--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There was literally flawless obedience…" description: "\"“There was literally flawless obedience when they were living under my roof-at least when I was home. If I told them to go to bed, they jumped up and w..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ec/phil-robertson-3677_every-night_there-was-literally-flawless-obedience-w_2555886.jpg" --- # There was literally flawless obedience when they were… ![“There was literally flawless obedience when they were living under my roof-at least when I was home. If I told them to go to bed, they jumped up and went to bed. If I told them to rake the leaves, they raked the leaves. If I told them to clean the fish, they cleaned the fish. People would come…” quote by Phil Robertson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ec/phil-robertson-3677_every-night_there-was-literally-flawless-obedience-w_2555886.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ec/phil-robertson-3677_every-night_there-was-literally-flawless-obedience-w_2555886.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ec/phil-robertson-3677_every-night_there-was-literally-flawless-obedience-w_2555886.jpg) > ““There was literally flawless obedience when they were living under my roof-at least when I was home. If I told them to go to bed, they jumped up and went to bed. If I told them to rake the leaves, they raked the leaves. If I told them to clean the fish, they cleaned the fish. People would come over to visit us and were amazed at how obedient our sons were. Their teachers always told us our boys were among the most well-behaved students in school. I believe it’s because my boys were always aware of the consequences of not doing what they were told to do. They always respected me, and they respected their mother because I didn’t want them taking advantage of the woman who put them on Earth. I also didn’t allow my sons to fight with each other. They could argue and disagree all they wanted-and Jase and Willie managed to do it regularly. I didn’t have a problem with them raising their voices at each other to make a point. I wanted to encourage them to argue and make a case for their beliefs. But if it came to blows and there was meat popping, they were getting three licks each. I didn’t care who threw the first punch. If it ever came to physical blows, I’d step in and everybody involved got three licks. Another thing I didn’t allow was tearing up good hunting and fishing equipment. I wanted them to respect someone else’s property and to be thankful for what we had, even if it wasn’t much. If one of my boys borrowed one of my guns or fishing poles and tore it up while they were using it, they received three licks. I always wanted my boys to have access to my guns to hunt, just like I had access to Pa’s guns when I was growing up. When I was young, I knew if I broke a gun, we probably weren’t going to eat that night because we were so dependent on wild game for food. But since my boys knew there was going to be a meal on the table every night, they weren’t always as respectful of my equipment. When Alan was about fourteen, he and a few of his buddies borrowed all of my Browning shotguns to go bird-hunting. They were hunting on a muddy track and because they were careless and immature, mud got into a few of the shotgun barrels. They were very fortunate the guns still fired and didn’t blow up in their faces! When Alan returned home, he was so scared to tell me what happened to my Browning shotguns-my Holy Grails-that he enlisted Kay’s help to break the news. I’m sure Alan thought I was going to beat him on the spot, but I simply told him to go outside. I was afraid to whip him right then because I was so angry. After cooling off, I pulled Alan and his buddies together and gave them a stern lecture about gun safety and respecting other people’s property. I also told Alan-after I gave him three licks-that he was on probation from using my guns for a long time.”” [Phil Robertson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-robertson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He emphasizes strict discipline, clear consequences, and encouraging respectful debate to shape obedient, responsible children. **In simple terms:** Discipline with clear rules and respectful argument builds responsibility. Key Takeaway Set firm rules and teach respectful disagreement. Themes discipline family responsibility respect authority Mood authorious reflective Type parenting advice When to use this quote - raising children - teaching respect - household rules - conflict management Key Concepts parenting consequences conflict resolution Questions to Reflect On - How can you balance firm discipline with nurturing creativity? - When should arguments be limited to prevent harm? A Different Perspective May suppress creativity or emotional expression if overly punitive. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Boys Behaved](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boys-behaved-1562364/) [Every night](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/every-night/) [Flawless Obedience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flawless-obedience-1562363/) [Gun safety](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gun-safety/) [Hunting and fishing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hunting-and-fishing/) [Long time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-time/) [Obedience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obedience/) [Taking advantage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/taking-advantage/) [Told Boys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/told-boys-1358433/) [Told Respected](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/told-respected-1562365/) ## Related quotes > [“I shrugged off his arm. “That’s right. Fourteen-year-old boys have better taste than you. 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If I told them to rake the leaves, they raked the leaves. If I told them to clean the fish, they cleaned the fish. People would come over to visit us and were amazed at how obedient our sons were. Their teachers always told us our boys were among the most well-behaved students in school. I believe it’s because my boys were always aware of the consequences of not doing what they were told to do. They always respected me, and they respected their mother because I didn’t want them taking advantage of the woman who put them on Earth. I also didn’t allow my sons to fight with each other. They could argue and disagree all they wanted-and Jase and Willie managed to do it regularly. I didn’t have a problem with them raising their voices at each other to make a point. I wanted to encourage them to argue and make a case for their beliefs. But if it came to blows and there was meat popping, they were getting three licks each. I didn’t care who threw the first punch. If it ever came to physical blows, I’d step in and everybody involved got three licks. Another thing I didn’t allow was tearing up good hunting and fishing equipment. I wanted them to respect someone else’s property and to be thankful for what we had, even if it wasn’t much. If one of my boys borrowed one of my guns or fishing poles and tore it up while they were using it, they received three licks. I always wanted my boys to have access to my guns to hunt, just like I had access to Pa’s guns when I was growing up. When I was young, I knew if I broke a gun, we probably weren’t going to eat that night because we were so dependent on wild game for food. But since my boys knew there was going to be a meal on the table every night, they weren’t always as respectful of my equipment. When Alan was about fourteen, he and a few of his buddies borrowed all of my Browning shotguns to go bird-hunting. They were hunting on a muddy track and because they were careless and immature, mud got into a few of the shotgun barrels. They were very fortunate the guns still fired and didn’t blow up in their faces! When Alan returned home, he was so scared to tell me what happened to my Browning shotguns-my Holy Grails-that he enlisted Kay’s help to break the news. I’m sure Alan thought I was going to beat him on the spot, but I simply told him to go outside. I was afraid to whip him right then because I was so angry. After cooling off, I pulled Alan and his buddies together and gave them a stern lecture about gun safety and respecting other people’s property. I also told Alan-after I gave him three licks-that he was on probation from using my guns for a long time.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Phil Robertson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-robertson/there-was-literally-flawless-obedience-when-they-were-living-under-my/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Every night" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-robertson/there-was-literally-flawless-obedience-when-they-were-living-under-my/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ec/phil-robertson-3677_every-night_there-was-literally-flawless-obedience-w_2555886.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ec/phil-robertson-3677_every-night_there-was-literally-flawless-obedience-w_2555886.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ec/phil-robertson-3677_every-night_there-was-literally-flawless-obedience-w_2555886.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There was literally flawless obedience when they were living under my roof-at least when I was home. 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