Amy Chua Quotes
-
When I was little, my parents really only wanted me to be a scientist or a doctor; they had never even heard of law school. I think even these days if you were to tell your mother you want to be a fashion designer, or an artist or a writer, a lot of Asian parents would be alarmed because they don't think that's a secure career.
-
Instilling a sense of self-discipline and focus when the kids are younger makes it so much easier by the time they get into high school.
-
Both of my girls have very high self-esteem because they were both able to master certain things; I should think that's good for their confidence.
-
I do not think there was anything abusive in my house. Yet, I stand by a lot of my critiques of Western parenting. I think there's a lot of questions about how you instill true self-esteem.
-
I saw my parents come over. They were immigrants, they had no money. My dad wore the same pair of shoes, I had some ugly clothes growing up, and I never had any privileges. In some ways, I think the person that I am now, I think it's good that I had that kind of tough upbringing.
-
Oddly enough, I'm not a particularly judgmental person. I just don't have a lot of filtering when I'm in 'tiger mother' mode. I say what comes into my head.
-
Some parents let their kids sleep at other people's houses, where they drink alcohol, watch TV for hours and God knows what else. But if you say you have to get all A's and practice the violin for two hours, then they consider that abusive. That upsets me.
-
I'm willing to be different than other parents and go against the mainstream.
-
When my children were young, I was very cocky. I thought I could maintain total control.
-
When my kids wanted to give up on things, I wouldn't let them, and those are lifelong lessons.
-
I'm a proud strict mom and, you know, I'm really proud of the two daughters I've raised. And I'm especially proud of my relationship with them. We're very close. I think we're good friends.
-
I see my upbringing as a great success story. By disciplining me, my parents inculcated self-discipline. And by restricting my choices as a child, they gave me so many choices in my life as an adult. Because of what they did then, I get to do the work I love now.
-
A Western upbringing tends to stress questioning authority, which is always asking why, why, why.
-
There's something suspicious about saying, 'I'm just going to leave my child alone and let her pursue her passions.' You know what? I think most 13-year-olds' passion is sitting in front of the TV, or doing Facebook, or surfing the Internet for hours.
-
Happiness is not always through success. Equally, the constant pursuit of success is sure unhappiness. But we have to find the balance. My own thoughts are that parenting is very personal. And we all feel enormous insecurity about parenting. What are they going to think of us 20 years down the line?
-
The Romans thought of themselves as the chosen people, yet they built the greatest army on Earth by recruiting warriors from any background.
-
I'm a slave to my dogs and go out with them almost every day. They are poorly behaved if they don't run. They really act up.
-
To be honest, I know that a lot of Asian parents are secretly shocked and horrified by many aspects of Western parenting.