Who knows what kind of life I might have had had I not been fortunate enough to have the parents I've had.
I grew up in the East End of London, the youngest of three boys in a Catholic household. Both my parents were market traders and worked seven days a week.
Happiness in marriage and parenthood can exceed a thousand times any other happiness
My parents were amazing people who had no business being together - and they knew it.
Climate change is critical to me because I'm a parent; I feel a sense of responsibility to the future. I'm not going to be around to see its worst effects, which are going to be hitting in the 2030s, '40s, '50s, but my kids will.
My parents are still together. I have two sisters. I travel the world and they are the people I speak to.
I think the best thing your parents can do for you is to let you be yourself.
I try to stay out of my kids' way and kind of just let them discover things for themselves. Our job as parents is more to keep other people out of their way, so they're free to discover what works for them on their own.
The love of a child is different from any other type of love on the planet. And being loved by your children is a love that is immense. I'm always so overwhelmed by how much my children love me. I think the best part of being a parent is feeling the love of a child.
I was the little French boy who grew up hearing people talk of De Gaulle and the Resistance. France against the Nazis! Then when that boy grew up, he began to uncover things. We began to legitimately ask the question, 'What exactly did our parents do during the Occupation?' We discovered it was not the story they were telling us.
We live inside our parents' backstory.
Junior was being chided for his low grades. Little Robert, who lived a few doors away, was held up as an example. "Robert doesn't get C's and D's does he?" asked his father. "No," Junior admitted, "but he's different. He has very bright parents".
Since the child knew his parents would give in, he tried the same trick again and again.
I was an adventurer, and I got married a few times. I kept trying to find a relationship as good as my parents'.
My mother was 45 when she had me, so when I was in high school my parents were the same age as my friends' grandparents.
My parents weren't extremely successful financially, but they were happy people. They gave me confidence.
My parents were immigrants. And the place for all immigrants was the factories. They were the source of cheap labor.
I was happy because I made enough money to give to my parents. I made enough money to get married on. I made enough money to enjoy myself a little more than I would have if I didn't have enough money.
When I grew up, there were no teletypewriters or video calls, so I primarily interpreted phone calls. At that time, where I lived, it wasn't embarrassing to have Deaf parents; it was cool to be able to speak a different language than everyone else.
When Marlee [Matlin] won her Oscar, she said, "and I just want to thank my parents." When I was saying those words for her, I knew my parents were in the audience. I was saying it for her and a little bit for myself, even though I wasn't saying it in sign language and they didn't understand what I was saying.
There's something about a divorce in that even if your parents still love you, the fact that they can't live with each other makes you feel there's something wrong with you.
The same way all the people I love factor in—my parents, my sister, my girlfriend [Lena Dunham], my best friend, all the people I love are always right there. I don't have a lot of people in my life, but there's a small group of people that I don't like to do things without.
If you're lucky enough to have a parent or two alive, call them. Don't text, don't email. Call them. Listen to them for as long as they want to talk to you.
I would never recommend my novel as a parenting guide. But we happen to live at a very hectic and hurried time, and I believe that many parents are too wrapped up in themselves.
Parents shouldn't leave their kids unless —unless they've got to.
