At first glance, I thought I'd be putting this book down soon into the first chapter, but I'm pleasantly surprised. Above All, Be Kind by Zoe Weil is a book about how to raise humane children in a difficult society. I know, sounds a bit scary, right?
It's based on what she calls the best qualities of human beings, BUT she's willing to admit that her list is not a complete one. The qualities she focuses on in the book are
1. Willingness to choose and change
2. Kindness
3. Compassion
4. Honesty and trustworthiness
5. Generosity
6. Courage
7. Perseverance, self-discipline and restraint
8. Humor and playfulness
9. Wisdom
10. Integrity
The best thing about this book is that it's not based on some parenting styles that say "Here's how to get what you want out of your kid." Rather, it inspires adults to expect nothing more from their children than they are willing to exemplify. Simple concept, I know.
But along the way...we get some great greeting card, Oprah bookclub-esque, life lessons in the form of quotes.
"The people you have to lie to, own you. The things you have to lie about, own you. When your children see you owned, then they are not your children anymore, they are the children of what owns you. If money owns you, they are the children of money. If your need for pretense and illusion owns you, they are the children of pretense and illusion. If your fear of loneliness owns you, they are the children of loneliness. If your fear of the truth owns you, they are the children of the fear of the truth."
- Michael Venture
"Americans aren't starving for what they don't have but rather for what they won't give." - Marianne Williamson
"To see what is good and not to do it is want of courage." - Confucious
"If we did the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves." - Thomas Edison
"I want peace; a quietness for my soul. And ease for my thoughts and a rest for my heart...I want faith. To possess the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen..." - Elisa, age 14
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