I fall deeper in love with my husband as he’s grown as a father. To me, good father quotes explain the many ways this relationship inspires strong families. These father and son quotes convey the various messages that our boys experience as they grow together – the good father quotes, the relationship bond quotes, and even the funny sayings about fatherhood. Especially for those of us raising strong families, the words of wisdom that comes from the beautiful experience of fathers.
Good Father Quotes to Inspire Us
Here are 70+ father son quotes that make us smile, laugh and learn a thing or two about what it takes to raise the next generation of beautiful fathers. They’re all here for your enjoyment. Try not to tear up!
Related: 30 Quotes for Your Daughter, From Her Father
Father Son Quotes
1. “By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he’s wrong.” – Charles Wadsworth
2. “When a father gives to his son, both laugh; when a son gives to his father, both cry.” – William Shakespeare
3. “For thousands of years, father and son have stretched wistful hands across the canyon of time.” – Alan Valentine
4. “Tiger father begets tiger son.” – Chinese Proverb
5. “With sons and fathers, there’s an inexplicable connection and imprint that your father leaves on you.” – Brad Pitt
6. “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
7. “No one would be foolish enough to choose war over peace. In peace, sons bury their fathers, but in war fathers bury their sons.” – Croesus of Lydia
8. “Fathers and sons are much more considerate of one another than mothers and daughters.” – Friedrich Nietzsche
9. “Every son quotes his father, in words and in deeds.” – Terri Guillemets
10. “The father who does not teach his son his duties is equally guilty with the son who neglects them.” – Confucius
11. “Good fathers make good sons.” – Author Unknown
12. “When you teach your son, you teach your son’s son.” – The Talmud
13. “One father is enough to govern one hundred sons, but not a hundred sons one father.” – George Herbert
14. “Sons have always a rebellious wish to be disillusioned by that which charmed their fathers.” – Aldous Huxley
15. “At the gambling table, there are no fathers and sons.” – Proverbs
16. “A father is a man who expects his son to be as good a man as he meant to be.” – Frank A. Clark
Related: 101 Brother and Sister Quotes
Quotes about a Father and Son
17. “Every father should remember that one day his son will follow his example instead of his advice.” – Charles F Kettering
18. “Not every father gets a chance to start his son off in his own footsteps.” – Alan Ladd
19. “What was silent in the father speaks in the son, and often I found in the son the unveiled secret of the father.” – Friedrich Nietzsche
20. “A man never stands as tall as when he kneels to help a child.” – Knights of Pythagoras
21. “It is not flesh and blood, but heart which makes us fathers and sons.” – Johann Friedrich Von Schiller
22. ” A son needs his father at every situation he faces in present, and a father needs his son at every situation he faces for his son in past.” –Nishan Panwar
23. “For rarely are sons similar to their fathers: most are worse, and a few are better than their fathers.” – Homer
24. “You don’t raise heroes, you raise sons. And if you treat them like sons, they’ll turn out to be heroes, even if it’s just in your own eyes.” –Walter M. Schirra, Sr.
25. “We think our fathers fools, so wise we grow. Our wiser sons, no doubt will think us so.” – Alexander Pope
26. “As a father, my first priority is to help my sons set and attain personal goals so they will develop self-confidence and individual strength. Engaging in regular fitness activities with my children helps me fulfill those responsibilities.” – Alan Thicke
27. “A man knows when he is growing old because he begins to look like his father.” – Gabriel Garcia Marquez
28. “A son is not a judge of his father, but the conscience of the father is in his son.” – Simon Soloveychik
29. “Lately all my friends are worried that they’re turning into their fathers. I’m worried that I’m not.” – Dan Zevin
30. “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 Summer
Related: 60+ Friends Quotes on Sisterhood
Uplifting Words for a Black Man
Dad Quotes From Son
31. “My father didn’t tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it. – Clarence B. Kelland
32. “The fact my relationship with my son is so good makes me forgiving of my father and also appreciative.” – Anthony Kiedis
33. “The greatest gift I ever had came from God, and I call him Dad!” – Author Unknown
34. “My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me.” – Jim Valvano
35. “Thanks Dad, for all those extraordinary lessons you taught me – without even trying.” – Author Unknown
36. “I would want my legacy to be that I was a great son, father and friend.” – Dante Hall
37. “When a father gives to his son, both laugh; when a son gives to his father, both cry.” – William Shakespeare
38. “I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father’s protection.”- Sigmund Freud
39. “A father is neither an anchor to hold us back nor a sail to take us there but a guiding light whose love shows us the way.” – Anonymous
40. “Daddies don’t just love their children every now and then, it’s a love without end amen.” – George Strait
Related: Strong Mother Quotes + Step Mom Quotes
Daddy Sayings
41. “I love the comic opportunities that come up in the context of a father-son relationship.” – Harrison Ford
42. “Forget Batman: when I really thought about what I wanted to be when I grew up, I wanted to be my dad.” – Paul Asay
43. “You can tell what was the best year of your father’s life, because they seem to freeze that clothing style and ride it out.” – Jerry Seinfeld
44. “I’m so ugly. My father carries around a picture of the kid who came with his wallet.” – Rodney Dangerfield
45. “When you’re young, you think your dad is Superman. Then you grow up, and you realize he’s just a regular guy who wears a cape.” –Dave Attel
46. “I’ve been to war. I’ve raised twins. If I had a choice, I’d rather go to war.” – George W. Bush
47. “Even though I’m proud by dad invented the rear-view mirror, we’re not as close as we appear.” – Stewart Francis
48. My dad used to say, always fight fire with fire, which is probably why he got thrown out of the fire brigade.” – Harry Hill
49. “Me and my dad used to play tag. He’d drive.” – Rodney Dangerfield
50. “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 seven years.” – Mark Twain
51. “Men should always change diapers. It’s a very rewarding experience. It’s mentally cleansing. It’s like washing dishes, but imagine if the dishes were your kids, so you really love the dishes.” – Chris Martin
52. “Fatherhood is great because you can ruin someone from scratch.” – John Stewart
53. “Remember: What dad really wants is a nap. Really.” – Dave Barry
54. “My father had a profound influence on me, he was a lunatic.” – Spike Milligan
55. “My father makes money the American way. He trips over stuff and sues people.” – Dominic Dierkes
56. “My father refused to spend money on me as a kid. One time I broke my arm playing football and my father tried to get a free x-ray by taking me down to the airport and making me lie down with the luggage.” – Glenn Super
57. “Never raise your hand to your kids. It leaves your groin unprotected.” – Red Buttons
58. “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
59. “Dad always thought laughter was the best medicine, which I guess is why several of us died of tuberculosis.” – Jack Handey
60. “There should be a children’s song, if you’re happy and you know it, keep it to yourself and let your dad sleep.” – Jim Gaffigan
Related: 50 Inspirational Love Quotes
Relationship Bond Quotes
Quotes From Black Fathers
60. “Fathers and sons arrive at that relationship only by claiming that relationship: that is by paying for it. If the relationship of father to son could really be reduced to biology, the whole earth would blaze with the glory of fathers and sons.” –James Baldwin
61. “What I’ve realized is that life doesn’t count for much unless you’re willing to do your small part to leave our children — all of our children — a better world. Any fool can have a child. That doesn’t make you a father. It’s the courage to raise a child that makes you a father.” –Barack Obama
62. “When he smiles, it’s as if he’s blessing us. We’re the parents and should be the ones in control, but he’s the little prince, and we feel like we’re waiting on him.” –Taye Diggs
63. “My father used to say that it’s never too late to do anything you wanted to do. You never know what you can accomplish until you try.” –Michael Jordan
64. “From the first time the doctor placed you in my arms, I knew I’d meet death before I’d let you meet harm. Although questions arose in my mind, would I be man enough?” –Will Smith
Quotes from Dad
Related: MLK Quotes for Kids
65. “The true character of a society is revealed in how it treats its children.” –Nelson Mandela
66. “My father and I made genetics history. We were the first African-Americans and the first father and son anywhere to have their genomes sequenced. –Henry Louis Gates
67. “I think that my strong determination for justice comes from the very strong, dynamic personality of my father. I have rarely met a person more fearless and courageous than my father. He is a man of real integrity, deeply committed to moral and ethical principles. If I had a problem, I could always call Daddy.” –Martin Luther King, Jr.
68. “Think about everything a real daddy does: pay the bills, buy the food, make your world a better, safer place. And what does daddy get for all of his work? The big piece of chicken. That’s what daddy gets.” –Chris Rock
69. For boys, you want to teach them how to treat a lady; how to play football and how to handle themselves in the street.” –Rev Run
70. “My dad has always taught me these words: care and share. That’s why we put on clinics. The only thing I can do is try to give back. If it works, it works.” –Tiger Woods
71. “I felt something impossible for me to explain in words. Then when they took her away, it hit me. I got scared all over again and begin to feel giddy. Then it came to me – I was a father.” – Nat King Cole