EPICURUS knew that, if once a child is born, it is no longer in our power not to love and be solicitous for it. For the same reason, he says, a wise man will not engage himself in public business, for he knew very well what such an engagement would oblige him to do; for what should restrain anyone from affairs if we may behave among men as we would among a swarm of flies?
And doth he who knows all this dare to bid us not bring up children? Not even a sheep or a wolf deserts its offspring, and shall man? What would you have? That we should be as silly as sheep? Yet even these do not desert their offspring. Or as savage as wolves? Neither do these desert them. Pray, who would mind you if he saw his child fallen upon the ground, and crying? For my part, I am of opinion that your father and mother, even if they could have foreseen that you would have been the author of such doctrines, would not, however, have thrown you away.
And doth he who knows all this dare to bid us not bring up children? Not even a sheep or a wolf deserts its offspring, and shall man? What would you have? That we should be as silly as sheep? Yet even these do not desert their offspring. Or as savage as wolves? Neither do these desert them. Pray, who would mind you if he saw his child fallen upon the ground, and crying? For my part, I am of opinion that your father and mother, even if they could have foreseen that you would have been the author of such doctrines, would not, however, have thrown you away.
EPICTETUS. DISCOURSES. Book i. §23. ¶1, 2.
This isn't a statement of absolute truth, for we all know of parents who have lost their connection with their children.
ReplyDeleteBut I think there is a much deeper and more relevant issue here. As a western society, we have become so self involved, that our children become an afterthought, or worse, a hindrance, to what we perceive as our path to happiness. We miss the truth, that it is in the faces of our children, both of the hearth and heart, that we rise again to new life, and on into the future. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mj0x34ICsTI)
That is where our joy is, that is where our meaning lies, in providing for our children, and all children are OUR children, the opportunities for joy and discovery that we have benefited from or squandered.