“From their infancy the youth need to have a firm barrier built up between them and the world, that its corrupting influence may not affect them.”  Counsels to Teachers, Parents, and Students, 119; AH:19.3.

 

“The mother who has watched every turn of the mind from infancy, and is thus acquainted with the natural disposition, is best prepared to counsel her children.  Who can tell as well what traits of character to check and restrain as the mother, aided by the father?”  AH:191.2; 1T:392; MYP:335.2.

 

“Every mother should have time to give her children these little endearments which are so essential during infancy and childhood.  In this way the mother would bind up the children’s hearts and happiness with her own.  She is to them what God is to us.”  AH:197.3; Manuscript 43, 1900.

 

“How important that we teach our children self-control from their very infancy, and learn them the lesson of submitting their wills to us.  If they should be so unfortunate as to learn wrong habits, not knowing all the evil results, they can be reformed by appealing to their reason, and convincing them that such habits ruin the constitution, and affect the mind.”  ApM:10.2.

 

“Let parents begin a crusade against intemperance at their own firesides, in the principles they teach their children to follow from infancy, and they may hope for success.”  CME:40.2.

 

“By the use of figures and symbols the lessons given were illustrated, and thus more firmly fixed in the memory.  Through this animated imagery the child was, almost from infancy, initiated into the mysteries, the wisdom, and the hopes of his fathers, and guided in a way of thinking and feeling and anticipating, that reached beyond things seen and transitory, to the unseen and eternal.”  Fundamentals of Christian Education, 95; CG:19.1.

 

“By the use of figures and symbols the lessons given were illustrated, and thus more firmly fixed in the memory.  Through this animated imagery the child was, almost from infancy, initiated into the mysteries, the wisdom, and the hopes of his fathers, and guided in a way of thinking and feeling and anticipating, that reached beyond things seen and transitory, to the unseen and eternal.”  Fundamentals of Christian Education, 95; CG:19.1.

 

“The first care of the parents should be to establish good government in the family.  The word of the parents should be law, precluding all arguments or evasions.  Children should be taught from infancy to implicitly obey their parents.  This is the first lesson in teaching them to obey the requirements of God.  Self-control is absolutely essential to the proper education of our children.  The want of this quality of character is the key to the horrible records of crime chronicled every day by the press.”  HR, November 1, 1878 par. 4; Pacific Health Journal, January, 1890; CG:85.2.

 

“Strict discipline may at times cause dissatisfaction, and children will want their own way; yet where they have learned the lesson of obedience to their parents, they are better prepared to submit to the requirements of God.  Thus the training received in childhood influences the religious experience, and molds the character of the man.”  The Signs of the Times, February 26, 1880; CG:85.3.

 

“Let the mothers educate them in their infancy.  Commence with the songs of Bethlehem.  These soft tunes will have a quieting influence.  Sing them these subdued tunes in regard to Christ and His love.”  Manuscript 9, 1893; CG:93.2.

 

“The Christian life is one of constant self-denial and self-control.  These are the lessons to be taught the children from their infancy.  Teach them that they must practice temperance, purity in thought and heart and act, that they belong to God because they have been bought with a price, even the precious blood of His dear Son.”  Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene, 145; CG:116.1.

 

“The seed sown in infancy by the careful, God-fearing mother will become trees of righteousness, which will blossom and bear fruit; and the lessons given by a God-fearing father by precept and example will, as in the case of Joseph, yield an abundant harvest by and by.”  Good Health, January 1880; CG:116.3.

 

“From infancy children should be trained to do those things which are appropriate for their age and ability.  Parents should now encourage their children to become more independent.  Serious troubles are soon to be seen upon the earth, and children should be trained in such a way as to be able to meet them.”  The Signs of the Times, August 13, 1896; CG:122.3.

 

“The lessons learned, the habits formed, during the years of infancy and childhood have more to do with the formation of the character and the direction of the life than have all the instruction and training of after years.”  CG:184.3.

 

“The parents’ work must begin with the child in its infancy, that it may receive the right impress of character ere the world shall place its stamp on mind and heart.”  The Review and Herald, August 30, 1881.

CG:193.3.

 

“Young children, if left to themselves, learn the bad more readily than the good.  Bad habits agree best with the natural heart, and things which they see and hear in infancy and childhood are deeply imprinted upon their minds.”  Pacific Health Journal, September, 1897; CG:202.3.

 

“Infancy extends to the age of six or seven years.  The term properly called infancy, requires several changes as to the periods of taking food.  Before birth it is receiving nourishment constantly.  And the changes from this to the establishment of only two meals a day, which may, in most children, be done from the ages of one to three years, must be gradual.”  RH, April 14, 1868; CG:300.

 

“Young children, if left to themselves, learn the bad more readily than the good.  Bad habits agree best with the natural heart, and the things which they see and hear in infancy and childhood are deeply imprinted upon their minds; and the bad seed sown in their young hearts will take root and will become sharp thorns to wound the hearts of their parents.”  A Solemn Appeal, 130, 132; CG:302.3.

 

“The appetite has been falsely educated, until it is depraved.  The fine organs of the stomach have been stimulated and burned, until they have lost their delicate sensitiveness.  Simple, healthful food seems to them insipid.  The abused stomach will not perform the work given it, unless urged to it by the most stimulating substances.  If these children had been trained from their infancy to take only healthful food, prepared in the most simple manner, preserving its natural properties as much as possible, and avoiding [382] flesh meats, grease, and all spices, the taste and appetite would be unimpaired.  In its natural state, it might indicate, in a great degree, the food best adapted to the wants of the system.”  Counsels on Diet and Foods, 239.

CG:381-382.

 

“It was not enough that Samson, the child who was to deliver Israel, should have a good legacy at his birth. This was to be followed by careful training. [408] From infancy he was to be trained to habits of strict temperance.”  CG:407-408.

 

“The directions given concerning the Hebrew children teach us that nothing which affects the child’s physical well-being is to be neglected.  Nothing is unimportant.  Every influence that affects the health of the body has its bearing upon mind and character.”  The Ministry of Healing, 379-380; CG:408.1.

 

“God directed that the future judge and deliverer of Israel should be trained to strict temperance from infancy.  He was to be a Nazarite from his birth, thus being placed under a perpetual prohibition against the use of wine or strong drink.  The lessons of temperance, self-denial, and self-control, are to be taught to children even from babyhood.”  CE:233.3; PP:561-562.

 

“From their infancy, children should be taught lessons of purity.  Mothers cannot too early begin to fill the minds of their children with pure, holy thoughts.  And one way of doing this is to keep everything about them clean and pure.  Mothers, if you desire your children’s thoughts to be pure, let their surroundings be pure.  Let their sleeping rooms be scrupulously neat and clean.  Teach them to care for their clothing.  Each child should have a place of his own to care for his clothes.  Few parents are so poor that they cannot afford to provide for this purpose a large box, which may be fitted with shelves and tastefully covered.”  CH:103.1.

 

“But let parents begin a crusade against intemperance at their own firesides, in their own families, in the principles they teach their children to follow from their very infancy, and they may hope for success.  It will pay you, mothers, to use the precious hours which are given you of God in forming, developing, and training the characters of your children, and in teaching them to strictly adhere to the principles of temperance in eating and drinking.”  CH:609.2; FE:143; Too Many To List.

 

“From their infancy the youth need to have a firm barrier built up between them and the world, that its corrupting influence may not affect them.  Parents must exercise unceasing watchfulness, that their children be not lost to God.  The vows of David, recorded in the 101st Psalm, should be the vows of all upon whom rest the responsibilities of guarding the influences of the home.”  CT:119.1.

 

ONLY A START.