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“I don’t even know how to raise myself, let alone to raise a child.”
This is the most common phrase I hear from every young father I know. We all feel this way, especially when little devils come too early. But that`s life, and we—men and women—should learn how to cope with it and embrace that new part of ourselves that is both joyful and difficult.
The following are 50 quotes on parenting and what it means to be a father.
- “My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me.” —Jim Valvano
- “Before I got married I had six theories about raising children; now, I have six children and no theories.” —John Wilmot
- “You don’t have to deserve your mother’s love. You have to deserve your father’s.” —Robert Frost
- “Don’t worry that children never listen to you; worry that they are always watching you.” —Robert Fulghum
- “I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father’s protection.” —Sigmund Freud
- “To a father growing old nothing is dearer than a daughter.” —Euripides
- “A father is a man who expects his son to be as good a man as he meant to be.” —Frank A. Clark
- “Anyone can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a dad.” —Wade Boggs
- “When a father gives to his son, both laugh; when a son gives to his father, both cry.” —William Shakespeare
- “Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person’s character lies in their own hands.” —Anne Frank
- “Children are made readers on the laps of their parents.” —Emilie Buchwald
- “The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother.” —Theodore Hesburgh
- “A real man loves his wife, and places his family as the most important thing in life. Nothing has brought me more peace and content in life than simply being a good husband and father.” —Frank Abagnale
- “Until you have a son of your own… you will never know the joy, the love beyond feeling that resonates in the heart of a father as he looks upon his son.” —Kent Nerburn
- “It is a wise father that knows his own child.” —William Shakespeare
- “A child who is allowed to be disrespectful to his parents will not have true respect for anyone.” —Billy Graham
- “Let parents bequeath to their children not riches, but the spirit of reverence.” —Plato
- “Whoever does not have a good father should procure one.” —Friedrich Nietzsche
- “One father is more than a hundred schoolmasters. —George Herbert
- “Every son’s first superhero is his father, and it was the same for me. For me, he was Superman and Batman combined.” —Tiger Shroff
- “A boy needs a father to show him how to be in the world. He needs to be given swagger, taught how to read a map so that he can recognize the roads that lead to life and the paths that lead to death, how to know what love requires, and where to find steel in the heart when life makes demands on us that are greater than we think we can endure.” —Pastor Ian Morgan Cron
- “To be a good father and mother requires that the parents defer many of their own needs and desires in favor of the needs of their children. As a consequence of this sacrifice, conscientious parents develop a nobility of character and learn to put into practice the selfless truths taught by the Savior Himself.” —James E. Faust
- “Being a father has been, without a doubt, my greatest source of achievement, pride and inspiration. Fatherhood has taught me about unconditional love, reinforced the importance of giving back and taught me how to be a better person.” —Naveen Jain
- “Two toddlers can get hectic, but I wouldn’t change it for anything. Every day they teach me different things. The love is there. When you have a two-year-old saying every other hour, Papi, I love you,’ it can’t get better.” —Ricky Martin
- “Each day of our lives we make deposits in the memory banks of our children.” Charles R. Swindoll
- “There is no greater name for a leader than mother or father. There is no leadership more important than parenthood.” —Sheri L. Dew
- “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
- “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,’ Dad would reply. ‘We’re raising boys.” —Harmon Killebrew
- “A good father believes that he does wisely to encourage enterprise, productive skill, prudent self-denial, and judicious expenditure on the part of his son.” —William Graham Sumner
- “My father always taught me that when you help other people, then God will give you double. And that’s what has really happened to me. When I have helped other people who are in need, God has helped me more.” —Cristiano Ronaldo
- “I have learned that raising children is the single most difficult thing in the world to do. It takes hard work, love, luck, and a lot of energy, and it is the most rewarding experience that you can ever have.” —Janet Reno
- “My father always said, ‘Never trust anyone whose TV is bigger than their bookshelf’ – so I make sure I read.” —Emilia Clarke
- “A father has to be a provider, a teacher, a role model, but most importantly, a distant authority figure who can never be pleased. Otherwise, how will children ever understand the concept of God?” —Stephen Colbert
- “When you hold your baby in your arms the first time, and you think of all the things you can say and do to influence him, it’s a tremendous responsibility. What you do with him can influence not only him, but everyone he meets and not for a day or a month or a year but for time and eternity.” —Rose Kennedy
- “Screaming at children over their grades, especially to the point of the child’s tears, is child abuse, pure and simple. It’s not funny and it’s not good parenting. It is a crushing, scarring,
disastrous experience for the child. It isn’t the least bit funny.” —Ben Stein - “Children are educated by what the grown-up is and not by his talk.” —Carl Jung
- “Always kiss your children goodnight, even if they’re already asleep.” —H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
- “If you bungle raising your children, I don’t think whatever else you do matters very much.” —Jackie Kennedy
- “Never lend your car to anyone to whom you have given birth.” —Erma Bombeck
- “Loving a child doesn’t mean giving in to all his whims; to love him is to bring out the best in him, to teach him to love what is difficult.” —Nadia Boulanger
- “Even as kids reach adolescence, they need more than ever for us to watch over them. Adolescence is not about letting go. It’s about hanging on during a very bumpy ride.” —Ron Taffel
- “Hugs can do great amounts of good – especially for children.” —Princess Diana
- “The more people have studied different methods of bringing up children the more they have come to the conclusion that what good mothers and fathers instinctively feel like doing for their babies is the best after all.” —Benjamin Spock
- “There is no job more important than parenting. This I believe.” —Ben Carson
- “Nothing you do for children is ever wasted. They seem not to notice us, hovering, averting our eyes, and they seldom offer thanks, but what we do for them is never wasted.” —Garrison Keillor
- “Few things are more satisfying than seeing your children have teenagers of their own.” —Doug Larson
- “Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them.” —James Baldwin
- “Your kids require you most of all to love them for who they are, not to spend your whole time trying to correct them.” —Bill Ayers
- “I had no idea that mothering my own child would be so healing to my own sadness from my childhood.” —Susie Bright
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Sources: Goodreads.com & Brainyquotes.com
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Photo credit: Getty Images