The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care written by Benjamin Spock, is a manual on infant and child care first published in 1946. The book, along with Dr. Spock, attained fame almost instantly, selling 500,000 copies in its first six months. By Spock’s death in 1998, over 50 million copies of the book had been sold, making it the best-selling book of the twentieth century in America, aside from the Bible. As of 2011, the book had been translated into 39 languages.
Spock and his manual helped revolutionize child-rearing methods for the post-World War II generation. Mothers heavily relied on Spock’s advice and appreciated his friendly, reassuring tone. Spock emphasizes in his book that, above all, parents should have confidence in their abilities and trust their instincts. The famous first line of the book reads, “Trust yourself. You know more than you think you do.”
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“The biggest difference between ancient Rome and the USA is that in Rome the common man was treated like a dog. In America he sets the tone. This is the first country where the common man could stand erect.”
—I.F. (Isidor Feinstein)
“No slave is a slave to the same lengths, and in so full a sense of the word, as a wife is.”
—John Stuart Mill (1806–1873)
“many an eye that all its age had drawn its
Beam from a Book ...”
—Gwendolyn Brooks (b. 1917)
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—Helen Prejean (b. 1940)
“Anyone who has a child today should train him to be either a physicist or a ballet dancer. Then he’ll escape.”
—W.H. (Wystan Hugh)
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General McLaidlaw: What’s wrong with that. The old maid’s a respectable institution. All women are not alike. Lena has intellect and a fine solid character.”
—Samson Raphaelson (1896–1983)