The Martian From Jupiter:
Glimpses of the Nature of the Child
adapted from Dynamite Counselors Don't Explode! by Michael Pastore ( 1993)

“Other planets are speeding away from the Earth 
at the rate of millions of miles per hour. Who can blame them?”
-Hieronymus Anonymous

A Martian from Jupiter--a remarkably intelligent creature--has surveyed all of planet Earth’s literature and philosophy.  With the help of a supercomputer smaller than a jellybean, he has compiled a list of the 32 wisest statements about children and child management.

 Fill in the blank with the letter or double-letter of the answer that belongs there.

A. acceptance

B. angry

C. changed

D. dangerous

E. deserve

F. education

G. enthusiasm

H. example

I. Artist

J. heart

K. imitate

L. kids

M. life

N. lovingly

O. models

P. play

Q. power

R. present

S. problems

T. respond

U. symptom

V. time

W. trust

X. unhappy

Y. yourself

Z. sincere

AA. Love

BB. Child

CC. Alternatives

DD. Respect

EE. Believing

FF. giving

  1. The difficult child is the child who is _____. He is at war with himself; and in consequence he is at war with the whole world.  (A.S. Neill)

  2. If a child lives with _____, he learns to like himself. (D. Nolte)

  3. Children have more need of _____ than of critics. (Joseph Joubert)

  4. Children need love, especially when they do not _____ it. (H.S. Hulbert).

  5. Too often we give children answers to remember rather than ____ to solve. (R. Lewin).

  6. Every child is an _____. The problem is how to remain an _____ once he grows up. (Picasso).

  7. Children think not of the past, nor what is to come, but enjoy the _____ time, which few of us do. (Jean de la Bruyere).

  8. The meaning of life is to live as if _____ and love were one. (Montagu)

  9. The future of mankind depends on the _____ of children. (Aristotle)

  10. You can only love a child if you become a child _____. (A.S. Neill)

  11. Teaching by _____ is not the main way to teach.  It is the only way. (A. Schweitzer)

  12. _____ is like holding an egg in your hand.  If you hold too tightly, you crush the egg; if you drop the egg it breaks. (African proverb)

  13. Whenever a child lies you will always find a severe parent.  A lie would have no sense unless the truth were felt to be _____. (Alfred Adler).

  14. The truth must be spoken _____. (Thoreau)

  15. A human being should always _____, but never react. (A. Montagu)

  16. You can do anything with children if only you _____ with them. (Prince Otto von Bismarck).

  17. If you want to help people, don’t get _____ with them. (Kalahari bushman)

  18. We must have a place where children can have a whole group of adults they can _____. (Margaret Mead)

  19. If there is anything we wish to change in the child, we should first examine it and see whether it is not something that could be better _____ in ourselves. (Carl Jung).

  20. Every boy, in his _____, would rather steal second base than an automobile. (Tom Clark)

  21. There are three ways to get something done: do it yourself; hire someone to do it; or forbid your _____ to do it. (Hieronymous Anonymous)

  22. In bringing up children, spend half as much money, and twice as much _____. (H.S. Hulbert).

  23. Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to _____ them. (James Baldwin).

  24. Do not mistake a child for his _____. (Erik Erikson).

  25. Children are remarkable for their intelligence and _____, for their curiosity, their intolerance of shams, the clarity and ruthlessness of their vision. (Aldous Huxley).

  26. The three most important rules for working with children are: Be sincere; Be sincere; and Be _____. (Michael Pastore).

  27. What is hell?  I believe it is the suffering caused by the inability to _____. (Dostoyevshy).

  28. Inside every man is a _____, an animal, an artist, and a saint. (Emerson)

  29. I don’t give advice; all I do is set before you the _____. (A.S. Neill)

  30. You must teach your children that the ground beneath their feet is the ashes of our grandfathers.  So that they will _____ the land, tell your children that the earth is rich with the lives of our kin.  Teach your children what we have taught our children, that the earth is our mother.  Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth.  If men spit upon the ground, they spit upon themselves. (American Indian)

  31. It is by _____ in roses that we bring them to bloom. (French proverb)

  32. The only meaningful way of life is activity in the world; not activity in general but the activity of _____ and caring for fellow creatures. (Fromm)


Want the answers? Either check out page 26 of "Dynamite Counselors Don't Explode" or indicate your name and email address below, and the answers will be sent to you.

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