-be-helped-youth-like/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [All parents damage their children. It cannot be helped.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/all-parents-damage-their-children-it-cannot-be-helped/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [“Parents damage their children. It cannot be helped. Youth, like pristine glass, absorb the prints of its handlers. Some parents smudge, others crack, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/parents-damage-their-children-it-cannot-be-helped-youth-like-pristine/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [“All parents damage their children. It cannot be helped.Youth, like pristine glass, absorbs the prints of its handlers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/all-parents-damage-their-children-it-cannot-be-helped-youth-like-2/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [Before I met No I thought that violence meant shouting and hitting and war and blood. Now I know that there can also be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/delphine-de-vigan/before-i-met-no-i-thought-that-violence-meant-shouting-and-hitting-2/) [Delphine de Vigan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/delphine-de-vigan/) > [“Before I met No I thought that violence meant shouting and hitting and war and blood. Now I know that there can also be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/delphine-de-vigan/before-i-met-no-i-thought-that-violence-meant-shouting-and-hitting/) [Delphine de Vigan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/delphine-de-vigan/) > [“His violence was silence, guilt, and the quiet erasure of my boundaries; and when you've been starved for affection your whole life, emotional violence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-ayala/his-violence-was-silence-guilt-and-the-quiet-erasure-of-my-boundaries/) Linda Ayala > [“There is one clear urgency in your life that you must never neglect, and that is — you must be yourself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryant-mcgill/there-is-one-clear-urgency-in-your-life-that-you-must-never-neglect/) [Bryant McGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryant-mcgill/) > [I am convinced that if we as a society work diligently in every other area of life and neglect the family, it would be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-covey/i-am-convinced-that-if-we-as-a-society-work-diligently-in-every-other/) [Stephen Covey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-covey/) > [Why didn't children ever see that they could damage and harm their parents as much as parents could damage and harm children?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-z-hobson/why-didn-t-children-ever-see-that-they-could-damage-and-harm-their/) [Laura Z. 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It was evil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/and-we-all-know-too-that-those-words-really-don-t-damage-children/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [I don't want to stick a sticking plaster on it, I don't want to fix children once the system's broken them, I want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-rayner/i-don-t-want-to-stick-a-sticking-plaster-on-it-i-don-t-want-to-fix/) [Angela Rayner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-rayner/) > [Children don't just play any more - they're far too busy learning to fence and taking extra French classes. In the end, you're actually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-henderson/children-don-t-just-play-any-more-they-re-far-too-busy-learning-to/) [Shirley Henderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-henderson/) ## More by Mitch Albom > [“He wondered how it was fair that your dying should depend so much on when you were born.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/he-wondered-how-it-was-fair-that-your-dying-should-depend-so-much-on/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [“After the funeral, my life changed. I felt as if time were suddenly precious, water going down an open drain, and I could not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/after-the-funeral-my-life-changed-i-felt-as-if-time-were-suddenly/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [the words people do not speak are louder than the ones they do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/the-words-people-do-not-speak-are-louder-than-the-ones-they-do/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [“Once, lovers on faraway shores sat by candlelight and dipped ink to parchment, writing words that could not be erased. They took an evening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/once-lovers-on-faraway-shores-sat-by-candlelight-and-dipped-ink-to/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [Giving to other people makes me feel alive. Not my car or my house. Not what I look like in the mirror. When I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/giving-to-other-people-makes-me-feel-alive-not-my-car-or-my-house-not/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [Life goes quickly, doesn't it?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/life-goes-quickly-doesn-t-it/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [As children grow, they gravitate to their fates.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/as-children-grow-they-gravitate-to-their-fates/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [“If the only thing wrong with Moses is that he's not yours; if the only thing wrong with Jesus is that he's not yours;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/if-the-only-thing-wrong-with-moses-is-that-he-s-not-yours-if-the-only/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [“Sometimes your kids will say the nastiest things, won't they, Rose? You want to ask,'Whose child is this?'" Rose chuckled. 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It’s not something to regret. It’s something to aspire to.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/you-didn-t-get-it-sacrifice-is-a-part-of-life-it-s-supposed-to-be-it/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [I give myself a good cry if I need it. But then I concentrate on the good things still in my life. I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/i-give-myself-a-good-cry-if-i-need-it-but-then-i-concentrate-on-the/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [It was sad, the imbalance of it all. Why do kids assume so much from one parent and hold the other to a lower,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/it-was-sad-the-imbalance-of-it-all-why-do-kids-assume-so-much-from/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) [Explore all 962 Mitch Albom quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) ## More Children 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/) > [Behind every successful child is an adult who believed in him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-warren/behind-every-successful-child-is-an-adult-who-believed-in-him/) [Rick Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-warren/) > [I believe in freedom to do what you want if you aren't hurting others, but pictures of obese protesters giving their children big gulps.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-defranco/i-believe-in-freedom-to-do-what-you-want-if-you-aren-t-hurting-others/) [Philip DeFranco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-defranco/) > [If the audience likes your work, if they like you, they don't think whether you are married or have children or not. 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Expressing gratitude by writing in a journal, taking a photo, or shooting a video creates a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janice-kaplan/gratitude-isn-t-just-a-feeling-it-s-an-action-expressing-gratitude-by/) [Janice Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janice-kaplan/) > [My embarrassing confession is that my father is a 'Camelot: The Musical' obsessive. So as a child, when we were going to visit relatives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-chibnall/my-embarrassing-confession-is-that-my-father-is-a-camelot-the-musical/) [Chris Chibnall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-chibnall/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [My school was one of the most beautiful places a child can grow up in. 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