Your children are not your children.

They are the sons and daughters of Life"s longing for itself.

They come through you but not from you,

And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts.

For they have their own thoughts.

You may house their bodies but not their souls,

For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.

For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.

The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,

and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.

Let your bending in the archer"s hand be for gladness;

For even as he loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.

你的孩子，其實不是你的孩子。

他們是生命渴望自身的兒女。

他們透過你出生，卻並非來自於你，

雖然他們和你在一起，卻不屬於你。

給他們你的愛，而不是你的思想，

因為他們有自己的思想。

給他們的身體提供住房，但不要禁錮他們的心靈，

因為他們的心靈屬於明天，屬於你做夢也達不到的明天。

你可以努力將自己變得像他們，

卻不要設法把他們變得像你，

因為生命不會後退，也不會停留在昨天。

你是發射孩子生命之箭的弓，

弓箭手在無窮之路上瞄準目標，

他用盡力氣將你來開，好讓他的箭射得又快又遠。

讓你在弓箭手掌中的彎折令他愉悅吧，

因為他既愛那飛著的箭，也愛那堅穩的弓。

詩歌不難懂，卻很難理解，相信已經成為父母或者準備要孩子的朋友們可能更有感觸。