Children

Teach children not to receive anything for nothing. Let them earn by hard work the things they seek.

Love has first to gladden the home. There is no love now between the elders and the young at home; children do not respect parents. This moral decline will certainly undermine unity and strength. Moral decline is worse than military decline; it will lead to greater disaster. If you always respect the idea of 'mine, mine', how can you be useful to others? Sacrifice is the salt of life; yajna or tyaga is the secret of peace and joy.

More than all, the character of the children must be made strong and pure. Give them all the confidence and courage they need to become good, honest, self reliant children. It is not enough if they learn some thing by which they can make a living; the manner of living is more important than the standard of living. 

SSS: Vol. V

If you give joy to your parents, your children will be a source of joy to you in your declining years.

Children should grow in the awareness of the brotherhood of man and the fatherhood of God. If no provision is made for this atmosphere and this teaching, we are denying them their due. Faith in man involves Faith in God; Faith in God creates Faith in man. Without faith, man is a creature bereft of roots; and he dries and withers, quickly.

Parents toil to leave a pile of riches for their children, but they do not teach them the proper sense of values. Children should be taught to live like lotuses in the lake of samsar, being in water but unaffected by it. Lotuses cannot survive when out of water; yet, they will not allow water to enter! Be in samsar but see that samsar is not in you. That is the secret of successful living, which they do not teach the young.

SSS : Vol. V; Page-367

At the age of 3 to 5 years, a child is affected by his environment considerably. Parents should live a life of purity and happiness as laid down in Dharma Shastras. If the father is a drunkard, a gambler and a cheat, no amount of textbooks on ethics can cure the son.

SSS : Vol. VII A