We think our fathers fools, so wise we grow. Our wiser sons, no doubt will think us so.
—Alexander Pope (1688–1744) English Poet
I stopped loving my father a long time ago. What remained was the slavery to a pattern.
—Anais Nin (1903–77) French-American Essayist
Blessed indeed is the man who hears many gentle voices call him father!
—Lydia Maria Child (1802–80) American Abolitionist, Writer
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
Fatherhood is pretending the present you love the most is soap-on-a-rope.
—Bill Cosby (b.1937) American Actor, Comedian, Activist, Producer, Author
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
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
That is the thankless position of the father in the family—the provider for all, and the enemy of all.
—August Strindberg (1849–1912) Swedish Playwright, Novelist, Essayist
An angry father is most cruel towards himself.
—Publilius Syrus (fl.85–43 BCE) Syrian-born Roman Latin Writer
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
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
It is a wise father that knows his own child.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
My father used to play with my brother and me in the yard. Mother would come out and say, “You’re tearing up the grass.” “We’re not raising grass,” my dad would reply, “we’re raising boys.”
—Harmon Killebrew (1936–2011) American Baseball Player
It is much easier to become a father than to be one.
—Kent Nerburn (b.1946) American Cultural Writer
That he delights in the misery of others no man will confess, and yet what other motive can make a father cruel?
—Joseph Addison (1672–1719) English Essayist, Poet, Playwright, Politician
The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother.
—Theodore Hesburgh (1917–2015) American Catholic Educator, Clergyman
An unforgiving eye, and a damned disinheriting countenance!
—Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751–1816) Irish-born British Playwright, Poet, Elected Rep
My father must have had some elementary education for he could read and write and keep accounts inaccurately
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
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
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
The worst misfortune that can happen to an ordinary man is to have an extraordinary father.
—Austin O’Malley (1858–1932) American Aphorist, Ophthalmologist
A father is a banker provided by nature.
—French Proverb
Fathers should be neither seen nor heard. That is the only proper basis for family life.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
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
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
Sons have always a rebellious wish to be disillusioned by that which charmed their fathers.
—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963) English Humanist, Pacifist, Satirist, Short Story Writer
The hardest part of raising a child is teaching them to ride bicycles. A father can only ride beside the bicycle or stand yelling directions while the child falls. A shaky child on a bicycle for the first time needs both support and freedom.
—Sloan Wilson (1920–2003) American Novelist, Writer
You’ve got to do your own growing, no matter how tall your grandfather was.
—Irish Proverb
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
When one has not had a good father, one must create one.
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German Philosopher, Scholar, Writer
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