| Dorothy Law Nolte may not be a household name, | | | | "Anonymous" as the author source. |
| but for parents across the nation her poem -- | | | | It wasn't until nearly 20 years later in 1972 that Mrs. |
| "Children Learn What They Live" - has long been a | | | | Nolte finally copyrighted her work. It was this year |
| child-rearing mantra. You may even remember it | | | | that a baby nutrition company distributed millions of |
| pasted up on your own refrigerator or hanging in | | | | copies of the poem to new parents, and Mrs. Nolte |
| your kitchen while you were growing up. Children | | | | discovered here poem's great appeal. |
| Learn What They Live | | | | "I simply wrote it and put it out there, where it has |
| | | | apparently moved through the world on its own |
| If children live with hostility, they learn to fight. | | | | momentum," Mrs. Nolte is reported as saying. |
| If children live with fear, they learn to be | | | | A Poem That Touched Generations |
| apprehensive. | | | | Today, "Children Learn What They Live" has been |
| If children live with pity, they learn to feel sorry for | | | | reprinted in 30 languages. It is a favorite of Crown |
| themselves. | | | | Prince Naruhito of Japan, who plans to raise his own |
| If children live with ridicule, they learn to feel shy. | | | | family with its advice. |
| If children live with jealousy, they learn to feel envy. | | | | In 1998, Mrs. Nolte wrote a book based on the poem |
| If children live with shame, they learn to feel guilty. | | | | titled "Children Learn What They Live." This is the |
| If children live with encouragement, they learn | | | | first time she earned anything for the much-revered |
| confidence. | | | | piece. Each chapter of the book -- which has more |
| If children live with tolerance, they learn patience. | | | | than 3 million copies in print worldwide and has been |
| If children live with praise, they learn appreciation. | | | | reprinted in 18 languages -- is devoted to a line of the |
| If children live with acceptance, they learn to love. | | | | poem. |
| If children live with approval, they learn to like | | | | "The book gave her ownership of her own poem |
| themselves. | | | | and philosophy, and it gave her a platform," said |
| If children live with recognition, they learn it is good | | | | co-author Rachel Harris. |
| to have a goal. | | | | Mrs. Nolte also wrote a similar book for teens, titled |
| If children live with sharing, they learn generosity. | | | | "Teenagers Learn What They Live," in 2002. |
| If children live with honesty, they learn truthfulness. | | | | Throughout her life Mrs. Nolte was involved with |
| If children live with fairness, they learn justice. | | | | family work and children. She was trained as a family |
| If children live with kindness and consideration, they | | | | counselor, held parenting classes, founded a preschool |
| learn respect. | | | | and was a childbirth-education instructor. She had two |
| If children live with security, they learn to have faith | | | | daughters, two sons, eight grandchildren, six |
| in themselves and in those about them. | | | | great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild of |
| If children live with friendliness, they learn the world is | | | | her own. |
| a nice place in which to live. | | | | The poem that has touched so many lives around |
| Mrs. Nolte passed away from cancer on November 6, | | | | the world was also cherished in Mrs. Nolte's own |
| 2005, at the age of 81. She wrote the poem on | | | | home. |
| deadline for The Torrance Herald newspaper in 1954, | | | | "She did a wonderful job as a mother," her daughter |
| to fill her weekly family advice column. Little did she | | | | said. "She truly tried to live up to what the poem |
| know, the poem was photocopied and circulated | | | | says. |
| among families for years--often attributed to | | | | |