a world worthy of its children

Jeune Fille Endormie by Pablo Picasso (1935)

In Daring Greatly, I share what I've learned about one of the greatest dares of all - parenting. I write about the challenges of wholehearted parenting in a scarcity culture and why what we teach our children is important, but not nearly as important as who we are. The real challenge of wholehearted parenting is to be the adults that we want our children to grow up to be.

I came across this quote from Picasso and thought, "This is exactly what we need to create . . . a world (families, schools, culture) worthy of our children.

“Each second we live is a new and unique moment of the universe, a moment that will never be again. And what do we teach our children?

We teach them that two and two make four, and that Paris is the capital of France.

When will we also teach them what they are? We should say to each of them:

Do you know what you are? You are a marvel. You are unique.

In all the years that have passed, there has never been another child like you. Your legs, your arms, your clever fingers, the way you move.

You may become a Shakespeare, a Michelangelo, a Beethoven. You have the capacity for anything. Yes, you are a marvel. And when you grow up, can you then harm another who is, like you, a marvel?

You must work, we must all work, to make the world worthy of its children.” 
- Pablo Picasso