Janet Jackson Quotes

My father was an amazing man. No person is perfect, and no father-son relationship is perfect. He wanted me to live my life my way and never think about what he would have done or what he would have wanted to do.

My mother was okay with me not playing it safe. She made an agreement with my father that I was going to be raised differently than my brother and sister were. My parents went through the whole sixties rebellion with my brother and sister. But I didn't feel like I had to rebel because I didn't have anyone telling me I couldn't do something. I never went into that parents-as-enemies stage.

Children need parents who will let them grow up to be themselves, but parents often have personal agendas they try to impose on their children.

Your folks are god, you love them and you want to make them happy but you still want to make up your own rules.

When I was a boy I used to do what my father wanted. Now I have to do what my boy wants. My problem is: When am I going to do what I want?

I started my career in parent education with the idea that we needed to let our kids go. I believed that parents were suffocating for their children. There was no room for individuality and personhood.

Too many people try to please their parents. My parents were Republicans, which is too bad, but they allowed me to be who I wanted to be.

All my children have spoken for themselves since they first learned to speak, and not always with my advance approval, and I expect that to continue in the future.

My parents told us how they felt but never imposed their beliefs on us, although I appreciate I got a healthy sense of democracy from them.

I did not grow up with people, you know, pounding in my head, 'This is what you've got to do, this is what you're going to do.'

Our mother was a very religious and observant Jew, our father less so. She was kind of driving the religious education, so for us it was more a burden and an obligation when we were kids at that age.

My parents were perfectly open-minded about everything. They never tried to convince us of what was true or what wasn't true in their minds. We were just presented with the information that was around and pretty much allowed - though, I mean, we knew how they felt. We knew they didn't go to church. So obviously that had an effect.

I wasn't a pushy parent - you have to let children be who they want to be.

I have always believed that the way my parents disciplined me has a great deal to do with the success I have enjoyed as a man.

I think one thing my mother always instilled in me was a sense of individuality. Being an only child, I never thought I had to rely on anyone. I was never afraid to be alone and I was never afraid to be my own person. So when all my friends were like, "Let's smoke weed," I was like, "I'm not doing it." It wasn't because I was trying to be a rebel or because I didn't like it or I was anti-drugs. I just didn't do it because I didn't want to do it, and if I didn't want to do it, I wasn't doing it. That was it.

There is one thing you and I as parents cannot do, not do we want to do if we really think about it, and that's control our children's will--that spirit that lets them be themselves apart from you and me. They are not ours to possess, control, manipulate, or even to make mind.

I'm fortunate to have an amazing, strong mother who is so supportive of everything me and my sisters did growing up - but she was someone who never forced us to go swim or to go do this or that. She helped us think about certain consequences when we needed to, but we made our own decisions. I think if I were forced to swim, I wouldn't have stayed in the pool as long as I did.

Parents are untamed, excessive, potentially troublesome creatures; charming to be with for a time, in the main they must lead their own lives, independent and self-employed, with companions of their own age and selection.

I was lucky that my mother had a very well-adjusted perspective of the world, and never pressured me to do anything I didn't want to do.

I've always dressed myself, even when I was younger. My parents didn't pick out my clothes or anything. They let me do that, which I think is an important thing because it allows for kids to experiment and figure out what they like, even at a young age.

I got a liberal arts education just because I felt like I should to keep my parents happy, but it was for them. If it was up to me, I would've just moved to New York.

I have great parents, and they both taught me great things, but my formative years were boundaryless.

I have the most incredible parents and they didn't put pressure on me. I grew up in a house and no matter what they thought of things, it was always about my choice.

When you're growing up you need your parents, but you don't want to be associated with them because you're trying to have your own life.

The most important influence on a child is the character of its parents, rather than this or that single event.