Children Quote by Robert Penn Warren
““The child comes home and the parent puts the hooks in him. The old man, or the woman, as the case may be, hasn’t got anything to say to the child. All he wants is to have that child sit in a chair for a couple of hours and then go off to bed under the same roof. It’s not love. I am not saying that there is not such a thing as love. I am merely pointing to something which is different from love but which sometimes goes by the name of love. It may well be that without this thing which I am talking about there would not be any love. But this thing in itself is not love. It is just something in the blood. It is a kind of blood greed, and it is the fate of a man. It is the thing which man has which distinguishes him from the happy brute creation. When you got born your father and mother lost something out of themselves, and they are going to bust a hame trying to get it back, and you are it. They know they can’t get it all back but they will get as big a chunk out of you as they can.””
About This Quote
The passage critiques parental expectations that treat children as extensions of their own unmet desires, mistaking possessive ambition for love.
In simple terms: Parental possessiveness masquerades as love.
Key Takeaway
Love is distinct from self‑serving desire.
Themes
parental expectations
identity formation
self‑sacrifice
authentic love
human nature
Mood
melancholic
reflective
critical
Type
philosophical
literary
psychological
When to use this quote
- parent‑child relationships
- family counseling
- psychological analysis
- literary criticism
- self‑reflection
Key Concepts
attachment
ego
generational trauma
self‑identity
Practical Applications
- therapeutic insight for families
- guidance for personal boundaries
Questions to Reflect On
- How does one differentiate genuine love from possessive desire?
- What impact does this dynamic have on a child's self‑esteem?
A Different Perspective
Some argue that parental investment is a natural expression of love, not merely self‑interest.
![“[A]nd soon now we shall go out of the house and go into the convulsion of the world, out of history into history and the awful responsibility of Time.” quote by Robert Penn Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/857/robert-penn-warren-2118_awful_a-nd-soon-now-we-shall-go-out-of-the-hou_158285.jpg)
