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198 sourced quotes for fathers

Every quote here has been checked against a primary or scholarly source before publication — the original work, the chapter, the year, the translator where one exists. No misattributions, no invented lines, no motivational wallpaper. Read how we verify on our sourcing page.

King Solomon (attributed)Marcus AureliusSenecaC.S. LewisPaul the ApostleConfuciusNelson MandelaFrederick DouglassJesus ChristEpictetusDietrich BonhoefferG.K. ChestertonTheodore RooseveltCiceroDwight D. EisenhowerFyodor DostoevskyJohn SteinbeckLeBron JamesMusonius RufusViktor FranklAbraham LincolnJames BaldwinKing David (attributed)Fred RogersKahlil GibranMartin Luther King Jr.Isaiah (attributed)James (attributed)Joshua (attributed)Moses (attributed)Author of HebrewsBarack ObamaJohn the Apostle (attributed)Micah (attributed)

King Solomon (attributed)

18 quotes
“Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who…”
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, ESV
“Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.”
Proverbs 11:14, ESV
“A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children, but the sinner's wealth is laid up for the righteous.”
Proverbs 13:22, ESV
“Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.”
Proverbs 13:24, ESV
“A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.”
Proverbs 15:1, ESV
“Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.”
Proverbs 16:32, ESV
“A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity.”
Proverbs 17:17, ESV
“Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of children is their fathers.”
Proverbs 17:6, ESV
“Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.”
Proverbs 19:11, ESV
“The righteous who walks in his integrity—blessed are his children after him!”
Proverbs 20:7, ESV
“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”
Proverbs 22:6, ESV
“Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.”
Proverbs 23:22, ESV
“The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice; he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him.”
Proverbs 23:24, ESV
“for the righteous falls seven times and rises again, but the wicked stumble in calamity.”
Proverbs 24:16, ESV
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make…”
Proverbs 3:5-6, ESV
“Hear, my son, your father's instruction, and forsake not your mother's teaching, for they are a graceful garland for your head and…”
Proverbs 4:1-2, ESV
“Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.”
Proverbs 4:23, ESV
“Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of…”
Psalm 127:3-4, ESV

Marcus Aurelius

14 quotes
“Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.”
Meditations, Book 10, §16
“At dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself: I have to go to work — as a human being. What do I have to complain of,…”
Meditations, Book 5, §1
“Do not act as if thou wert going to live ten thousand years. Death hangs over thee. While thou livest, while it is in thy power, be good.”
Meditations, Book IV
“To be like the rock that the waves keep crashing over. It stands unmoved and the raging of the sea falls still around it.”
Meditations, Book IV, Section 49 (Gregory Hays trans.)
“In the morning when thou risest unwillingly, let this thought be present—I am rising to the work of a human being.”
Meditations, Book V
“The things you think about determine the quality of your mind. Your soul takes on the color of your thoughts.”
Meditations, Book V, Section 16 (Gregory Hays trans.)
“The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.”
Meditations, Book V, Section 20 (Gregory Hays trans.)
“Not to feel exasperated, or defeated, or despondent because your days aren't packed with wise and moral actions. But to get back up when…”
Meditations, Book V, Section 9 (Gregory Hays trans.)
“The best revenge is not to be like your enemy.”
Meditations, Book VI, Section 6
“No matter what anyone says or does, my task is to be good.”
Meditations, Book VII, Section 15 (Gregory Hays trans.)
“Upon every action that thou art about, put this question to thyself; How will this when it is done agree with me? Shall I have no occasion…”
Meditations, Book VIII.2
“No longer talk at all about the kind of man a good man ought to be, but be such.”
Meditations, Book X
“I for my part will be kind and loving unto all, and even unto him that hates me... ready to show his error, ingenuously and meekly.”
Meditations, Book XI.12
“If it be not fitting, do it not. If it be not true, speak it not.”
Meditations, Book XII.13

Seneca

13 quotes
“Virtue withers without an adversary.”
De Providentia (On Providence), Section 2.4 (c. 62 AD)
“Fire tests gold; adversity tests brave men.”
De Providentia (On Providence), Section 5.9 (c. 62 AD)
“It is best to endure what you cannot change.”
Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium, Letter CVII (c. 65 AD)
“Lay hold of to-day's task, and you will not need to depend so much upon to-morrow's. While we are postponing, life speeds by.”
Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium, Letter I
“Long is the road through precepts, short and effective through examples.”
Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium, Letter VI (c. 65 AD)
“We suffer more in imagination than in reality.”
Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium, Letter XIII, Section 4 (c. 65 AD)
“Every day ought to be regulated as if it closed the series, as if it rounded out and completed our existence.”
Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 12.8
“That man is happiest, and is secure in his own possession of himself, who can await the morrow without apprehension.”
Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 12.9
“It is with life as it is with a play,—it matters not how long the action is spun out, but how good the acting is.”
Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 77.20
“Claim yourself for yourself. Gather and save the time which till lately was being cut into, stolen from you, or had simply slipped away.”
Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter I
“I am glad to learn, in order that I may teach. Nothing will ever please me, no matter how excellent or beneficial, if I must retain the…”
Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter VI
“We should give as we would receive, cheerfully, quickly, and without hesitation; for there is no grace in a benefit that sticks to the…”
On Benefits, Book II
“It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a great deal of it. Life is long enough... if it were all well invested.”
On the Shortness of Life, Chapter I

C.S. Lewis

12 quotes
“You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death to you.”
A Grief Observed
“According to Christian teachers, the essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride... it was through Pride that the devil became the devil:…”
Mere Christianity, Book III, Chapter 8
“If anyone would like to acquire humility, I can, I think, tell him the first step. The first step is to realise that one is proud.”
Mere Christianity, Book III, Chapter 8
“The hardness of God is kinder than the softness of men, and His compulsion is our liberation.”
Surprised by Joy
“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken.”
The Four Loves
“We are born helpless. As soon as we are fully conscious we discover loneliness. We need others physically, emotionally, intellectually; we…”
The Four Loves
“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art, like the universe itself. It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things…”
The Four Loves
“We feed children in order that they may soon be able to feed themselves; we teach them in order that they may soon not need our teaching.…”
The Four Loves, chapter "Affection"
“The typical example of Gift-love would be that love which moves a man to work and plan and save for the future well-being of his family…”
The Four Loves, chapter "Likings and Loves for the Sub-human"
“Love is something more stern and splendid than mere kindness.”
The Problem of Pain
“He sees as well as you do that courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point, which means,…”
The Screwtape Letters, Letter XXIX
“There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations—these are mortal, and their…”
The Weight of Glory (1949), originally delivered as a sermon at St. Mary the Virgin, Oxford (1941)

Paul the Apostle

12 quotes
“When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.”
1 Corinthians 13:11, ESV
“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way... Love bears all…”
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (ESV)
“But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than…”
1 Timothy 5:8, ESV
“for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”
2 Timothy 1:7, ESV
“bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must…”
Colossians 3:13, ESV
“Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.”
Colossians 3:21 (ESV)
“Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to…”
Ephesians 4:29, ESV
“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”
Ephesians 4:32, ESV
“Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”
Ephesians 6:4 (ESV)
“If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.”
Romans 12:18, ESV
“Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and…”
Romans 5:3-4, ESV
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”
Romans 8:28, ESV

Confucius

11 quotes
“A youth, when at home, should be filial, and, abroad, respectful to his elders. He should be earnest and truthful.”
The Analects, Book I, Chapter 6
“A young man should serve his parents at home and be respectful to elders outside his home. He should be earnest and truthful, loving all,…”
The Analects, Book I, Chapter 6
“When you have faults, do not fear to abandon them.”
The Analects, Book I, Chapter 8
“When you know a thing, to hold that you know it; and when you do not know a thing, to allow that you do not know it—this is knowledge.”
The Analects, Book II, Chapter 17
“At fifteen my heart was set on learning; at thirty I stood firm; at forty I had no more doubts; at fifty I knew the will of heaven; at…”
The Analects, Book II, Chapter 4
“Virtue is not left to stand alone. He who practises it will have neighbors.”
The Analects, Book IV, Chapter 25
“The prosecution of learning may be compared to what may happen in raising a mound. If there want but one basket of earth to complete the…”
The Analects, Book IX, Chapter XVIII
“A youth is to be regarded with respect. How do we know that his future will not be equal to our present?”
The Analects, Book IX, Chapter XXII
“When the year becomes cold, then we know how the pine and the cypress are the last to lose their leaves.”
The Analects, Book IX, Chapter XXVII
“The man of virtue makes the difficulty to be overcome his first business, and success only a subsequent consideration: this may be called…”
The Analects, Book VI, Chapter 22
“The superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions.”
The Analects, Book XIV, Chapter 29

Nelson Mandela

9 quotes
“Difficulties break some men but make others. No axe is sharp enough to cut the soul of a sinner who keeps on trying, one armed with the…”
Letter to Winnie Mandela, February 1, 1975
“A good pen can also remind us of the happiest moments in our lives, bring noble ideas into our dens, our blood and our souls. It can turn…”
Letter to Zindzi Mandela, February 10, 1980
“I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way. But I have discovered the secret…”
Long Walk to Freedom
“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who…”
Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela (1994)
“You have a brave and determined mummy who loves her people with all her heart. She gave up pleasure and comfort in return for a life full…”
Prison letter to daughters Zeni and Zindzi, June 23, 1969
“One day I will be back home to live in happiness with you until the end of my days.”
Prison letter to family, Robben Island, 1969
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
Speech at the "Lighting Your Way to a Better Future" launch, Johannesburg (July 16, 2003)
“What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine…”
Speech at the 90th birthday celebration of Walter Sisulu, May 18, 2002
“Real leaders must be ready to sacrifice all for the freedom of their people.”
Speech at the Chief Albert Luthuli Centenary Celebrations, April 25, 1998

Frederick Douglass

8 quotes
“I would unite with anybody to do right; and with nobody to do wrong.”
"The Anti-Slavery Movement" lecture (1855)
“If there is no struggle, there is no progress.”
"West India Emancipation" speech, Canandaigua, New York (August 4, 1857)
“Slavery does away with fathers, as it does away with families.”
My Bondage and My Freedom (1855), Chapter 3: Parentage
“From that moment, I understood the pathway from slavery to freedom... Though conscious of the difficulty of learning without a teacher, I…”
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Chapter VII
“You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man.”
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Chapter X
“No man can put a chain about the ankle of his fellow man without at last finding the other end fastened about his own neck.”
Speech at Civil Rights Mass Meeting, Washington, D.C. (October 22, 1883)
“Notwithstanding the dark picture I have this day presented of the state of the nation, I do not despair of this country.”
What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July? (Rochester, NY)
“The arm of the Lord is not shortened, and the doom of slavery is certain.”
What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July? (Rochester, NY)

Jesus Christ

8 quotes
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.”
Gospel of John 13:34 (ESV)
“Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God... And he took them in his arms and blessed them,…”
Gospel of Mark 10:14-16 (ESV)
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them…”
John 14:27, ESV — The Upper Room Discourse
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.”
Luke 15:20, ESV — Parable of the Prodigal Son
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”
Matthew 5:9, ESV — Sermon on the Mount
“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
Matthew 6:33, ESV — Sermon on the Mount
“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
Matthew 6:34, ESV — Sermon on the Mount
“Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then,…”
Matthew 7:9-11, ESV — Sermon on the Mount

Epictetus

7 quotes
“The signs of one who is making progress are: he blames none, praises none, complains of none, accuses none.”
Discourses, Book IV, Chapter 12
“The seed must needs be buried first, and be hidden, and increase by slow degrees, that it may come to fullness.”
Discourses, Book IV, Chapter 8
“'Get up,' says the trainer, 'and wrestle again, until you are made strong.'”
Discourses, Book IV, Chapter 9
“Some things are in our control and others not. Things in our control are opinion, pursuit, desire, aversion, and, in one word, whatever…”
Enchiridion, §1
“Remember that you are an actor in a play, the character of which is determined by the Playwright... For this is your business, to act well…”
The Enchiridion, §17
“Men are disturbed not by the things which happen, but by the opinions about the things.”
The Enchiridion, §5
“Seek not that the things which happen should happen as you wish; but wish the things which happen to be as they are, and you will have a…”
The Enchiridion, §8

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

6 quotes
“There remains an experience of incomparable value. We have for once learned to see the great events of world history from below, from the…”
Letters and Papers from Prison, "After Ten Years"
“What we shall need is not geniuses, or cynics, or misanthropes, or clever tacticians, but plain, honest, straightforward men.”
Letters and Papers from Prison, "Are We Still of Any Use?"
“Who stands fast? Only the man whose final standard is not his reason, his principles, his conscience, his freedom, or his virtue, but who…”
Letters and Papers from Prison, "Who Stands Fast?"
“He who loves his dream of a community more than the Christian community itself becomes a destroyer of the latter, even though his personal…”
Life Together, chapter 1 ("Community")
“He who is bearing others knows that he himself is being borne, and only in this strength can he go on bearing.”
Life Together, chapter 4 ("The Ministry of Bearing")
“The Christian, however, must bear the burden of a brother. He must suffer and endure the brother... It is only when he is a burden that…”
Life Together, chapter 4 ("The Ministry of Bearing")

G.K. Chesterton

6 quotes
“The strong man is not the man who can do anything, but the man who can do the strongest thing.”
Heretics (on greatness and strength)
“A great man is not a man so strong that he feels less than other men; he is a man so strong that he feels more.”
Heretics, chapter on Bernard Shaw and greatness
“The family is romantic because it is arbitrary. It is romantic because it is there.”
Heretics, chapter XIV ("On Certain Modern Writers and the Institution of the Family")
“The test of all happiness is gratitude.”
Orthodoxy, Chapter IV
“I do believe in the family... I would mend the family as I would mend a chair; I would not mend it as I would mend the fashions of a season.”
What's Wrong with the World, Part Five, Chapter II
“That is the one eternal education: to be sure enough that something is true that you dare to tell it to a child.”
What's Wrong with the World, Part Four, Chapter VI

Theodore Roosevelt

6 quotes
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them…”
Citizenship in a Republic, Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris
“Athletic proficiency is a mighty good servant, and like so many other good servants, a mighty bad master.”
Letters to His Children
“I care very much that you should have a really manly character; and next to character comes intellect.”
Letters to His Children
“The only thing to do is to grin and bear it, to flinch as little as possible under the punishment, and to keep pegging steadily away until…”
Letters to His Children
“I could a great deal rather have him show true manliness of character than show either intellectual or physical prowess.”
Letters to His Children, letter to Ted, October 2, 1903
“It is no use to preach to children if you do not act decently yourself.”
Speech, 1903

Cicero

5 quotes
“In the face of a true friend a man sees as it were a second self.”
Laelius de Amicitia (On Friendship), section 23
“You must satisfy your judgment before engaging your affections: not love first and judge afterwards.”
Laelius de Amicitia (On Friendship), section 62
“Nature has given us friendship as the handmaid of virtue, not as a partner in guilt.”
Laelius de Amicitia (On Friendship), section 83
“Nature has inclined us to love our children, and this is the source and origin of civil society.”
On Duties (De Officiis), Book I
“Of all the bonds of fellowship, there is none more noble, none more powerful, than when good men of congenial character are joined in…”
On Duties (De Officiis), Book I

Dwight D. Eisenhower

5 quotes
“One circumstance that helped our character development: we were needed. I often think today of what an impact could be made if children…”
At Ease: Stories I Tell to Friends
“'He that conquereth his own soul is greater than he who taketh a city.'... To this day I make it a practice to avoid hating anyone.”
At Ease: Stories I Tell to Friends
“History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid.”
First Inaugural Address, January 20, 1953
“A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.”
First Inaugural Address, January 20, 1953
“What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight—it's the size of the fight in the dog.”
Remarks at the Republican National Committee Breakfast, January 31, 1958

Fyodor Dostoevsky

5 quotes
“Above all, don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to such a pass that he cannot distinguish…”
The Brothers Karamazov, Book II, Chapter 2
“Love in action is a harsh and dreadful thing compared with love in dreams. Love in dreams is greedy for immediate action... But active…”
The Brothers Karamazov, Book II, Chapter 4
“Every one is really responsible to all men for all men and for everything.”
The Brothers Karamazov, Book VI
“Love children especially, for they too are sinless like the angels; they live to soften and purify our hearts and as it were to guide us.…”
The Brothers Karamazov, Book VI ("The Russian Monk"), Father Zossima's exhortations
“There is nothing higher and stronger and more wholesome and good for life in the future than some good memory, especially a memory of…”
The Brothers Karamazov, Epilogue, Chapter 3

John Steinbeck

5 quotes
“The Hebrew word timshel—'Thou mayest'—that gives a choice. It might be the most important word in the world. That says the way is open...…”
East of Eden, Chapter 24
“And so I will tell them one of the greatest, perhaps the greatest story of all—the story of good and evil, of strength and weakness, of…”
Journal of a Novel: The East of Eden Letters (letter to Pascal Covici)
“I am choosing to write this book to my sons. They are little boys now and they will never know what they came from through me, unless I…”
Journal of a Novel: The East of Eden Letters (opening letter to Pascal Covici)
“The main thing is not to hurry. Nothing good gets away.”
Letter to Thom Steinbeck, November 10, 1958
“There are several kinds of love. One is a selfish, mean, grasping, egotistical thing which uses love for self-importance. The other is an…”
Letter to Thom Steinbeck, November 10, 1958

LeBron James

5 quotes
“As a father you sometimes get mad and then you think about it. You're like, 'Wow, I used to do those same things, so how can I get that…”
ABC News interview with Stephen Curry, NBA Finals
“There's no encyclopedia or book about parenthood. You learn on the fly.”
ABC News interview with Stephen Curry, NBA Finals
“As a parent, if you have multiple kids, you can't teach them all the same thing because they all have different personalities. They're…”
ABC News interview with Stephen Curry, NBA Finals
“Everything I know about being loving and caring, and sacrificing and showing up and being present in my children's lives—I learned all of…”
Essay for the Center for American Progress / The Shriver Report ("I Promise")
“Being the best father I can be to my children is what means the most to me.”
Oprah's Master Class, OWN Network (2017)

Musonius Rufus

5 quotes
“Straight from infancy they ought to be taught that this is right and that is wrong... From this training understanding is developed in…”
Lectures, Lecture IV
“The child who is trained properly... must be accustomed to endure hardship, not to fear death, not to be disheartened in the face of any…”
Lectures, Lecture IV
“To shun selfishness and to have high regard for fairness and, being a human being, to wish to help and to be unwilling to harm one's…”
Lectures, Lecture IV
“Each one of us ought to try to leave brothers rather than money to our children, so as to leave greater assurances of blessings.”
Lectures, Lecture XV
“One may remark what a fine sight it is to see a man or woman surrounded by their children.”
Lectures, Lecture XV

Viktor Frankl

5 quotes
“Love is the only way to grasp another human being in the innermost core of his personality.”
Man's Search for Meaning
“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms — to choose one's attitude in any given set of…”
Man's Search for Meaning
“A man who becomes conscious of the responsibility he bears toward a human being who affectionately waits for him, or to an unfinished…”
Man's Search for Meaning
“We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of…”
Man's Search for Meaning, Part One
“Man can preserve a vestige of spiritual freedom, of independence of mind, even in such terrible conditions of psychic and physical stress.”
Man's Search for Meaning, Part One

Abraham Lincoln

4 quotes
“You can not fail, if you resolutely determine, that you will not.”
Letter to George Latham, July 22, 1860
“Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other one thing.”
Letter to Isham Reavis, November 5, 1855
“With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the…”
Second Inaugural Address
“It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.”
The Gettysburg Address (Bliss copy)

James Baldwin

4 quotes
“Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them.”
Nobody Knows My Name
“The children are always ours, every single one of them, all over the globe; and I am beginning to suspect that whoever is incapable of…”
Notes on the House of Bondage, The Nation (November 1, 1980)
“To be loved, baby, hard, at once, and forever, to strengthen you against the loveless world... you must survive because we love you, and…”
The Fire Next Time, "My Dungeon Shook — Letter to My Nephew on the One Hundredth Anniversary of the Emancipation"
“It will be hard, James, but you come from sturdy, peasant stock, men who picked cotton and dammed rivers and built railroads, and, in the…”
The Fire Next Time, "My Dungeon Shook — Letter to My Nephew"

King David (attributed)

4 quotes
“As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.”
Psalm 103:13, ESV
“Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways! You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be blessed,…”
Psalm 128:1-4, ESV
“The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.”
Psalm 34:18, ESV
“Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation.”
Psalm 68:5, ESV

Fred Rogers

3 quotes
“You've made this day a special day, by just your being you. There's no person in the whole world like you; and I like you just the way you…”
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, closing address
“If we in public television can only make it clear that feelings are mentionable and manageable, we will have done a great service for…”
Testimony before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Communications
“What do you do with the mad that you feel? When you feel so mad you could bite.”
Testimony before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Communications (reciting his song lyric)

Kahlil Gibran

3 quotes
“Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself. They come through you but not from you,…”
The Prophet, 'On Children'
“You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth... Let your bending in the Archer's hand be for gladness.”
The Prophet, "On Children"
“The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.”
The Prophet, "On Joy and Sorrow"

Martin Luther King Jr.

3 quotes
“The time is always ripe to do right.”
Letter from Birmingham Jail
“You suddenly find your tongue twisted... as you seek to explain to your six year old daughter why she can't go to the public amusement…”
Letter from Birmingham Jail
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
Strength to Love (1963), Chapter 5: "Loving Your Enemies"

Isaiah (attributed)

2 quotes
“but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary;…”
Isaiah 40:31, ESV
“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my…”
Isaiah 41:10, ESV

James (attributed)

2 quotes
“Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;”
James 1:19, ESV
“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.…”
James 1:2-4, ESV

Joshua (attributed)

2 quotes
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you…”
Joshua 1:9, ESV
“But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Joshua 24:15, ESV

Moses (attributed)

2 quotes
“Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or…”
Deuteronomy 31:6, ESV
“And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them…”
Deuteronomy 6:6-7, ESV

Author of Hebrews

1 quote
“For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who…”
Hebrews 12:11, ESV

Barack Obama

1 quote
“What makes you a man is not the ability to have a child — it is the courage to raise one.”
Father's Day Speech, Apostolic Church of God, Chicago

John the Apostle (attributed)

1 quote
“We love because he first loved us.”
1 John 4:19, ESV

Micah (attributed)

1 quote
“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly…”
Micah 6:8, ESV

The right words for exactly where you are right now.

DadVice matches wisdom like this to the real situations of fatherhood — the hard conversation, the long night, the moment you do not know what to say. Every quote is sourced. No motivational filler.

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Love

64 quotes on love
“What makes you a man is not the ability to have a child — it is the courage to raise one.”
Barack Obama
“The hardness of God is kinder than the softness of men, and His compulsion is our liberation.”
C.S. Lewis
“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken.”
C.S. Lewis
“We are born helpless. As soon as we are fully conscious we discover loneliness. We need others physically, emotionally, intellectually; we…”
C.S. Lewis
“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art, like the universe itself. It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things…”
C.S. Lewis
“We feed children in order that they may soon be able to feed themselves; we teach them in order that they may soon not need our teaching.…”
C.S. Lewis
“Love is something more stern and splendid than mere kindness.”
C.S. Lewis
“There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations—these are mortal, and their…”
C.S. Lewis
“In the face of a true friend a man sees as it were a second self.”
Cicero
“You must satisfy your judgment before engaging your affections: not love first and judge afterwards.”
Cicero
“Nature has given us friendship as the handmaid of virtue, not as a partner in guilt.”
Cicero
“Nature has inclined us to love our children, and this is the source and origin of civil society.”
Cicero
“Of all the bonds of fellowship, there is none more noble, none more powerful, than when good men of congenial character are joined in…”
Cicero
“He who loves his dream of a community more than the Christian community itself becomes a destroyer of the latter, even though his personal…”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
“The Christian, however, must bear the burden of a brother. He must suffer and endure the brother... It is only when he is a burden that…”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
“You've made this day a special day, by just your being you. There's no person in the whole world like you; and I like you just the way you…”
Fred Rogers
“If we in public television can only make it clear that feelings are mentionable and manageable, we will have done a great service for…”
Fred Rogers
“Slavery does away with fathers, as it does away with families.”
Frederick Douglass
“Love in action is a harsh and dreadful thing compared with love in dreams. Love in dreams is greedy for immediate action... But active…”
Fyodor Dostoevsky
“Love children especially, for they too are sinless like the angels; they live to soften and purify our hearts and as it were to guide us.…”
Fyodor Dostoevsky
“There is nothing higher and stronger and more wholesome and good for life in the future than some good memory, especially a memory of…”
Fyodor Dostoevsky
“The family is romantic because it is arbitrary. It is romantic because it is there.”
G.K. Chesterton
“The test of all happiness is gratitude.”
G.K. Chesterton
“I do believe in the family... I would mend the family as I would mend a chair; I would not mend it as I would mend the fashions of a season.”
G.K. Chesterton
“The children are always ours, every single one of them, all over the globe; and I am beginning to suspect that whoever is incapable of…”
James Baldwin
“To be loved, baby, hard, at once, and forever, to strengthen you against the loveless world... you must survive because we love you, and…”
James Baldwin
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.”
Jesus Christ
“Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God... And he took them in his arms and blessed them,…”
Jesus Christ
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.”
Jesus Christ
“Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then,…”
Jesus Christ
“The main thing is not to hurry. Nothing good gets away.”
John Steinbeck
“There are several kinds of love. One is a selfish, mean, grasping, egotistical thing which uses love for self-importance. The other is an…”
John Steinbeck
“We love because he first loved us.”
John the Apostle (attributed)
“Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself. They come through you but not from you,…”
Kahlil Gibran
“The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.”
Kahlil Gibran
“As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.”
King David (attributed)
“Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation.”
King David (attributed)
“A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children, but the sinner's wealth is laid up for the righteous.”
King Solomon (attributed)
“Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.”
King Solomon (attributed)
“A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity.”
King Solomon (attributed)
“Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of children is their fathers.”
King Solomon (attributed)
“Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.”
King Solomon (attributed)
“The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice; he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him.”
King Solomon (attributed)
“Hear, my son, your father's instruction, and forsake not your mother's teaching, for they are a graceful garland for your head and…”
King Solomon (attributed)
“As a father you sometimes get mad and then you think about it. You're like, 'Wow, I used to do those same things, so how can I get that…”
LeBron James
“As a parent, if you have multiple kids, you can't teach them all the same thing because they all have different personalities. They're…”
LeBron James
“Everything I know about being loving and caring, and sacrificing and showing up and being present in my children's lives—I learned all of…”
LeBron James
“Being the best father I can be to my children is what means the most to me.”
LeBron James
“I for my part will be kind and loving unto all, and even unto him that hates me... ready to show his error, ingenuously and meekly.”
Marcus Aurelius
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
Martin Luther King Jr.
“To shun selfishness and to have high regard for fairness and, being a human being, to wish to help and to be unwilling to harm one's…”
Musonius Rufus
“Each one of us ought to try to leave brothers rather than money to our children, so as to leave greater assurances of blessings.”
Musonius Rufus
“One may remark what a fine sight it is to see a man or woman surrounded by their children.”
Musonius Rufus
“A good pen can also remind us of the happiest moments in our lives, bring noble ideas into our dens, our blood and our souls. It can turn…”
Nelson Mandela
“You have a brave and determined mummy who loves her people with all her heart. She gave up pleasure and comfort in return for a life full…”
Nelson Mandela
“What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine…”
Nelson Mandela
“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way... Love bears all…”
Paul the Apostle
“Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.”
Paul the Apostle
“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”
Paul the Apostle
“I am glad to learn, in order that I may teach. Nothing will ever please me, no matter how excellent or beneficial, if I must retain the…”
Seneca
“We should give as we would receive, cheerfully, quickly, and without hesitation; for there is no grace in a benefit that sticks to the…”
Seneca
“I could a great deal rather have him show true manliness of character than show either intellectual or physical prowess.”
Theodore Roosevelt
“Love is the only way to grasp another human being in the innermost core of his personality.”
Viktor Frankl
“We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of…”
Viktor Frankl

Character

58 quotes on character
“Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other one thing.”
Abraham Lincoln
“With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the…”
Abraham Lincoln
“According to Christian teachers, the essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride... it was through Pride that the devil became the devil:…”
C.S. Lewis
“If anyone would like to acquire humility, I can, I think, tell him the first step. The first step is to realise that one is proud.”
C.S. Lewis
“In the face of a true friend a man sees as it were a second self.”
Cicero
“Nature has given us friendship as the handmaid of virtue, not as a partner in guilt.”
Cicero
“Of all the bonds of fellowship, there is none more noble, none more powerful, than when good men of congenial character are joined in…”
Cicero
“A youth, when at home, should be filial, and, abroad, respectful to his elders. He should be earnest and truthful.”
Confucius
“When you have faults, do not fear to abandon them.”
Confucius
“When you know a thing, to hold that you know it; and when you do not know a thing, to allow that you do not know it—this is knowledge.”
Confucius
“Virtue is not left to stand alone. He who practises it will have neighbors.”
Confucius
“When the year becomes cold, then we know how the pine and the cypress are the last to lose their leaves.”
Confucius
“One circumstance that helped our character development: we were needed. I often think today of what an impact could be made if children…”
Dwight D. Eisenhower
“History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower
“A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower
“What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight—it's the size of the fight in the dog.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower
“The signs of one who is making progress are: he blames none, praises none, complains of none, accuses none.”
Epictetus
“The seed must needs be buried first, and be hidden, and increase by slow degrees, that it may come to fullness.”
Epictetus
“Remember that you are an actor in a play, the character of which is determined by the Playwright... For this is your business, to act well…”
Epictetus
“Men are disturbed not by the things which happen, but by the opinions about the things.”
Epictetus
“Seek not that the things which happen should happen as you wish; but wish the things which happen to be as they are, and you will have a…”
Epictetus
“What do you do with the mad that you feel? When you feel so mad you could bite.”
Fred Rogers
“I would unite with anybody to do right; and with nobody to do wrong.”
Frederick Douglass
“If there is no struggle, there is no progress.”
Frederick Douglass
“You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man.”
Frederick Douglass
“No man can put a chain about the ankle of his fellow man without at last finding the other end fastened about his own neck.”
Frederick Douglass
“Above all, don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to such a pass that he cannot distinguish…”
Fyodor Dostoevsky
“Every one is really responsible to all men for all men and for everything.”
Fyodor Dostoevsky
“The strong man is not the man who can do anything, but the man who can do the strongest thing.”
G.K. Chesterton
“A great man is not a man so strong that he feels less than other men; he is a man so strong that he feels more.”
G.K. Chesterton
“The test of all happiness is gratitude.”
G.K. Chesterton
“I do believe in the family... I would mend the family as I would mend a chair; I would not mend it as I would mend the fashions of a season.”
G.K. Chesterton
“That is the one eternal education: to be sure enough that something is true that you dare to tell it to a child.”
G.K. Chesterton
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.”
Jesus Christ
“The Hebrew word timshel—'Thou mayest'—that gives a choice. It might be the most important word in the world. That says the way is open...…”
John Steinbeck
“And so I will tell them one of the greatest, perhaps the greatest story of all—the story of good and evil, of strength and weakness, of…”
John Steinbeck
“There are several kinds of love. One is a selfish, mean, grasping, egotistical thing which uses love for self-importance. The other is an…”
John Steinbeck
“Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.”
King Solomon (attributed)
“Do not act as if thou wert going to live ten thousand years. Death hangs over thee. While thou livest, while it is in thy power, be good.”
Marcus Aurelius
“In the morning when thou risest unwillingly, let this thought be present—I am rising to the work of a human being.”
Marcus Aurelius
“The best revenge is not to be like your enemy.”
Marcus Aurelius
“No matter what anyone says or does, my task is to be good.”
Marcus Aurelius
“Upon every action that thou art about, put this question to thyself; How will this when it is done agree with me? Shall I have no occasion…”
Marcus Aurelius
“No longer talk at all about the kind of man a good man ought to be, but be such.”
Marcus Aurelius
“If it be not fitting, do it not. If it be not true, speak it not.”
Marcus Aurelius
“The time is always ripe to do right.”
Martin Luther King Jr.
“Straight from infancy they ought to be taught that this is right and that is wrong... From this training understanding is developed in…”
Musonius Rufus
“To shun selfishness and to have high regard for fairness and, being a human being, to wish to help and to be unwilling to harm one's…”
Musonius Rufus
“Difficulties break some men but make others. No axe is sharp enough to cut the soul of a sinner who keeps on trying, one armed with the…”
Nelson Mandela
“Real leaders must be ready to sacrifice all for the freedom of their people.”
Nelson Mandela
“When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.”
Paul the Apostle
“Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and…”
Paul the Apostle
“Virtue withers without an adversary.”
Seneca
“Fire tests gold; adversity tests brave men.”
Seneca
“We should give as we would receive, cheerfully, quickly, and without hesitation; for there is no grace in a benefit that sticks to the…”
Seneca
“Athletic proficiency is a mighty good servant, and like so many other good servants, a mighty bad master.”
Theodore Roosevelt
“I care very much that you should have a really manly character; and next to character comes intellect.”
Theodore Roosevelt
“I could a great deal rather have him show true manliness of character than show either intellectual or physical prowess.”
Theodore Roosevelt

Resilience

58 quotes on resilience
“You can not fail, if you resolutely determine, that you will not.”
Abraham Lincoln
“Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other one thing.”
Abraham Lincoln
“You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death to you.”
C.S. Lewis
“He sees as well as you do that courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point, which means,…”
C.S. Lewis
“When you have faults, do not fear to abandon them.”
Confucius
“At fifteen my heart was set on learning; at thirty I stood firm; at forty I had no more doubts; at fifty I knew the will of heaven; at…”
Confucius
“The prosecution of learning may be compared to what may happen in raising a mound. If there want but one basket of earth to complete the…”
Confucius
“When the year becomes cold, then we know how the pine and the cypress are the last to lose their leaves.”
Confucius
“There remains an experience of incomparable value. We have for once learned to see the great events of world history from below, from the…”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
“He who is bearing others knows that he himself is being borne, and only in this strength can he go on bearing.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
“History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower
“What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight—it's the size of the fight in the dog.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower
“'Get up,' says the trainer, 'and wrestle again, until you are made strong.'”
Epictetus
“Some things are in our control and others not. Things in our control are opinion, pursuit, desire, aversion, and, in one word, whatever…”
Epictetus
“Men are disturbed not by the things which happen, but by the opinions about the things.”
Epictetus
“Seek not that the things which happen should happen as you wish; but wish the things which happen to be as they are, and you will have a…”
Epictetus
“If there is no struggle, there is no progress.”
Frederick Douglass
“From that moment, I understood the pathway from slavery to freedom... Though conscious of the difficulty of learning without a teacher, I…”
Frederick Douglass
“Notwithstanding the dark picture I have this day presented of the state of the nation, I do not despair of this country.”
Frederick Douglass
“The arm of the Lord is not shortened, and the doom of slavery is certain.”
Frederick Douglass
“but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary;…”
Isaiah (attributed)
“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.…”
James (attributed)
“To be loved, baby, hard, at once, and forever, to strengthen you against the loveless world... you must survive because we love you, and…”
James Baldwin
“It will be hard, James, but you come from sturdy, peasant stock, men who picked cotton and dammed rivers and built railroads, and, in the…”
James Baldwin
“The Hebrew word timshel—'Thou mayest'—that gives a choice. It might be the most important word in the world. That says the way is open...…”
John Steinbeck
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you…”
Joshua (attributed)
“The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.”
Kahlil Gibran
“The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.”
King David (attributed)
“The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice; he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him.”
King Solomon (attributed)
“for the righteous falls seven times and rises again, but the wicked stumble in calamity.”
King Solomon (attributed)
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make…”
King Solomon (attributed)
“Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.”
King Solomon (attributed)
“At dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself: I have to go to work — as a human being. What do I have to complain of,…”
Marcus Aurelius
“To be like the rock that the waves keep crashing over. It stands unmoved and the raging of the sea falls still around it.”
Marcus Aurelius
“The things you think about determine the quality of your mind. Your soul takes on the color of your thoughts.”
Marcus Aurelius
“The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.”
Marcus Aurelius
“Not to feel exasperated, or defeated, or despondent because your days aren't packed with wise and moral actions. But to get back up when…”
Marcus Aurelius
“Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or…”
Moses (attributed)
“The child who is trained properly... must be accustomed to endure hardship, not to fear death, not to be disheartened in the face of any…”
Musonius Rufus
“Difficulties break some men but make others. No axe is sharp enough to cut the soul of a sinner who keeps on trying, one armed with the…”
Nelson Mandela
“A good pen can also remind us of the happiest moments in our lives, bring noble ideas into our dens, our blood and our souls. It can turn…”
Nelson Mandela
“I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way. But I have discovered the secret…”
Nelson Mandela
“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who…”
Nelson Mandela
“One day I will be back home to live in happiness with you until the end of my days.”
Nelson Mandela
“bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must…”
Paul the Apostle
“Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and…”
Paul the Apostle
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”
Paul the Apostle
“Virtue withers without an adversary.”
Seneca
“Fire tests gold; adversity tests brave men.”
Seneca
“It is best to endure what you cannot change.”
Seneca
“Lay hold of to-day's task, and you will not need to depend so much upon to-morrow's. While we are postponing, life speeds by.”
Seneca
“We suffer more in imagination than in reality.”
Seneca
“That man is happiest, and is secure in his own possession of himself, who can await the morrow without apprehension.”
Seneca
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them…”
Theodore Roosevelt
“The only thing to do is to grin and bear it, to flinch as little as possible under the punishment, and to keep pegging steadily away until…”
Theodore Roosevelt
“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms — to choose one's attitude in any given set of…”
Viktor Frankl
“A man who becomes conscious of the responsibility he bears toward a human being who affectionately waits for him, or to an unfinished…”
Viktor Frankl
“Man can preserve a vestige of spiritual freedom, of independence of mind, even in such terrible conditions of psychic and physical stress.”
Viktor Frankl

Identity

55 quotes on identity
“What makes you a man is not the ability to have a child — it is the courage to raise one.”
Barack Obama
“You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death to you.”
C.S. Lewis
“According to Christian teachers, the essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride... it was through Pride that the devil became the devil:…”
C.S. Lewis
“If anyone would like to acquire humility, I can, I think, tell him the first step. The first step is to realise that one is proud.”
C.S. Lewis
“We are born helpless. As soon as we are fully conscious we discover loneliness. We need others physically, emotionally, intellectually; we…”
C.S. Lewis
“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art, like the universe itself. It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things…”
C.S. Lewis
“He sees as well as you do that courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point, which means,…”
C.S. Lewis
“There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations—these are mortal, and their…”
C.S. Lewis
“A youth, when at home, should be filial, and, abroad, respectful to his elders. He should be earnest and truthful.”
Confucius
“When you know a thing, to hold that you know it; and when you do not know a thing, to allow that you do not know it—this is knowledge.”
Confucius
“At fifteen my heart was set on learning; at thirty I stood firm; at forty I had no more doubts; at fifty I knew the will of heaven; at…”
Confucius
“A youth is to be regarded with respect. How do we know that his future will not be equal to our present?”
Confucius
“There remains an experience of incomparable value. We have for once learned to see the great events of world history from below, from the…”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
“What we shall need is not geniuses, or cynics, or misanthropes, or clever tacticians, but plain, honest, straightforward men.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
“Who stands fast? Only the man whose final standard is not his reason, his principles, his conscience, his freedom, or his virtue, but who…”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
“A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower
“Some things are in our control and others not. Things in our control are opinion, pursuit, desire, aversion, and, in one word, whatever…”
Epictetus
“Remember that you are an actor in a play, the character of which is determined by the Playwright... For this is your business, to act well…”
Epictetus
“You've made this day a special day, by just your being you. There's no person in the whole world like you; and I like you just the way you…”
Fred Rogers
“You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man.”
Frederick Douglass
“Above all, don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to such a pass that he cannot distinguish…”
Fyodor Dostoevsky
“A great man is not a man so strong that he feels less than other men; he is a man so strong that he feels more.”
G.K. Chesterton
“The family is romantic because it is arbitrary. It is romantic because it is there.”
G.K. Chesterton
“Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them.”
James Baldwin
“It will be hard, James, but you come from sturdy, peasant stock, men who picked cotton and dammed rivers and built railroads, and, in the…”
James Baldwin
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”
Jesus Christ
“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
Jesus Christ
“I am choosing to write this book to my sons. They are little boys now and they will never know what they came from through me, unless I…”
John Steinbeck
“There are several kinds of love. One is a selfish, mean, grasping, egotistical thing which uses love for self-importance. The other is an…”
John Steinbeck
“We love because he first loved us.”
John the Apostle (attributed)
“But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Joshua (attributed)
“Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself. They come through you but not from you,…”
Kahlil Gibran
“The righteous who walks in his integrity—blessed are his children after him!”
King Solomon (attributed)
“for the righteous falls seven times and rises again, but the wicked stumble in calamity.”
King Solomon (attributed)
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make…”
King Solomon (attributed)
“Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.”
King Solomon (attributed)
“As a parent, if you have multiple kids, you can't teach them all the same thing because they all have different personalities. They're…”
LeBron James
“Being the best father I can be to my children is what means the most to me.”
LeBron James
“Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.”
Marcus Aurelius
“At dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself: I have to go to work — as a human being. What do I have to complain of,…”
Marcus Aurelius
“To be like the rock that the waves keep crashing over. It stands unmoved and the raging of the sea falls still around it.”
Marcus Aurelius
“The things you think about determine the quality of your mind. Your soul takes on the color of your thoughts.”
Marcus Aurelius
“Not to feel exasperated, or defeated, or despondent because your days aren't packed with wise and moral actions. But to get back up when…”
Marcus Aurelius
“The best revenge is not to be like your enemy.”
Marcus Aurelius
“No matter what anyone says or does, my task is to be good.”
Marcus Aurelius
“No longer talk at all about the kind of man a good man ought to be, but be such.”
Marcus Aurelius
“I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way. But I have discovered the secret…”
Nelson Mandela
“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who…”
Nelson Mandela
“When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.”
Paul the Apostle
“for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”
Paul the Apostle
“Claim yourself for yourself. Gather and save the time which till lately was being cut into, stolen from you, or had simply slipped away.”
Seneca
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them…”
Theodore Roosevelt
“Athletic proficiency is a mighty good servant, and like so many other good servants, a mighty bad master.”
Theodore Roosevelt
“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms — to choose one's attitude in any given set of…”
Viktor Frankl
“Man can preserve a vestige of spiritual freedom, of independence of mind, even in such terrible conditions of psychic and physical stress.”
Viktor Frankl

Presence

43 quotes on presence
“What makes you a man is not the ability to have a child — it is the courage to raise one.”
Barack Obama
“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken.”
C.S. Lewis
“We are born helpless. As soon as we are fully conscious we discover loneliness. We need others physically, emotionally, intellectually; we…”
C.S. Lewis
“There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations—these are mortal, and their…”
C.S. Lewis
“You've made this day a special day, by just your being you. There's no person in the whole world like you; and I like you just the way you…”
Fred Rogers
“Slavery does away with fathers, as it does away with families.”
Frederick Douglass
“Love children especially, for they too are sinless like the angels; they live to soften and purify our hearts and as it were to guide us.…”
Fyodor Dostoevsky
“There is nothing higher and stronger and more wholesome and good for life in the future than some good memory, especially a memory of…”
Fyodor Dostoevsky
“The test of all happiness is gratitude.”
G.K. Chesterton
“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my…”
Isaiah (attributed)
“Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them.”
James Baldwin
“The children are always ours, every single one of them, all over the globe; and I am beginning to suspect that whoever is incapable of…”
James Baldwin
“Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God... And he took them in his arms and blessed them,…”
Jesus Christ
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them…”
Jesus Christ
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.”
Jesus Christ
“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
Jesus Christ
“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
Jesus Christ
“Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then,…”
Jesus Christ
“The main thing is not to hurry. Nothing good gets away.”
John Steinbeck
“We love because he first loved us.”
John the Apostle (attributed)
“Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself. They come through you but not from you,…”
Kahlil Gibran
“As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.”
King David (attributed)
“The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.”
King David (attributed)
“Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation.”
King David (attributed)
“Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of…”
King Solomon (attributed)
“As a father you sometimes get mad and then you think about it. You're like, 'Wow, I used to do those same things, so how can I get that…”
LeBron James
“There's no encyclopedia or book about parenthood. You learn on the fly.”
LeBron James
“Everything I know about being loving and caring, and sacrificing and showing up and being present in my children's lives—I learned all of…”
LeBron James
“Being the best father I can be to my children is what means the most to me.”
LeBron James
“At dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself: I have to go to work — as a human being. What do I have to complain of,…”
Marcus Aurelius
“You suddenly find your tongue twisted... as you seek to explain to your six year old daughter why she can't go to the public amusement…”
Martin Luther King Jr.
“Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or…”
Moses (attributed)
“And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them…”
Moses (attributed)
“One may remark what a fine sight it is to see a man or woman surrounded by their children.”
Musonius Rufus
“A good pen can also remind us of the happiest moments in our lives, bring noble ideas into our dens, our blood and our souls. It can turn…”
Nelson Mandela
“One day I will be back home to live in happiness with you until the end of my days.”
Nelson Mandela
“Lay hold of to-day's task, and you will not need to depend so much upon to-morrow's. While we are postponing, life speeds by.”
Seneca
“Every day ought to be regulated as if it closed the series, as if it rounded out and completed our existence.”
Seneca
“That man is happiest, and is secure in his own possession of himself, who can await the morrow without apprehension.”
Seneca
“Claim yourself for yourself. Gather and save the time which till lately was being cut into, stolen from you, or had simply slipped away.”
Seneca
“It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a great deal of it. Life is long enough... if it were all well invested.”
Seneca
“It is no use to preach to children if you do not act decently yourself.”
Theodore Roosevelt
“A man who becomes conscious of the responsibility he bears toward a human being who affectionately waits for him, or to an unfinished…”
Viktor Frankl

Wisdom

42 quotes on wisdom
“For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who…”
Author of Hebrews
“The hardness of God is kinder than the softness of men, and His compulsion is our liberation.”
C.S. Lewis
“We are born helpless. As soon as we are fully conscious we discover loneliness. We need others physically, emotionally, intellectually; we…”
C.S. Lewis
“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art, like the universe itself. It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things…”
C.S. Lewis
“Love is something more stern and splendid than mere kindness.”
C.S. Lewis
“There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations—these are mortal, and their…”
C.S. Lewis
“A young man should serve his parents at home and be respectful to elders outside his home. He should be earnest and truthful, loving all,…”
Confucius
“At fifteen my heart was set on learning; at thirty I stood firm; at forty I had no more doubts; at fifty I knew the will of heaven; at…”
Confucius
“The man of virtue makes the difficulty to be overcome his first business, and success only a subsequent consideration: this may be called…”
Confucius
“The superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions.”
Confucius
“There remains an experience of incomparable value. We have for once learned to see the great events of world history from below, from the…”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
“What we shall need is not geniuses, or cynics, or misanthropes, or clever tacticians, but plain, honest, straightforward men.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
“I would unite with anybody to do right; and with nobody to do wrong.”
Frederick Douglass
“No man can put a chain about the ankle of his fellow man without at last finding the other end fastened about his own neck.”
Frederick Douglass
“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
Jesus Christ
“Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself. They come through you but not from you,…”
Kahlil Gibran
“Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who…”
King Solomon (attributed)
“Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.”
King Solomon (attributed)
“A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children, but the sinner's wealth is laid up for the righteous.”
King Solomon (attributed)
“Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.”
King Solomon (attributed)
“Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of children is their fathers.”
King Solomon (attributed)
“Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.”
King Solomon (attributed)
“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”
King Solomon (attributed)
“Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.”
King Solomon (attributed)
“The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice; he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him.”
King Solomon (attributed)
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make…”
King Solomon (attributed)
“Hear, my son, your father's instruction, and forsake not your mother's teaching, for they are a graceful garland for your head and…”
King Solomon (attributed)
“Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.”
King Solomon (attributed)
“Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.”
Marcus Aurelius
“The things you think about determine the quality of your mind. Your soul takes on the color of your thoughts.”
Marcus Aurelius
“The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.”
Marcus Aurelius
“No matter what anyone says or does, my task is to be good.”
Marcus Aurelius
“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly…”
Micah (attributed)
“And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them…”
Moses (attributed)
“I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way. But I have discovered the secret…”
Nelson Mandela
“When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.”
Paul the Apostle
“Virtue withers without an adversary.”
Seneca
“It is best to endure what you cannot change.”
Seneca
“Lay hold of to-day's task, and you will not need to depend so much upon to-morrow's. While we are postponing, life speeds by.”
Seneca
“Long is the road through precepts, short and effective through examples.”
Seneca
“We suffer more in imagination than in reality.”
Seneca
“Claim yourself for yourself. Gather and save the time which till lately was being cut into, stolen from you, or had simply slipped away.”
Seneca

Legacy

30 quotes on legacy
“It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.”
Abraham Lincoln
“We feed children in order that they may soon be able to feed themselves; we teach them in order that they may soon not need our teaching.…”
C.S. Lewis
“The typical example of Gift-love would be that love which moves a man to work and plan and save for the future well-being of his family…”
C.S. Lewis
“Nature has inclined us to love our children, and this is the source and origin of civil society.”
Cicero
“Of all the bonds of fellowship, there is none more noble, none more powerful, than when good men of congenial character are joined in…”
Cicero
“Virtue is not left to stand alone. He who practises it will have neighbors.”
Confucius
“History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower
“A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower
“Slavery does away with fathers, as it does away with families.”
Frederick Douglass
“There is nothing higher and stronger and more wholesome and good for life in the future than some good memory, especially a memory of…”
Fyodor Dostoevsky
“I do believe in the family... I would mend the family as I would mend a chair; I would not mend it as I would mend the fashions of a season.”
G.K. Chesterton
“That is the one eternal education: to be sure enough that something is true that you dare to tell it to a child.”
G.K. Chesterton
“And so I will tell them one of the greatest, perhaps the greatest story of all—the story of good and evil, of strength and weakness, of…”
John Steinbeck
“I am choosing to write this book to my sons. They are little boys now and they will never know what they came from through me, unless I…”
John Steinbeck
“You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth... Let your bending in the Archer's hand be for gladness.”
Kahlil Gibran
“Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways! You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be blessed,…”
King David (attributed)
“A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children, but the sinner's wealth is laid up for the righteous.”
King Solomon (attributed)
“The righteous who walks in his integrity—blessed are his children after him!”
King Solomon (attributed)
“Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.”
King Solomon (attributed)
“Hear, my son, your father's instruction, and forsake not your mother's teaching, for they are a graceful garland for your head and…”
King Solomon (attributed)
“Do not act as if thou wert going to live ten thousand years. Death hangs over thee. While thou livest, while it is in thy power, be good.”
Marcus Aurelius
“Each one of us ought to try to leave brothers rather than money to our children, so as to leave greater assurances of blessings.”
Musonius Rufus
“One may remark what a fine sight it is to see a man or woman surrounded by their children.”
Musonius Rufus
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
Nelson Mandela
“What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine…”
Nelson Mandela
“Real leaders must be ready to sacrifice all for the freedom of their people.”
Nelson Mandela
“It is with life as it is with a play,—it matters not how long the action is spun out, but how good the acting is.”
Seneca
“I am glad to learn, in order that I may teach. Nothing will ever please me, no matter how excellent or beneficial, if I must retain the…”
Seneca
“It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a great deal of it. Life is long enough... if it were all well invested.”
Seneca
“I care very much that you should have a really manly character; and next to character comes intellect.”
Theodore Roosevelt

Purpose

28 quotes on purpose
“You can not fail, if you resolutely determine, that you will not.”
Abraham Lincoln
“Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other one thing.”
Abraham Lincoln
“With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the…”
Abraham Lincoln
“It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.”
Abraham Lincoln
“Nature has inclined us to love our children, and this is the source and origin of civil society.”
Cicero
“When you know a thing, to hold that you know it; and when you do not know a thing, to allow that you do not know it—this is knowledge.”
Confucius
“Virtue is not left to stand alone. He who practises it will have neighbors.”
Confucius
“A youth is to be regarded with respect. How do we know that his future will not be equal to our present?”
Confucius
“One circumstance that helped our character development: we were needed. I often think today of what an impact could be made if children…”
Dwight D. Eisenhower
“Remember that you are an actor in a play, the character of which is determined by the Playwright... For this is your business, to act well…”
Epictetus
“From that moment, I understood the pathway from slavery to freedom... Though conscious of the difficulty of learning without a teacher, I…”
Frederick Douglass
“Notwithstanding the dark picture I have this day presented of the state of the nation, I do not despair of this country.”
Frederick Douglass
“The arm of the Lord is not shortened, and the doom of slavery is certain.”
Frederick Douglass
“Every one is really responsible to all men for all men and for everything.”
Fyodor Dostoevsky
“That is the one eternal education: to be sure enough that something is true that you dare to tell it to a child.”
G.K. Chesterton
“The Hebrew word timshel—'Thou mayest'—that gives a choice. It might be the most important word in the world. That says the way is open...…”
John Steinbeck
“You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth... Let your bending in the Archer's hand be for gladness.”
Kahlil Gibran
“Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of…”
King Solomon (attributed)
“Do not act as if thou wert going to live ten thousand years. Death hangs over thee. While thou livest, while it is in thy power, be good.”
Marcus Aurelius
“In the morning when thou risest unwillingly, let this thought be present—I am rising to the work of a human being.”
Marcus Aurelius
“No longer talk at all about the kind of man a good man ought to be, but be such.”
Marcus Aurelius
“The time is always ripe to do right.”
Martin Luther King Jr.
“What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine…”
Nelson Mandela
“Every day ought to be regulated as if it closed the series, as if it rounded out and completed our existence.”
Seneca
“It is with life as it is with a play,—it matters not how long the action is spun out, but how good the acting is.”
Seneca
“I am glad to learn, in order that I may teach. Nothing will ever please me, no matter how excellent or beneficial, if I must retain the…”
Seneca
“It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a great deal of it. Life is long enough... if it were all well invested.”
Seneca
“A man who becomes conscious of the responsibility he bears toward a human being who affectionately waits for him, or to an unfinished…”
Viktor Frankl

Responsibility

27 quotes on responsibility
“What makes you a man is not the ability to have a child — it is the courage to raise one.”
Barack Obama
“A young man should serve his parents at home and be respectful to elders outside his home. He should be earnest and truthful, loving all,…”
Confucius
“The man of virtue makes the difficulty to be overcome his first business, and success only a subsequent consideration: this may be called…”
Confucius
“The superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions.”
Confucius
“What we shall need is not geniuses, or cynics, or misanthropes, or clever tacticians, but plain, honest, straightforward men.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
“Who stands fast? Only the man whose final standard is not his reason, his principles, his conscience, his freedom, or his virtue, but who…”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
“Slavery does away with fathers, as it does away with families.”
Frederick Douglass
“No man can put a chain about the ankle of his fellow man without at last finding the other end fastened about his own neck.”
Frederick Douglass
“Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them.”
James Baldwin
“The children are always ours, every single one of them, all over the globe; and I am beginning to suspect that whoever is incapable of…”
James Baldwin
“But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Joshua (attributed)
“Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation.”
King David (attributed)
“Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.”
King Solomon (attributed)
“A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children, but the sinner's wealth is laid up for the righteous.”
King Solomon (attributed)
“Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.”
King Solomon (attributed)
“The righteous who walks in his integrity—blessed are his children after him!”
King Solomon (attributed)
“Being the best father I can be to my children is what means the most to me.”
LeBron James
“Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.”
Marcus Aurelius
“At dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself: I have to go to work — as a human being. What do I have to complain of,…”
Marcus Aurelius
“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly…”
Micah (attributed)
“And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them…”
Moses (attributed)
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
Nelson Mandela
“When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.”
Paul the Apostle
“But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than…”
Paul the Apostle
“Long is the road through precepts, short and effective through examples.”
Seneca
“Claim yourself for yourself. Gather and save the time which till lately was being cut into, stolen from you, or had simply slipped away.”
Seneca
“It is no use to preach to children if you do not act decently yourself.”
Theodore Roosevelt

Patience

26 quotes on patience
“You must satisfy your judgment before engaging your affections: not love first and judge afterwards.”
Cicero
“He who loves his dream of a community more than the Christian community itself becomes a destroyer of the latter, even though his personal…”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
“The Christian, however, must bear the burden of a brother. He must suffer and endure the brother... It is only when he is a burden that…”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
“The seed must needs be buried first, and be hidden, and increase by slow degrees, that it may come to fullness.”
Epictetus
“Some things are in our control and others not. Things in our control are opinion, pursuit, desire, aversion, and, in one word, whatever…”
Epictetus
“Men are disturbed not by the things which happen, but by the opinions about the things.”
Epictetus
“Seek not that the things which happen should happen as you wish; but wish the things which happen to be as they are, and you will have a…”
Epictetus
“If we in public television can only make it clear that feelings are mentionable and manageable, we will have done a great service for…”
Fred Rogers
“What do you do with the mad that you feel? When you feel so mad you could bite.”
Fred Rogers
“Love in action is a harsh and dreadful thing compared with love in dreams. Love in dreams is greedy for immediate action... But active…”
Fyodor Dostoevsky
“Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;”
James (attributed)
“The main thing is not to hurry. Nothing good gets away.”
John Steinbeck
“A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.”
King Solomon (attributed)
“Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.”
King Solomon (attributed)
“Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.”
King Solomon (attributed)
“As a father you sometimes get mad and then you think about it. You're like, 'Wow, I used to do those same things, so how can I get that…”
LeBron James
“There's no encyclopedia or book about parenthood. You learn on the fly.”
LeBron James
“As a parent, if you have multiple kids, you can't teach them all the same thing because they all have different personalities. They're…”
LeBron James
“In the morning when thou risest unwillingly, let this thought be present—I am rising to the work of a human being.”
Marcus Aurelius
“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way... Love bears all…”
Paul the Apostle
“bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must…”
Paul the Apostle
“Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.”
Paul the Apostle
“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”
Paul the Apostle
“Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”
Paul the Apostle
“The only thing to do is to grin and bear it, to flinch as little as possible under the punishment, and to keep pegging steadily away until…”
Theodore Roosevelt
“Love is the only way to grasp another human being in the innermost core of his personality.”
Viktor Frankl

Courage

22 quotes on courage
“What makes you a man is not the ability to have a child — it is the courage to raise one.”
Barack Obama
“You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death to you.”
C.S. Lewis
“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken.”
C.S. Lewis
“He sees as well as you do that courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point, which means,…”
C.S. Lewis
“The man of virtue makes the difficulty to be overcome his first business, and success only a subsequent consideration: this may be called…”
Confucius
“Who stands fast? Only the man whose final standard is not his reason, his principles, his conscience, his freedom, or his virtue, but who…”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
“I would unite with anybody to do right; and with nobody to do wrong.”
Frederick Douglass
“If there is no struggle, there is no progress.”
Frederick Douglass
“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my…”
Isaiah (attributed)
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them…”
Jesus Christ
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”
Jesus Christ
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you…”
Joshua (attributed)
“for the righteous falls seven times and rises again, but the wicked stumble in calamity.”
King Solomon (attributed)
“Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.”
Marcus Aurelius
“The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.”
Marcus Aurelius
“Not to feel exasperated, or defeated, or despondent because your days aren't packed with wise and moral actions. But to get back up when…”
Marcus Aurelius
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
Martin Luther King Jr.
“I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way. But I have discovered the secret…”
Nelson Mandela
“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who…”
Nelson Mandela
“for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”
Paul the Apostle
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them…”
Theodore Roosevelt
“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms — to choose one's attitude in any given set of…”
Viktor Frankl

Guidance

22 quotes on guidance
“For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who…”
Author of Hebrews
“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art, like the universe itself. It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things…”
C.S. Lewis
“Love is something more stern and splendid than mere kindness.”
C.S. Lewis
“A young man should serve his parents at home and be respectful to elders outside his home. He should be earnest and truthful, loving all,…”
Confucius
“You've made this day a special day, by just your being you. There's no person in the whole world like you; and I like you just the way you…”
Fred Rogers
“Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them.”
James Baldwin
“The children are always ours, every single one of them, all over the globe; and I am beginning to suspect that whoever is incapable of…”
James Baldwin
“But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Joshua (attributed)
“As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.”
King David (attributed)
“Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.”
King Solomon (attributed)
“Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.”
King Solomon (attributed)
“Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of children is their fathers.”
King Solomon (attributed)
“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”
King Solomon (attributed)
“Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.”
King Solomon (attributed)
“Hear, my son, your father's instruction, and forsake not your mother's teaching, for they are a graceful garland for your head and…”
King Solomon (attributed)
“Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.”
Marcus Aurelius
“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly…”
Micah (attributed)
“And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them…”
Moses (attributed)
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
Nelson Mandela
“Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to…”
Paul the Apostle
“Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”
Paul the Apostle
“Long is the road through precepts, short and effective through examples.”
Seneca

Discipline

21 quotes on discipline
“For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who…”
Author of Hebrews
“According to Christian teachers, the essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride... it was through Pride that the devil became the devil:…”
C.S. Lewis
“The hardness of God is kinder than the softness of men, and His compulsion is our liberation.”
C.S. Lewis
“Love is something more stern and splendid than mere kindness.”
C.S. Lewis
“A youth, when at home, should be filial, and, abroad, respectful to his elders. He should be earnest and truthful.”
Confucius
“The prosecution of learning may be compared to what may happen in raising a mound. If there want but one basket of earth to complete the…”
Confucius
“'He that conquereth his own soul is greater than he who taketh a city.'... To this day I make it a practice to avoid hating anyone.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower
“The signs of one who is making progress are: he blames none, praises none, complains of none, accuses none.”
Epictetus
“'Get up,' says the trainer, 'and wrestle again, until you are made strong.'”
Epictetus
“The strong man is not the man who can do anything, but the man who can do the strongest thing.”
G.K. Chesterton
“Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.”
King Solomon (attributed)
“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”
King Solomon (attributed)
“Upon every action that thou art about, put this question to thyself; How will this when it is done agree with me? Shall I have no occasion…”
Marcus Aurelius
“If it be not fitting, do it not. If it be not true, speak it not.”
Marcus Aurelius
“Straight from infancy they ought to be taught that this is right and that is wrong... From this training understanding is developed in…”
Musonius Rufus
“The child who is trained properly... must be accustomed to endure hardship, not to fear death, not to be disheartened in the face of any…”
Musonius Rufus
“Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”
Paul the Apostle
“Virtue withers without an adversary.”
Seneca
“Athletic proficiency is a mighty good servant, and like so many other good servants, a mighty bad master.”
Theodore Roosevelt
“I care very much that you should have a really manly character; and next to character comes intellect.”
Theodore Roosevelt
“It is no use to preach to children if you do not act decently yourself.”
Theodore Roosevelt

Faith

21 quotes on faith
“You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death to you.”
C.S. Lewis
“The hardness of God is kinder than the softness of men, and His compulsion is our liberation.”
C.S. Lewis
“Who stands fast? Only the man whose final standard is not his reason, his principles, his conscience, his freedom, or his virtue, but who…”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
“but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary;…”
Isaiah (attributed)
“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my…”
Isaiah (attributed)
“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.…”
James (attributed)
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them…”
Jesus Christ
“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
Jesus Christ
“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
Jesus Christ
“Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then,…”
Jesus Christ
“We love because he first loved us.”
John the Apostle (attributed)
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you…”
Joshua (attributed)
“But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Joshua (attributed)
“As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.”
King David (attributed)
“Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways! You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be blessed,…”
King David (attributed)
“The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.”
King David (attributed)
“Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation.”
King David (attributed)
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make…”
King Solomon (attributed)
“Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or…”
Moses (attributed)
“for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”
Paul the Apostle
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”
Paul the Apostle

Perseverance

14 quotes on perseverance
“For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who…”
Author of Hebrews
“At fifteen my heart was set on learning; at thirty I stood firm; at forty I had no more doubts; at fifty I knew the will of heaven; at…”
Confucius
“If there is no struggle, there is no progress.”
Frederick Douglass
“but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary;…”
Isaiah (attributed)
“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.…”
James (attributed)
“for the righteous falls seven times and rises again, but the wicked stumble in calamity.”
King Solomon (attributed)
“At dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself: I have to go to work — as a human being. What do I have to complain of,…”
Marcus Aurelius
“The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.”
Marcus Aurelius
“Not to feel exasperated, or defeated, or despondent because your days aren't packed with wise and moral actions. But to get back up when…”
Marcus Aurelius
“I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way. But I have discovered the secret…”
Nelson Mandela
“Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and…”
Paul the Apostle
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”
Paul the Apostle
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them…”
Theodore Roosevelt
“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms — to choose one's attitude in any given set of…”
Viktor Frankl

Integrity

13 quotes on integrity
“He sees as well as you do that courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point, which means,…”
C.S. Lewis
“A young man should serve his parents at home and be respectful to elders outside his home. He should be earnest and truthful, loving all,…”
Confucius
“The man of virtue makes the difficulty to be overcome his first business, and success only a subsequent consideration: this may be called…”
Confucius
“The superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions.”
Confucius
“What we shall need is not geniuses, or cynics, or misanthropes, or clever tacticians, but plain, honest, straightforward men.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
“I would unite with anybody to do right; and with nobody to do wrong.”
Frederick Douglass
“No man can put a chain about the ankle of his fellow man without at last finding the other end fastened about his own neck.”
Frederick Douglass
“The righteous who walks in his integrity—blessed are his children after him!”
King Solomon (attributed)
“Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.”
King Solomon (attributed)
“The best revenge is not to be like your enemy.”
Marcus Aurelius
“No matter what anyone says or does, my task is to be good.”
Marcus Aurelius
“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly…”
Micah (attributed)
“But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than…”
Paul the Apostle

Forgiveness

12 quotes on forgiveness
“With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the…”
Abraham Lincoln
“If anyone would like to acquire humility, I can, I think, tell him the first step. The first step is to realise that one is proud.”
C.S. Lewis
“When you have faults, do not fear to abandon them.”
Confucius
“'He that conquereth his own soul is greater than he who taketh a city.'... To this day I make it a practice to avoid hating anyone.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower
“Above all, don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to such a pass that he cannot distinguish…”
Fyodor Dostoevsky
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.”
Jesus Christ
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”
Jesus Christ
“I for my part will be kind and loving unto all, and even unto him that hates me... ready to show his error, ingenuously and meekly.”
Marcus Aurelius
“I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way. But I have discovered the secret…”
Nelson Mandela
“bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must…”
Paul the Apostle
“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”
Paul the Apostle
“If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.”
Paul the Apostle

Anger

10 quotes on anger
“Some things are in our control and others not. Things in our control are opinion, pursuit, desire, aversion, and, in one word, whatever…”
Epictetus
“Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;”
James (attributed)
“A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.”
King Solomon (attributed)
“Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.”
King Solomon (attributed)
“Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.”
King Solomon (attributed)
“The best revenge is not to be like your enemy.”
Marcus Aurelius
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
Martin Luther King Jr.
“Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to…”
Paul the Apostle
“Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”
Paul the Apostle
“If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.”
Paul the Apostle

Peace

10 quotes on peace
“Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;”
James (attributed)
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them…”
Jesus Christ
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”
Jesus Christ
“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
Jesus Christ
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
Martin Luther King Jr.
“bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must…”
Paul the Apostle
“Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to…”
Paul the Apostle
“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”
Paul the Apostle
“If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.”
Paul the Apostle
“It is best to endure what you cannot change.”
Seneca

Sacrifice

9 quotes on sacrifice
“The typical example of Gift-love would be that love which moves a man to work and plan and save for the future well-being of his family…”
C.S. Lewis
“He who is bearing others knows that he himself is being borne, and only in this strength can he go on bearing.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
“Love in action is a harsh and dreadful thing compared with love in dreams. Love in dreams is greedy for immediate action... But active…”
Fyodor Dostoevsky
“Every one is really responsible to all men for all men and for everything.”
Fyodor Dostoevsky
“Each one of us ought to try to leave brothers rather than money to our children, so as to leave greater assurances of blessings.”
Musonius Rufus
“You have a brave and determined mummy who loves her people with all her heart. She gave up pleasure and comfort in return for a life full…”
Nelson Mandela
“Real leaders must be ready to sacrifice all for the freedom of their people.”
Nelson Mandela
“We should give as we would receive, cheerfully, quickly, and without hesitation; for there is no grace in a benefit that sticks to the…”
Seneca
“We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of…”
Viktor Frankl

Communication

8 quotes on communication
“The superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions.”
Confucius
“You've made this day a special day, by just your being you. There's no person in the whole world like you; and I like you just the way you…”
Fred Rogers
“Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;”
James (attributed)
“A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.”
King Solomon (attributed)
“Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to…”
Paul the Apostle
“Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”
Paul the Apostle
“If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.”
Paul the Apostle
“Love is the only way to grasp another human being in the innermost core of his personality.”
Viktor Frankl

Strength

8 quotes on strength
“but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary;…”
Isaiah (attributed)
“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my…”
Isaiah (attributed)
“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.…”
James (attributed)
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you…”
Joshua (attributed)
“To be like the rock that the waves keep crashing over. It stands unmoved and the raging of the sea falls still around it.”
Marcus Aurelius
“Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or…”
Moses (attributed)
“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who…”
Nelson Mandela
“Fire tests gold; adversity tests brave men.”
Seneca

Struggle

8 quotes on struggle
“You can not fail, if you resolutely determine, that you will not.”
Abraham Lincoln
“What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight—it's the size of the fight in the dog.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower
“From that moment, I understood the pathway from slavery to freedom... Though conscious of the difficulty of learning without a teacher, I…”
Frederick Douglass
“You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man.”
Frederick Douglass
“There's no encyclopedia or book about parenthood. You learn on the fly.”
LeBron James
“You suddenly find your tongue twisted... as you seek to explain to your six year old daughter why she can't go to the public amusement…”
Martin Luther King Jr.
“Difficulties break some men but make others. No axe is sharp enough to cut the soul of a sinner who keeps on trying, one armed with the…”
Nelson Mandela
“The only thing to do is to grin and bear it, to flinch as little as possible under the punishment, and to keep pegging steadily away until…”
Theodore Roosevelt

Letting_Go

5 quotes on letting_go
“Some things are in our control and others not. Things in our control are opinion, pursuit, desire, aversion, and, in one word, whatever…”
Epictetus
“Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself. They come through you but not from you,…”
Kahlil Gibran
“Claim yourself for yourself. Gather and save the time which till lately was being cut into, stolen from you, or had simply slipped away.”
Seneca
“Love is the only way to grasp another human being in the innermost core of his personality.”
Viktor Frankl
“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms — to choose one's attitude in any given set of…”
Viktor Frankl

Grief

4 quotes on grief
“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken.”
C.S. Lewis
“There remains an experience of incomparable value. We have for once learned to see the great events of world history from below, from the…”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
“The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.”
King David (attributed)
“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms — to choose one's attitude in any given set of…”
Viktor Frankl

Mindset

3 quotes on mindset
“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
Jesus Christ
“The things you think about determine the quality of your mind. Your soul takes on the color of your thoughts.”
Marcus Aurelius
“We suffer more in imagination than in reality.”
Seneca