The Original Mother's Day Proclamation, written by Julia Ward Howe in 1870, was not a commercial idea to sell cards, flowers, or candy. . . . It was a call to gather the women. It was directed to women to add their voice to "the voice of a devastated Earth" and called for women to take counsel with each other to find the means to bring peace to the world. . . . Empowered maternal concern is an untapped feminine force that the world needs to balance and transform aggression.

Jean Shinoda Bolen, Urgent Message from Mother