Fred Rogers Quotes

It’s easy to convince people that children need to learn the alphabet and numbers. . . . How do we help people to realize that what matters even more than the superimposition of adult symbols is how a person’s inner life finally puts together the alphabet and numbers of his outer life? What really matters is whether he uses the alphabet for the declaration of war or the description of a sunrise — his numbers for the final count at Buchenwald or the specifics of a brand-new bridge.

It always helps to have people we love beside us when we have to do difficult things in life.

The great poet Rainer Maria Rilke wrote: “Be patient towards all that is unsolved in your heart, and learn to love the questions themselves.

It isn't only famous movie stars who want to be alone. Whenever I hear someone speak of privacy, I find myself thinking once again how real and deep the need for such times is for all human beings . . . at all ages.

It's a mistake to think that we have to be lovely to be loved by human beings or by God

You've made this day a special day, by just your being you. There's no person in the whole world like you, and I like you just the way you are.

Most of us, I believe, admire strength. It's something we tend to respect in others, desire for ourselves, and wish for our children. Sometimes, though, I wonder if we confuse strength with other words — like 'aggression' and even 'violence'. Real strength is neither male nor female; but it is, quite simply, one of the finest characteristics that a human being can possess.

I feel the support of someone who is on my side, who understands what life’s choices are like, someone who says, “I’ve been there, and it’s okay to go on.

You know, my mother used to say, a long time ago, whenever there would be any really — -catastrophe that was in the movies or on the air, she would say, 'Always look for the helpers. There will always be helpers, just on the sidelines.

When you're a parent you have a new chance to grow.

At the center of the Universe is a loving heart that continues to beat and that wants the best for every person. Anything that we can do to help foster the intellect and spirit and emotional growth of our fellow human beings, that is our job. Those of us who have this particular vision must continue against all odds. Life is for service.

I was walking this far off the ground,' Rogers said, smiling at the memory and holding his hand a foot above the floor. 'You know, there are special times and there are extra special times. I feel that the real drama of life is never center stage, it's always in the wings. It's never with the spotlight on, it's usually something that you don't expect at all.

Love doesn’t mean a state of perfect caring. To love someone is to strive to accept that person exactly the way he or she is, right here and now — and to go on caring through joyful times and through times that may bring us pain.

Part of the problem with the word 'disabilities' is that it immediately suggests an inability to see or hear or walk or do other things that many of us take for granted. But what of people who can't feel? Or talk about their feelings? Or manage their feelings in constructive ways? What of people who aren't able to form close and strong relationships? And people who cannot find fulfillment in their lives, or those who have lost hope, who live in disappointment and bitterness and find in life no joy, no love? These, it seems to me, are the real disabilities.

One of our friends asked Fred about his thoughts on heaven when she was taking a walk with him on a Nantucket beach a few years ago. I’ll bet there was a twinkle in his eye when he told her, “Oh, I think there will be a lot of people surprised to see who’s there!” Fred would never want anyone to think they might not be worthy of getting through heaven’s gate. His God loved everyone — just the way they were!