James Dobson Quotes - Page 2

The footsteps a child follows are most likely to be the ones his parents thought they covered up.

A boy or girl who knows that love abounds at home will not resent well-deserved punishment. One who is unloved or ignored will hate any form of discipline.

Don't throw away your friendship with your teenager over behavior that has no great moral significance. There will be plenty of real issues that require you to stand like a rock. Save your big guns for those crucial confrontations.

Children represent God's most generous gift to us.

I don't blame homosexuals for being angry when people say they've made a choice to be gay because they don't.

It is my view that our society can be no more stable than the foundation of individual family units upon which it rests. Our government, our institutions, our schools...indeed, our way of life are dependent on healthy marriages and loyalty to the vulnerable little children around our feet.

The final heartbeat for the Christian is not the mysterious conclusion to a meaningless existence. It is, rather, the grand beginning to a life that will never end.

Loving discipline encourages a child to respect other people and live as a responsible, constructive citizen.

It is impossible to overstate the need for prayer in the fabric of family life.

Real crying usually lasts two minutes or less, but may continue for five. After that point, the child is merely complaining... I would require him to stop the protest crying, usually by offering him a little more of whatever caused the original tears.

God does not need our money. But you and I need the experience of giving it

God's Heart is especially tender toward the downtrodden and the defeated. He knows your name and He has seen every tear you have shed.

If you're going through difficult times today, hold steady. It will change soon. If you are experiencing smooth sailing and easy times now, brace yourself. It will change soon. The only thing you can be certain of is change.

Behavior runs in deep channels that were cut during early childhood, and it is very difficult to alter them. In order to change a deeply ingrained pattern, you have to build a sturdy dam, dig another canal and reroute the river in the new direction. That effort is rarely successful over the long haul.

The right to criticize must be earned, even if the advice is constructive in nature.

Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, and halfway closed there after.

One of the first things you and your fiance need to develop is a meaningful prayer life even before the wedding. My wife, Shirley, and I did that, and the time we have spent on our knees has been the stabilizing factor throughout nearly forty years of marriage.

Faith in God - life can never take you by surprise again.

You have to work to keep love alive; you have to protect it and maintain it, just like you would a delicate flower.

There are very few certainties that touch us all in this mortal experience, but one of the absolutes is that we will experience hardship and stress at some point.

Conceit is a weird disease - it makes everybody sick except the guy who has it.

When you let people put you up on a pedestal, you step one step in any direction, and you're going to go down.

Extreme independence is as destructive to a relationship as total dependence.

Some strong-willed children absolutely demand to be spanked, and their wishes should be granted. Two or three stinging strokes on the legs or buttocks with a switch are usually sufficient to emphasize the point, 'You must obey me.'

If you let a child know that you think he is lazy, sloppy, untruthful, unpleasant, and thoughtless, he'll probably prove you are right. Obviously, it is much better to make him stretch to reach a positive image than stoop to match one at ground level.