"On Children" Summary

A nursing mother asks Almustafa about children, and he declares that a couple's children are not their own, but Life's longing for itself, coming through but not from them. Parents may give children their love but not their thoughts, for they have thoughts of their own. Children's souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which parents may not visit even in dreams. Parents must not seek to make them like themselves, because life does not go backward. Children are living arrows sent forth into the infinite, swiftly and far. The archer loves both arrows and bow.

"On Children" Analysis

After two questions from Almitra to get things rolling, as it were, people with vested interests voice their concerns. A nursing mother wants to know about children, and the crowd hears that children are individuals, not to be controlled by...