Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood.
Knowing that we can be loved exactly as we are gives us all the best opportunity for growing into the healthiest of people.
The underlying message of the Neighborhood is that if somebody cares about you, it's possible that you'll care about others. 'You are special, and so is your neighbor' - that part is essential: that you're not the only special person in the world. The person you happen to be with at the moment is loved, too.
The number 143 means 'I love you.' It takes one letter to say 'I' and four letters to say 'love' and three letters to say 'you.' One hundred and forty-three. 'I love you.' Isn't that wonderful?
Deep and simple are far, far more important than shallow and complicated and fancy.
When I was very young, most of my childhood heroes wore capes, flew through the air, or picked up buildings with one arm. They were spectacular and got a lot of attention. But as I grew, my heroes changed, so that now I can honestly say that anyone who does anything to help a child is a hero to me.
I think everybody longs to be loved and longs to know that he or she is lovable. And, consequently, the greatest thing that we can do is to help somebody know that they're loved and capable of loving.
How sad it is that we give up on people who are just like us.
When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, 'Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.'
The space between the television set and the viewer is holy ground.
Parents are like shuttles on a loom. They join the threads of the past with threads of the future and leave their own bright patterns as they go.
Love isn't a perfect state of caring. It's an active noun, like 'struggle.'
All of us have special ones who have loved us into being.
One of the most important gifts a parent can give a child is the gift of accepting that child's uniqueness.
I think of discipline as the continual everyday process of helping a child learn self-discipline.
It's not the honors and not the titles and not the power that is of ultimate importance. It's what resides inside.
When I first saw children's television, I thought it was perfectly horrible. And I thought there was some way of using this fabulous medium to be of nurture to those who would watch and listen.
To love someone is to strive to accept that person exactly the way he or she is, right here and now.
When we look for what's best in the person we happen to be with at the moment, we're doing what God does, so in appreciating our neighbor, we're participating in something truly sacred.
I like to compare the holiday season with the way a child listens to a favorite story. The pleasure is in the familiar way the story begins, the anticipation of familiar turns it takes, the familiar moments of suspense, and the familiar climax and ending.
