If you manipulate, coerce, and bully your children, you will have no power at all. If you lead with humility, gentleness, and by example, you will need no power at all.

A man will be known by his books.

Therefore, your mistakes and your failures are blessings opportunities for the best in parenting. And those who point out your mistakes are not your enemies, but the most valuable of friends.

We are simply committing ourselves to paying attention to our life. We use meditation to help us in that attention process. We are not trying to become good meditators. We are trying to wake up.

You do not have to make your children into wonderful people. You just have to remind them that they are wonderful people. If you do this consistently from the day they are born they will believe it easily.

And part of growin’ up is learnin’ to see the world through other men’s eyes.

How do children learn to correct their mistakes? By watching how you correct yours. How do children learn to overcome their failures? By watching how you overcome yours. How do children learn to treat themselves with forgiveness? By watching you forgive yourself.