407 Quotes by Fred Rogers

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.

Love is at the root of everything. All learning, all parenting, all relationships. Love or the lack of it.

Mutual caring relationships require kindness and patience, tolerance, optimism, joy in the other's achievements, confidence in oneself, and the ability to give without undue thought of gain.

[I]f we can bring our children understanding, comfort, and hopefulness when they need this kind of support, then they are more likely to grow into adults who can find these resources within themselves later on. (from the introduction)

Who we are in the present includes who we were in the past.

It's very dramatic when two people come together to work something out. It's easy to take a gun and annihilate your opposition, but what is really exciting to me is to see people with differing views come together and finally respect each other.

Imagine what our real neighbors would be like if each of us offered, as a matter of course, just one kind word to another person. There have been so many stories about the lack of courtesy, the impatience of today's world, road rage and even restaurant rage. Sometimes, all it takes is one kind word to nourish another person. Think of the ripple effect that can be created when we nourish someone. One kind empathetic word has a wonderful way of turning into many.

In times of stress, the best thing we can do for each other is to listen with our ears and our hearts and to be assured that our questions are just as important as our answers.

In the external scheme of things, shining moments are as brief as the twinkling of an eye, yet such twinklings are what eternity is made of -- moments when we human beings can say "I love you," "I'm proud of you," "I forgive you," "I'm grateful for you." That's what eternity is made of: invisible imperishable good stuff.