Few misfortunes can befall a boy which bring worse consequences than to have a really affectionate mother.

––W. Somerset Maugham

A mother is never cocky or proud, because she knows the school principal may call at any minute to report that her child has just driven a motorcycle through the gymnasium.

––Mary Kay Blakeley

I figure when my husband comes home from work, if the kids are still alive, then I’ve done my job.

––Roseanne Barr

If a mother respects both herself and her child from his very first day onward, she will never need to teach him respect for others.

––Alice Miller

Out of the corner of one eye, I could see my mother. Out of the corner of the other eye, I could see her shadow on the wall, cast there by the lamplight. It was a big and solid shadow, and it looked so much like my mother that I became frightened. For I could not be sure whether for the rest of my life I would be able to tell when it was really my mother and when it was really her shadow standing between me and the rest of the world.

––Jamaica Kincaid

No matter how old a mother is, she watches her middle-aged children for signs of improvement.

––Florida Scott-Maxwell

In the beginning there was my mother. A shape. A shape and a force standing in the light. You could see her energy; it was visible in the air. Against any background she stood out.

––Marilyn Krysl

My mother had a great deal of trouble with me, but I think she enjoyed it.

––Mark Twain

Whenever I’m with my mother, I feel as though I have to spend the whole time avoiding land mines.

––Amy Tan

Becoming a mother makes you the mother of all children. From now on each wounded, abandoned, frightened child is yours. You live in the suffering mothers of every race and creed and weep with them. You long to comfort all who are desolate.

––Charlotte Gray

An ounce of mother is worth a pound of clergy.

–Spanish proverb

God could not be everywhere and therefore he made mothers.

––Jewish proverb

(Each week this column features quotations gleaned from the readings and experiences of our editors, reporters, readers, and friends. All are invited to submit quotations for inclusion here. They may be sent to Gleanings, c/o The Newtown Bee, 5 Church Hill Road, Newtown, CT 06470 or emailed to editor@thebee.com.)