Quotes about parents

Elmeshu

c. 18th–17th century BC · Babylonia

thou, my father, didst say, “When I shall go to Dûr-Ammi-zadûga, which is on the River Sharḳu, I will forward a sheep and five minas of silver, in a little while, to thee.” This thou saidest, my father, and my expectation was from my father. But thou hast not sent

A letter on a clay tablet · in place of the original: the English translation by C. H. W. Johns (1904)

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Confucius 孔子

5th century BC · Lu, Spring and Autumn China

"You must not fail to know your parents' age. It is at once a reason for joy and a reason for fear."

子曰：「父母之年，不可不知也。一則以喜，一則以懼。」

Analects, book 4 (Li Ren)

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Thiruvalluvar திருவள்ளுவர்

about 2,000 years ago · Tamil country, South India

A mother who hears her son called a wise man rejoices more than she did on the day he was born.

ஈன்ற பொழுதின் பெரிதுவக்கும் தன்மகனைச் சான்றோன் எனக்கேட்ட தாய்.

Tirukkural 69

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Li Mi 李密

AD 267 · Western Jin China · Written to decline the emperor's summons. His grandmother was ninety-six

Without my grandmother, I would never have reached this day. Without me, my grandmother has no way to live out her remaining years.

臣無祖母，無以至今日；祖母無臣，無以終餘年。

"Memorial Stating My Case"

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Meng Jiao 孟郊

c. 800 · Tang China

The thread in a loving mother's hand, the coat on a wandering son's back. Before he leaves she sews it stitch on close stitch, fearing in her heart that he will be slow to return.

慈母手中線，遊子身上衣。 臨行密密縫，意恐遲遲歸。

"Song of the Wandering Son," in the Complete Tang Poems

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Bai Juyi 白居易

early 9th century · Tang China · Of a pair of swallows whose grown brood has flown. Old Liu, grieving that his children had left him, is said to have left his own parents when he was young

Swallows, swallows, do not grieve. Turn back and think of yourselves: think of the days when you were fledglings and flew off high, turning your backs on your mother. What your parents felt then you will know today.

燕燕爾勿悲，爾當返自思。 思爾爲雛日，高飛背母時。 當時父母念，今日爾應知。

"The Swallows: A Poem Shown to Old Mr. Liu," in the Complete Tang Poems

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The singer of "Samogok"

c. 13th–14th century · Goryeo Korea

A hoe has a blade too, but it can never cut like a sickle. A father is a parent too, wi deongdeodungsyeong, but no one loves like a mother. Ah, my lord, no one loves like a mother.

호ᄆᆡ도 ᄂᆞᆯ히언마ᄅᆞᄂᆞᆫ 낟ᄀᆞ티 들 리도 업스니이다 아바님도 어이어신마ᄅᆞᄂᆞᆫ 위 덩더둥셩 어마님ᄀᆞ티 괴시리 업세라 아소 님하 어마님ᄀᆞ티 괴시리 업세라

"Samogok" (Song of Longing for Mother), in Akjang gasa

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Yi Annul 李安訥

late 16th century · Joseon Korea · While serving on the frontier in Hamgyeong province

I meant to write home and tell them how hard it is, but feared it would make my white-haired parents sick with worry. So with the snow piled a thousand fathoms deep on the dark hills, I report that this winter is as warm as spring.

欲作家書說苦辛 恐敎愁殺白頭親 陰山積雪深千丈 却報今冬暖似春

Dong'ak jip, "Sending a Letter Home"

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Kim Manjung 金萬重

September 25, 1689 · Joseon Korea · In exile on Namhae. His mother died that winter

This morning I meant to write down how I miss my mother, but before a word was formed my tears were already flowing. How many times have I wet the brush and thrown it down again? My collected works will have to go without the poems from Namhae.

今朝欲寫思親語 字未成時淚已滋 幾度濡毫還復擲 集中應缺海南詩

Seopo jip, "The Twenty-fifth Day of the Ninth Month, 1689"

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Jane Austen

1813 · England

An unhappy alternative is before you, Elizabeth. From this day you must be a stranger to one of your parents. Your mother will never see you again if you do not marry Mr. Collins, and I will never see you again if you do.

Pride and Prejudice, chapter 20, spoken by Mr. Bennet

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Ishikawa Takuboku 石川啄木

1910 · Meiji Japan

For a joke I lifted my mother on my back, and she was so light I wept and could not take three steps.

たはむれに母を背負ひて そのあまり軽きに泣きて 三歩あゆまず

Tanka collection A Handful of Sand (Ichiaku no suna)

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