A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood: The Poetry of Mister Rogers

Things Are Different: You never know the story By the cover of the book. You can’t tell what a dinner’s like By simply looking at the cook. It’s something everybody needs to know Way down deep inside That things are often different Than the way they look. When I put on a costume To play a fancy part That costume changes just my looks. It doesn’t change my heart. You cannot know what someone’s thinking By the picture you just took ‘Cause things are often different From the way they look.

People have said “Don’t cry” to other people for years and years, and all it has ever meant is “I’m too uncomfortable when you show your feelings: don’t cry.” I’d rather have them say, “Go ahead and cry. I’m here to be with you.

Play is really the work of childhood. One of the most important gifts a parent can give a child is the gift of accepting that child's uniqueness. When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, 'Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.

It’s not easy to keep trying, But it’s one good way to grow. It’s not easy to keep learning, But I know that this is so: When you’ve tried and learned You’re bigger than you were a day ago. It’s not easy to keep trying, But it’s one way to grow.

Grandparents are both our past and our future. In some ways they are what has gone before, and in others they are what we will become.

Many people work very hard at the things they do for fun.

Honesty is closely associated with freedom.

There is a close relationship between truth and trust.

Times when families laugh together are among the most precious times a family can have.

One of the greatest dignities of humankind is that each successive generation is invested in the welfare of each new generation.

The way you would draw a tree is different from the way anyone else would draw a tree—and that’s the way it’s supposed to be!

The world is not always a kind place. That’s something all children learn for themselves, whether we want them to or not, but it’s something they really need our help to understand.

A berry ripens in its own good time . . . and so does a child’s readiness. Just as the one needs water and sunlight, the other needs the patient reassurance of loving adults who can trust children to grow according to their own timetables.

Sometimes, though, I wonder if we confuse strength with other words—like aggression and even violence.

Love Is People Love is people Love is people needing people Love is people caring for people That is love. Love's a little child Sharing with another. Love's a brave man Daring to liberate his brother. Love is people Love is people needing people Love is people caring for people That is love. And though some have costly treasure It never seems to measure up To people needing people Caring for people For that's love. Love is people People love.

That’s what eternity is made of: invisible, imperishable good stuff.

If the day ever came when we were able to accept ourselves and our children exactly as we and they are, then, I believe, we would have come very close to an ultimate understanding of what “good” parenting means.

Watching a baby grow with our help tells us other things we like to feel about ourselves: that we are competent and loving.

There’s mystery in raising children: As our children grow and develop their unique talents, we can’t control every aspect of their lives. For example, we can offer children music lessons and do all we can to encourage them to appreciate music, but if making music isn’t their way of expressing themselves, we have to trust they’ll find their own ways.

An unhurried morning routine at home can help your child get ready—and feel ready—for school without haste or anxiety.

Childhood isn’t just something we “get through.” It’s a big journey, and it’s one we’ve all taken. Most likely, though, we’ve forgotten how much we had to learn along the way about ourselves and others.

Letting our children go” is a lifelong process for parents, one that we wrestle with again and again, and each parent has to wrestle with it in his or her own way.

It’s not possible to be a parent without having times of worry.