"A father is someone who carries pictures where his money used to be.”
—Steve Martin
"No man stands taller than when he stoops to help a child.”
—Abraham Lincoln
When a father gives to his son, both laugh; when a son gives to his father, both cry.”
—William Shakespeare
“It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.”
—Frederick Douglass
“I believe that what we become depends on what our fathers teach us at odd moments, when they aren’t trying to teach us. We are formed by little scraps of wisdom.”
—Umberto Eco
"Sometimes I'm amazed that my wife and I created two human beings from scratch yet struggle to assemble an IKEA cabinet.”
—John Kinnear
"When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant, I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in just seven years.”
—Mark Twain
"By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he’s wrong.”
—Charles Wadsworth
“A daughter needs a dad to be the standard against which she will judge all men.”
—Gregory E. Lang
Reminds me of the T-shirt I saw that read, “You Don't Scare Me I Have Two Daughters.”
“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. ’Dad would reply, ’We’re not raising grass,‘ ’We’re raising boys.’”
—Harmon Killebrew
“Every father should remember one day his son will follow his example, not his advice.”
—Charles Kettering
"It’s only when you grow up and step back from him — or leave him for your own home — it’s only then that you can measure his greatness and fully appreciate it.”
—Margaret Truman
"Lately all my friends are worried they're turning into their fathers. I'm worried I'm not.”
—Dan Zevin
"Sometimes the poorest man leaves his children the richest inheritance.”
—Ruth Renkel
"Being a daddy's girl is like having permanent armor for the rest of your life.”
—Marinela Reka
"To be a father is to understand a terrible beauty. Nothing can make one so happy or so frightened but to realize that your heart is running around inside someone else's body.”
—Christopher Hitchens
"Being a role model is the most powerful form of educating ... too often fathers neglect it because they get so caught up in making a living they forget to make a life."
—John Wooden
“Despite all our attempts to appear strong and confident fathers are just overgrown boys who wake up one morning to discover the terrifying truth that someone is counting on us to give them more than we can. But if we try anyway, that impossible task can become the greatest calling and joy of our lives.”
—Dean Sharp