Home > Author > Fred Rogers
101 " All of us, at some time or other, need help. Whether we’re giving or receiving help, each one of us has something valuable to bring to this world. That’s one of the things that connects us as neighbors—in our own way, each one of us is a giver and a receiver. "
― Fred Rogers , The World According to Mister Rogers: Important Things to Remember
102 " Being able to resolve conflicts peacefully is one of the greatest strengths we can give our children. "
― Fred Rogers
103 " I've often hesitated in beginning a project because I've thought, "It'll never turn out to be even remotely like the good idea I have as I start." I could just "feel" how good it could be. But I decided that, for the present, I would create the best way I know how and accept the ambiguities. "
― Fred Rogers , You Are Special: Neighborly Wit And Wisdom From Mister Rogers
104 " Our society is much more interested in information than wonder, in noise rather than silence...And I feel that we need a lot more wonder and a lot more silence in our lives "
105 " Listening and trying to understand the needs of those we would communicate with seems to me to be the essential prerequisite of any real communication. And we might as well aim for real communication. "
106 " There are times when explanations, no matter how reasonable, just don't seem to help. "
― Fred Rogers , Life's Journeys According to Mister Rogers: Things to Remember Along the Way
107 " There’s a part of all of us that longs to know that even what’s weakest about us is still redeemable and can ultimately count for something good. "
108 " One of the strongest things I have had to wrestle with in my life is the significance of the longing for perfection in oneself and in the people bound to the self by friendship or parenthood or childhood. "
109 " It’s very important, no matter what you may do professionally, to keep alive some of the healthy interests of your youth. Children’s play is not just kids’ stuff. Children’s play is rather the stuff of most future inventions. "
110 " We get so wrapped up in numbers in our society. The most important thing is that we are able to be one-to-one, you and I with each other at the moment. If we can be present to the moment with the person that we happen to be with, that's what's important. "
111 " I don’t think we give that gift anymore (the gift of silence). I’m very concerned that our society is much more interested in information than wonder. In noise, rather than silence…how do we encourage reflection? Oh my, this is a noisy world. I get up every morning at least by 5AM. I have a couple hours of quiet time, reflect about what it is important. What can we do, to encourage people to have more quiet in their lives, more silence? Real revelation comes through silence. "
112 " A friend of mine was in a taxi in Washington, D.C., going slowly past the National Archives, when he noticed the words on the cornerstone of the building: “The past is prologue.” He read them out loud to the taxi driver and said, “What do you think that means, ‘The past is prologue’?” The taxi driver said, “I think it means, ‘Man, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet! "
113 " All our lives, we rework the things from our childhood, like feeling good about ourselves, managing our angry feelings, being able to say good-bye to people we love. "
114 " Well, life isn't cheap. It's the greatest mystery of any millennium, and television needs to do all it can to broadcast that...to show and tell what the good in life is all about.But how do we make goodness attractive? By doing whatever we can do to bring courage to those whose lives move near our own--by treating our 'neighbor' at least as well as we treat ourselves and allowing that to inform everything that we produce.Who in your life has been such a servant to you? Who has helped you love the good that grows within you? Let's just take ten seconds to think of some of those people who have loved us and wanted what was best for us in life, those who have encouraged us to become who we are tonight - just ten seconds of silence.No matter where they are, either here or in heaven, imagine how pleased those people must be to know that you thought of them right now. "
115 " Things Are Different:You never know the storyBy the cover of the book.You can’t tell what a dinner’s likeBy simply looking at the cook.It’s something everybody needs to knowWay down deep insideThat things are often differentThan the way they look.When I put on a costumeTo play a fancy partThat costume changes just my looks.It doesn’t change my heart.You cannot know what someone’s thinkingBy the picture you just took‘Cause things are often differentFrom the way they look. "
― Fred Rogers , A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood: The Poetry of Mister Rogers
116 " In fact, from the time you were very little, you've had people who have smiled you into smiling, people who have talked you into talking, sung you into singing, loved you into loving. "
117 " You can think about things and make believe. All you have to do is think and they'll grow. "
118 " In a young child's mind, parents probably condone what's on the television, just like they choose what's in the refrigerator or on the stove. That's why we who make television for children must be especially careful. "
119 " I think that those who would try to make you feel less than who you are, I think that's the greatest evil. "
― Fred Rogers ,
120 " I wonder if we might pledge ourselves to remember what life is really all about—not to be afraid that we're less flashy than the next, not to worry that our influence is not that of a tornado, but rather that of a grain of sand in an oyster! Do we have that kind of patience? "