Do not create a child to be a post set in an orthodox row; raise
investigators and thinkers, not disciples and followers; cultivate
reason, not faith; cultivate investigation, not superstition; and if
you have any doubt yourself about a thing being so, tell them about it;
don't tell them the world was made in six days--if you think six days
means six good whiles, tell them six good whiles. If you have any doubts
about anybody being in a furnace and not being burnt, or even getting
uncomfortably warm, tell them so--be honest about it. If you look upon
the jaw-bone of a donkey as not a good weapon, say so. Give a child a
chance. If you think a man never went to sea in a fish, tell them so, it
won't make them any worse. Be honest--that's all; don't cram their heads
with things that will take them years to unlearn; tell them facts--it
is just as easy. It is as easy to find out botany, and astronomy, and
geology, and history--it is as easy to find out all these things as to
cram their minds with things you know nothing about.