Hanana — We have good foreign books.
Claire: For that very reason — and because the good Arabic book is lacking — our children grow up caring nothing for their mother tongue.
Sabiha — Our schools are responsible for the weakening of the Arabic language.
Hanana — The government must compel the schools to strengthen the Arabic language. And speaking of reading, I believe it is a necessity, for it fills the leisure hours in which the girl of this age flounders.
Edvick — There are things besides reading: music, scouting, hobbies of every kind...
Sabiha — Our schools exhaust the children with so many assignments that they take no account of the adolescence through which they are passing.
Claire — I suggest that "mothers" be brought in to share in reviewing our elementary school programs.
Hanana — There must be a link between the school and the home.
Claire — Rather, there must be strict watch over the girl of fourteen — we should open her "letters," for instance.
Olga — I object.
Edvick — And I object strongly.
Sabiha — She should open her own mail — provided we win her trust and friendship, so that she herself
lets us in on every matter she keeps hidden.
Claire — That means we must prepare a calm home life for the girl.
Edvick — Mothers must neglect their own selves — without excess — in order to keep company with their children.
Olga — I set aside their holidays for outings, and excuse myself from every invitation or engagement that would keep me from devoting myself to them.
Edvick — A wrong situation in the home drives our daughters to waywardness.
Olga — I suggest we forbid our girl to keep company with boys in the families of friends, and that she not go out except in the company of a member of the family.
Sabiha — The prohibition depends on the character of the house she is visiting; if we know it, we let her go alone; otherwise it is better that she not go.
Claire — I suggest we accompany the girl to the cabaret or the cinema or on excursions, and so keep her from going — alone — to a small party held at a friend's house.
Hanana — Why all this severity? So long as we have encouraged her to choose the good friend, it is better to leave her free to act.
Claire — What matters in the end is that the mother be strict
* Give me a beautiful wife, a faithful heart, and a pure soul, and I will change the world for you. Napoleon
* Socrates was once asked: Do you prefer married life or the bachelor's life? He smiled and said: Whichever I preferred, I should regret it the rest of my life.
* The woman who governs herself, masters her emotions and her desires, and fears sharp tongues and spiteful hearts, is more than a queen. Milton
* The delicate smile is like a dreaming boat making for the shore of love Byron
* A single smile on my beloved's lips opens for me the gates of paradise. Goethe
with gentleness.
Sabiha — Yet we must treat our girl — the girl of fourteen — with firmness.
Hanana — And grant her her freedom, so that she feels a great and grave responsibility.
Edvick — And treat her whims with gentleness.
Olga — And strive to have her admire us, not fear us.