John Bowlby quotes:

The propensity to make strong emotional bonds to particular individuals [is] a basic component of human nature

young children, who for whatever reason are deprived of the continuous care and attention of a mother or a substitute-mother, are not only temporarily disturbed by such deprivation, but may in some cases suffer long-term effects which persistBowlby, J., Ainsworth, M., Boston, M., and Rosenbluth, D. (1956). The effects of mother-child separation: A follow-up study. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 29, 211-249.

Behind the mask of indifference is bottomless misery and behind apparent callousness, despair.

...the stark nakedness and simplicity of the conflict with which humanity is oppressed - that of getting angry with and wishing to hurt the very person who is most loved.

...it was regarded as almost outside the proper interest of an analyst to give systematic attention to a person's real experiences.

We're only as needy as our unmet needs.

Life is best organized as a series of daring ventures from a secure base

Thus, just as animals of many species, including man, are disposed to respond with fear to sudden movement or a marked change in level of sound or light because to do so has a survival value, so are many species, including man, disposed to respond to separation from a potentially caregiving figure and for the same reasons.

If a community values its children, it must cherish its mothers.

If we value our children, we must cherish their parents