And I know a father who had a son
He longed to tell him all the reasons for the things he’d done
He came a long way just to explain
He kissed his boy as he lay sleeping
Then he turned around and he headed home again

— Paul Simon, “Slip Sliding Away”

Before I got married I had six theories about bringing up children; now I have six children and no theories.

— John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester

You might get the idea from reading this book that being rich is synonymous with being happy. I’ve never seen any indication that that’s true.

I look at the news and I see every celebrity in Hollywood in rehab, rich people getting married and divorced over and over again, rich families who all hate one another, business executives making $10 million a year and they’re on CNN in handcuffs for trying to steal a few million more . . .

I’ve also noticed that my own feelings about the relative value of kids, money and a lot of other stuff are very different now than they were before I became a father myself.

I’d give up anything I have for my kid . . . just start over again somewhere with nothing if I had to . . . and if you don’t have kids yourself — Kiyosaki is childless — you have absolutely no way of understanding what I’m talking about, and should really just shut up on all topics related to children or parenting.

Related Links

Rich Dad, Poor Dad is slammed in more detail here, and in much more detail here.