Fathering Quotes

Let's start the year out with some great Fathering quotes:

"Build me a son, O Lord, who will be strong enough to know when he is weak, and brave enough to face himself when he is afraid; one who will be proud and unbending in honest defeat, and humble and gentle in victory. Give him humility, so that he may always remember the simplicity of true greatness, the open mind of true wisdom, and the meekness of true strength. Then I, his father, will dare to whisper, ‘I have not lived in vain.’"
— General Douglas MacArthur

"It is a wise father that knows his own child."
— William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), “The Merchant of Venice”, Act 2 scene 2

“Becoming Father the Nurturer rather than just Father the Provider enables a man to fully feel and express his humanity and his masculinity. Fathering is the most masculine thing a man can do.”
— Frank Pittman, U.S. psychiatrist and family therapist. Man Enough, ch. 12 (1993).

So often, as the septuagenarian reflects on life’s rewards, we hear that, “in the final analysis” of money, power, prestige, and marriage, fathering alone was what “mattered.”
— Kyle D. Pruett (20th century), professor, child psychiatrist.
The Nurturing Father, ch. 15 (1987).

“A father is a banker provided by nature.” — French Proverb

“A famous man is one whose children love him.” — Chinese Proverb

“Fathering is not a sprint. It’s a marathon.” — Paul Lewis, Founder, Family University

Q: When does a boy become a man? A: “When his father says he is!” —Burt Reynolds