The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother.
—Theodore Hesburgh (1917–2015) American Catholic Educator, Clergyman
My dear father; my dear friend; the best and wisest man I ever knew, who taught me many lessons and showed me many things as we went together along the country by-ways.
—Sarah Orne Jewett (1849–1909) American Children’s Writer, Novelist, Short Story Author
What a dreadful thing it must be to have a dull father.
—Mary Mapes Dodge (1831–1905) American Writer, Editor
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
It no longer bothers me that I may be constantly searching for father figures; by this time, I have found several and dearly enjoyed knowing them all.
—Alice Walker (b.1944) American Novelist, Activist
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
An angry father is most cruel towards himself.
—Publilius Syrus (fl.85–43 BCE) Syrian-born Roman Latin Writer
A man knows when he is growing old because he begins to look like his father.
—Gabriel Garcia Marquez (1927–2014) Colombian Novelist, Short-Story 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
The fundamental defect with fathers is that they want their children to be a credit to them.
—Bertrand A. Russell (1872–1970) British Philosopher, Mathematician, Social Critic
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, Author of “The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit”
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
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
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
One father is more than a hundred schoolmasters.
—George Herbert (1593–1633) Welsh Anglican Poet, Orator, Clergyman
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
When one has not had a good father, one must create one.
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German Philosopher, Scholar, Writer
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
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
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
A father is a banker provided by nature.
—French Proverb
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
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
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
You’ve got to do your own growing, no matter how tall your grandfather was.
—Irish Proverb
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
It is a wise father that knows his own child.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
The American father is never seen in London. He passes his life entirely in Wall Street and communicates with his family once a month by means of a telegram in cipher.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
Blessed indeed is the man who hears many gentle voices call him father!
—Lydia Maria Child (1802–80) American Abolitionist, Writer
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