Noble fathers have noble children.
—Euripides (480–406 BCE) Ancient Greek Dramatist
Call no man your father upon the earth, for one is your Father, which is in heaven.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
When one has not had a good father, one must create one.
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German Philosopher, Scholar, Writer
To a father waxing old nothing is dearer than a daughter.—Sons have spirits of higher pitch, but less inclined to sweet, endearing fondness.
—Euripides (480–406 BCE) Ancient Greek Dramatist
None of you can ever be proud enough of being the child of SUCH a Father who has not his equal in this world—so great, so good, so faultless. Try, all of you, to follow in his footsteps and don’t be discouraged, for to be really in everything like him none of you, I am sure, will ever be. Try, therefore, to be like him in some points, and you will have acquired a great deal.
—Queen Victoria (1819–1901) British Royal
To be a successful father… there’s one absolute rule: when you have a kid, don’t look at it for the first two years.
—Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) American Author, Journalist, Short Story Writer
I could not point to any need in childhood as strong as that for a father’s protection.
—Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) Austrian Psychiatrist, Psychoanalytic
Love matches, so called, have illusion for their father and need for their mother.
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German Philosopher, Scholar, Writer
Fathers are biological necessities, but social accidents.
—Margaret Mead (1901–78) American Anthropologist, Social Psychologist
One night a father overheard his son pray: Dear God, Make me the kind of man my Daddy is. Later that night, the Father prayed, Dear God, Make me the kind of man my son wants me to be.
—Unknown
I stopped loving my father a long time ago. What remained was the slavery to a pattern.
—Anais Nin (1903–77) French-American Essayist
If the relationship of father to son could really be reduced to biology, the whole earth would blaze with the glory of fathers and sons.
—James Baldwin (1924–87) American Novelist, Social Critic
There are fathers who do not love their children, but there is no grandfather who does not adore his grandson.
—Victor Hugo (1802–85) French Novelist
Men are generally more careful of the breed of their horses and dogs than of their children.
—William Penn (1644–1718) American Entrepreneur, Philosopher, Political Leader
It is much easier to become a father than to be one.
—Kent Nerburn (b.1946) American Cultural Writer
What a dreadful thing it must be to have a dull father.
—Mary Mapes Dodge (1831–1905) American Writer, Editor
The thing to remember about fathers is, they’re men. A girl has to keep it in mind: They are dragon-seekers, bent on improbable rescues. Scratch any father, you find someone chock-full of qualms and romantic terrors, believing change is a threat—like your first shoes with heels on, like your first bicycle I it took such months to get.
—Phyllis McGinley (1905–78) American Children’s Writer, Poet, Children’s Books Author
By profession I am a soldier and take pride in that fact. But I am prouder—infinitely prouder—to be a father. A soldier destroys in order to build; the father only builds, never destroys. The one has the potentiality of death; the other embodies creation and life. And while the hordes of death are mighty, the battalions of life are mightier still. It is my hope that my son, when I am gone, will remember me not from the battle field but in the home repeating with him our simple daily prayer, “Our Father Who Art in Heaven.”
—Douglas MacArthur (1880–1964) American Military Leader
Those who have never had a father can at any rate never know the sweets of losing one. To most men the death of his father is a new lease of life.
—Samuel Butler (1835–1902) British Victorian Novelist, Essayist, Critic
If the new American father feels bewildered and even defeated, let him take comfort from the fact that whatever he does in any fathering situation has a fifty percent chance of being right.
—Bill Cosby (b.1937) American Actor, Comedian, Activist, Producer, Author
He who is taught to live upon little owes more to his father’s wisdom than he that has a great deal left him does to his father’s care.
—William Penn (1644–1718) American Entrepreneur, Philosopher, Political Leader
Nobody ever asks a father how he manages to combine marriage and a career.
—Sam Ewing (1949–2018) American Writer, Humorist
As fathers commonly go, it is seldom a misfortune to be fatherless; and considering the general run of sons, as seldom a misfortune to be childless.
—Earl of Chesterfield (1694–1773) English Statesman, Man of Letters
It is a wise child that knows his own father.
—Homer (751–651 BCE) Ancient Greek Poet
An unforgiving eye, and a damned disinheriting countenance!
—Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751–1816) Irish-born British Playwright, Poet, Elected Rep
The father who does not teach his son his duties is equally guilty with the son who neglects them.
—Confucius (551–479 BCE) Chinese Philosopher
A man’s desire for a son is usually nothing but the wish to duplicate himself in order that such a remarkable pattern may not be lost to the world.
—Helen Rowland (1875–1950) American Journalist, Humorist
It is impossible to please all the world and one’s father.
—Jean de La Fontaine (1621–95) French Poet, Short Story Writer
Fathers do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
We think our fathers fools, so wise we grow. Our wiser sons, no doubt will think us so.
—Alexander Pope (1688–1744) English Poet
Leave a Reply