proverb · Legacy record
Do not confine your children to your own learning, for they were born in another time.
Do not confine your children to your own learning, for they were born in another time.
Historical period not yet established
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
The saying asks adults not to limit children’s learning to what they themselves learned. Different generations may face different knowledge and circumstances.
What the words are saying
Another time explains why an inherited educational boundary may be insufficient. A useful interpretation welcomes relevant new learning while still considering what older knowledge contributes. It does not make everything new superior or remove the need to assess information and educational choices carefully.
Everyday example
A parent explores a child’s unfamiliar subject with them rather than rejecting it because it was absent from their own schooling.
When to use it
Use it to discuss generational openness and relevant learning.
Put a useful idea into practice: try the free seven-day guide ↗
What it does not mean
Age does not alone determine knowledge or make every new idea reliable.
Agent-assisted editorial interpretation. This explains the words; it does not by itself verify their author or earliest origin.
Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Traditional
Attribution: traditional - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Historical period not yet established
No sufficiently supported historical placement has been established. Import and download dates are not treated as composition dates. - Recorded source
- Contributor-provided proverb reference
Supplied reference A; unit 847; PDF page 119
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.