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.
— Fred Rogers
The more we can be in a relationship with those who might seem strange to us, the more we can feel like we're neighbors and all members of the human family.
Children aren't responsible for wars.
I do think that young children can spot a phony a mile away.
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.
Deep and simple are far, far more important than shallow and complicated and fancy.
All of us have special ones who have loved us into being.
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.
How sad it is that we give up on people who are just like us.
Human beings need to feel that they are lovable and capable of loving.
The world is not always a kind place. That's something all children learn for themselves, whether we want them to or not, but it's something they really need our help to understand.
To love someone is to strive to accept that person exactly the way he or she is, right here and now.
Just because somebody wants to be alone sometimes, it doesn't mean they don't love you.
I believe that those of us who are the producers and purveyors of television, I believe that we are the servants of this nation.
One of the most important gifts a parent can give a child is the gift of accepting that child's uniqueness.
The whole idea is to look at the television camera and present as much love as you possibly could to a person who might feel that he or she needs it.
I saw this new thing called television, and I saw people throwing pies in each other's faces, and I thought, 'This could be a wonderful tool for education! Why is it being used this way?' So I said to my parents, 'You know, I don't think I'll go into seminary right away. I think I'll go into television.'
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?
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.
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.
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.
Knowing that we can be loved exactly as we are gives us all the best opportunity for growing into the healthiest of people.
Love isn't a perfect state of caring. It's an active noun, like 'struggle.'
I don't think that the basics that kids need have changed in 10,000 years.
In my own life, as the nearer I get to the end of life on this earth, the simpler I want to become.
If the day ever came when we were able to accept ourselves and our children exactly as we and they are, then, I believe, we would have come very close to an ultimate understanding of what 'good' parenting means.
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.
The space between the television set and the viewer is holy ground.
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.'
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.
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.
You know, you don't have to look like everybody else to be acceptable and to feel acceptable.
