The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world

A mightier power and stronger Man from his throne has hurled, For the hand that rocks the cradle Is the hand that rules the world.
[1865 W. R. Wallace in J. K. Hoyt Cyclopædia of Practical Quotations (1896) 402]

You can't prevent it; it's the nature of the sex. The hand that rocks the cradle rocks the world, in a volcanic sense.
[a 1916 ‘Saki’ Toys of Peace (1919) 158]

The habits of the home in one generation become the morals of society in the next. As the old adage says: ‘The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.’
[1996 Washington Times 10 May A2]

Related to: women

Bibliography of major proverb collections and works cited from modern editions is available here.