150 Inspiring Father’s Day Quotes to Thank Dad

Dads sometimes take the backseat to the adoration that moms get showered with on Mother’s Day. But our father’s influence forms us every bit as much (and as we know they always want to be in the driver’s seat).

Personally, if I had to choose one person that has had the most profound impact on who I am, how I act, how I think, and who I strive to be, it would be my father.

The best lesson he instilled in his only daughter was that being smart was much more important than being pretty. And even though I’m no Mensa member, that nugget of wisdom tells me I’m a chip off a pretty smart cookie.

As much as I idealized my dad, I know he wasn’t perfect, but as a daddy’s girl down to the core, in my eyes he was pretty dang close. Fathers can inspire reverence like that.

And after watching my husband become a dad, I have a whole new appreciation for the struggles and sacrifice it takes to be a good father. It’s not all dad jokes, bike riding lessons, and being Mr. Fixit around the house.

―It’s having a whole family’s quality of life sitting on your shoulders.

―It’s always making sure the kids have what they need to get the best leg up on life, whether it’s gymnastic lessons or college educations without any student debt.

―It’s continuing to give your best life lessons even though you feel they’re falling on deaf ears and rolling eyeballs.

A lot of dads don’t do the mushy stuff well, but they love hearing that they’re appreciated just as much as moms. So Father’s Day is a perfect time to express our gratitude in a special way to the men who have shaped our lives and silently sacrificed for us. Telling Dad how you feel is the best Father’s Day gift and one he’ll treasure.

• “A father’s words are like a thermostat that sets the temperature in the house.”
  —Paul Lewis
• “The quality of a father can be seen in the goals, dreams and aspirations he sets not only for himself, but for his family.” —Reed B. Markham
• “[My father] didn’t tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it.” —Clarence B. Kelland

Funny Father’s Day Quotes.

• “When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.” ―Mark Twain
• “Just taught my kids about taxes by eating 38% of their ice cream.” ―Conan O’Brien
• “A father carries pictures where his money used to be.” ―Steve Martin

“You can tell what was the best year of your father’s life, because they seem to freeze that clothing style and ride it out.” ―Jerry Seinfeld

• “I have found the best way to give advice to your children is to find out what they want and then advise them to do it.”―Harry S. Truman
• “Dad taught me everything I know. Unfortunately, he didn’t teach me everything he knows.” ―Al Unser

• “The older I get, the smarter my father seems to get.” ―Tim Russert
• “If at first you don’t succeed, call Dad.” ―Unknown
• “I think every kid thinks their dad is goofy. Even Johnny Depp’s kid must be like, ‘Oh my god, my dad with those freakin’ scarves. This isn’t a pirate ship; it’s a Costco, Dad.’” —Judd Apatow

Sentimental Father’s Day Quotes.

• “My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me.” —Jim Valvano
• “To be the father of a nation is a great honor, but to be the father of a family is a greater joy.” —Nelson Mandela
• “Father: a son’s first hero, and a daughter’s first love.” —Unknown

• “A father is neither an anchor to hold us back, nor a sail to take us there, but a guiding light whose love shows us the way.” —Unknown
• “In times of trouble you can count on yourself. In times of disaster you can count on your friends. In times of sorrow you can count on your Father.” —William C. Richardson
• “Everyone can be a father, but it takes a lot to be a dad.” —Wade Boggs

“I think back to the day I drove Michelle and a newborn Malia home from the hospital nearly 13 years ago-crawling along, miles under the speed limit, feeling the weight of my daughter’s future resting in my hands. I think about the pledge I made to her that day: that I would give her what I never had-that if I could be anything in life, I would be a good father. I knew that day that my own life wouldn’t count for much unless she had every opportunity in hers.” —Barack Obama

• “I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father’s protection.” —Sigmund Freud
• “[My father] has always provided me a safe place to land and a hard place from which to launch.” —Chelsea Clinton
• “My father is my rock. It’s where I learned everything about loyalty, dependability, being there day in, day out, no matter what.” —Hugh Jackman

• “It’s only when you grow up and step back from him — or leave him for your own home — it’s only then that you can measure his greatness and fully appreciate it.” —Margaret Truman
• “The thrill of being a great father is not seeing your children go on to become successful adults. The thrill of a great father is the journey, experiencing your child’s successes along the pathway to their greatness.” —Reed Markham
• “It was times like these when I thought my father, who hated guns and had never been to any wars, was the bravest man who ever lived.” —Harper Lee, To Kill A Mockingbird

“I believe that what we become depends on what our fathers teach us at odd moments, when they aren’t trying to teach us. We are formed by little scraps of wisdom.” —Umberto Eco

• “A man’s worth is measured by how he parents his children. What he gives them, what he keeps away from them, the lessons he teaches, and the lessons he allows them to learn on their own.” —Lisa Rogers
• “The imprint of a father remains forever on the life of the child.” —Roy Lessin
• “When you need real understanding, When you need someone to care, When you need someone to guide you — A father’s always there.” —Thomas J. Langley

• “A truly rich man is one whose children run into his arms when his hands are empty.” —Unknown
• “Nothing has brought me more peace and content in life than simply being a good husband and father.” —Frank Abagnale

Quotes From Daughters To Dads.

• “There’s something like a line of gold thread running through a man’s words when he talks to his daughter, and gradually over the years, it gets to be long enough for you to pick up in your hands and weave into a cloth that feels like love itself.” —John Gregory Brown
• “My fingers may be small but I’ve got my daddy wrapped around them.” —Unknown
• “She did not stand alone, but what stood behind her, the most potent moral force in her life, was the love of her father.” —Harper Lee, Go Set a Watchman

• “Every girl dreams about living the life of a princess. I have never dreamed of that because I have always been treated like a princess by you.” —Unknown
• “Being a daddy’s girl is like having permanent armor for the rest of your life.” —Marinela Reka
• “A daughter can turn the hardest man into the world’s biggest softy. A dude could be a straight up gangster, but around his little girl he becomes a teddy bear.” —Unknown

“It is admirable for a man to take his son fishing, but there is a special place in heaven for the father who takes his daughter shopping.” —John Sinor

• “A daughter may outgrow your lap but she’ll never outgrow your heart.” —Unknown
• “A daughter needs a dad to be the standard against which she will judge all men.” —Unknown
• “To her, the name of father was another name for love.” —Fanny Fern

• “A father holds his daughter’s hand for a short while but he holds her heart forever.” —Unknown
• “To a father growing old, nothing is dearer than a daughter.” —Euripides
• “Behind every great daughter is a truly amazing father.” —Unknown
• “A man’s daughter is his heart. Just with feet, walking out in the world.” —Mat Johnson

“A father’s job isn’t to teach his daughter how to be a lady, it’s to teach her how a lady should be treated.” —Unknown

• “A girl’s father is the first man in her life, and probably the most influential.” —David Jeremiah
• “No man I ever met was my father’s equal, and I never loved any other man as much.” —Hedy Lamarr
• “Fathers, be good to your daughters. You are the god and the weight of her world.” —John Mayer, Daughters

• “It was my father who taught me to value myself. He told me that I was uncommonly beautiful and that I was the most precious thing in his life.” —Dawn French
• “Certain is it that there is no kind of affection so purely angelic as of a father to a daughter. In love to our wives there is desire; to our sons, ambition; but to our daughters there is something which there are no words to express.” —Joseph Addison

Quotes From Sons To Fathers.

• “Lately all my friends are worried they’re turning into their fathers. I’m worried I’m not.” —Dan Zevin
• “Every father should remember that one day his son will follow his example instead of his advice.” —Charles F. Kettering
• “Every son quotes his father, in words and in deeds.” —Terri Guillemets

• “When a father gives to his son, both laugh; when a son gives to his father, both cry.” —Yiddish Proverb
• “By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he’s wrong.” —Charles Wadsworth
• “You don’t raise heroes, you raise sons. And if you treat them like sons, they’ll turn out to be heroes, even if it’s just in your own eyes.” —Wally Schirra

“My father used to play with my brother and me in the yard. Mother would come out and say, ‘You’re tearing up the grass.’ ‘We’re not raising grass,’ Dad would reply. ‘We’re raising boys.'” —Harmon Killebrew

• “Daddy, you are as smart as Ironman, as strong as the Hulk, as fast as Superman, as brave as Batman. You are my favorite superhero.” —Unknown
• “Every son’s first superhero is his father, and it was the same for me. For me, he was Superman and Batman combined.” —Tiger Shroff
• “There must always be a struggle between a father and son, while one aims at power and the other at independence.” —Samuel Johnson

• “Small boys become big men through the influence of big men who care about small boys.” —Unknown
• “The father who does not teach his son his duties is equally guilty with the son who neglects them.” —Confucius
• “When you teach your son, you teach your son’s son. ” —The Talmud

Quotes About Fathers From Movies and Songs.

• “Daddies don’t just love their children every now and then, it’s a love without end.” —George Strait, Love without End, Amen
• “He loved us all and we knew it, though he showed it in a very funny way. For most of the time he was a-cussin’ and fussin,’ when he said what he had to say.” —Gladys Knight & The Pips, Daddy Could Swear, I Declare

“And if the story was told, only heaven knows. But his hat seemed to me, like an old halo. And although his wings they were never seen, I thought that he walked on water.” —Randy Travis, He Walked on Water

• “Hey you, anything happens to my daughter, I got a .45 and a shovel. I doubt anybody would miss you.” —Dan Hedaya, Clueless
• “They don’t make men like my daddy anymore. Guess they’ve thrown away the pattern through the years. In a great big land of freedom at a time we really need ’em, They don’t make ’em like my daddy anymore.” —Loretta Lynn, They Don’t Make ‘Em Like My Daddy Anymore

• “There’s no such thing as ready. You just jump on a moving train and you try not to die.” —Chris Rock, What to Expect When You’re Expecting
• “I learned from you that I do not crumble. I learned that strength is something you choose.” —Miley Cyrus and Billy Ray Cyrus, I Learned From You
• “Dad, you taught me everything I know about exterior illumination.” —Chevy Chase, Christmas Vacation

• “No one loves me just like you do. No one knows me just like you do. No one can compare to the way my eyes fit in yours. You’ll always be my father, and I’ll always be your joy.” —Chrisette Michele, Your Joy
• “There will always be a few people who have the courage to love what is untamed inside us. One of those men is my father.” —Alison Lohman, Flicka

Quotes for fathers in heaven.

• “It doesn’t matter who my father was; it matters who I remember he was.” —Anne Sexton
• “Dad, your guiding hand on my shoulder will remain with me forever.” —Unknown

• “My father died many years ago, and yet when something special happens to me, I talk to him secretly not really knowing whether he hears, but it makes me feel better to half believe it.” —Natasha Josefowitz
• “Papa, how I love you. Papa, how I need you. Papa, how I miss you kissing me goodnight.” —Barbara Streisand, Yentl

“If I could get another chance, another walk, another dance with him. I’d play a song that would never ever end. How I’d love, love, love to dance with my father again.” —Luther Vandross, Dance With My Father

• “I remember Daddy’s hands, how they held my momma tight and patted my back for something done right. There are things that I’ve forgotten that I loved about the man, but I’ll always remember the love in Daddy’s hands.” —Holly Dunn, Daddy’s Hands

Quotes For Stepfathers, Uncles, and Father Figures.

• “It is not flesh and blood but the heart which makes us fathers and sons.” —Friedrich von Schiller
• “You don’t choose your family. They are God’s gift to you.” —Desmond Tutu

• “Any man can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a dad.” —Anne Geddes
• “It is easier for a father to have children than for children to have a real father.” —Pope John XXIII

“Any fool can have a child. That doesn’t make you a father. It’s the courage to raise a child that makes you a father.” —Barack Obama

• “And then, all of a sudden, oh it seemed so strange to me, How we went from something’s missing to a family. Looking back, all I can say about all the things he did for me, Is, I hope I’m at least half the dad that he didn’t have to be.” —Brad Paisley, He Didn’t Have to Be

First Father’s Day Quotes.

• “The guys who fear becoming fathers don’t understand that fathering is not something perfect men do, but something that perfects the man. The end product of child-raising is not the child but the parent.” —Frank Pittman
• “On our 6 a.m. walk, my daughter asked where the moon goes each morning. I let her know it’s in heaven visiting Daddy’s freedom.” —Ryan Reynolds

• “A man is not complete until he has seen the baby he has made.” —Sammy Davis, Jr.
• “The nature of fatherhood is that you’re doing something that you’re unqualified to do, and then you become qualified when you do it.” —John Green

“Never is a man more of a man than when he is the father of a newborn.” —Matthew McConaughey

• “The only way I can describe fatherhood is at the end of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, you know how his heart grows like five times? Everything is full; it’s just full all the time.” —Matt Damon
• “Fatherhood is the greatest thing that could ever happen. You can’t explain it until it happens; it’s like telling somebody what water feels like before they’ve ever swam in it.” — Michael Bublé

Quotes For Grandfathers.

• “To a small child, the perfect granddad is unafraid of big dogs and fierce storms, but absolutely terrified of the word boo.” —Robert Brault
• “Every generation revolts against its fathers and makes friends with its grandfathers.” —Lewis Mumford

• “A grandfather is someone with silver in his hair and gold in his heart.” —Unknown
• “One of the most powerful handclasps is that of a new grandbaby around the finger of a grandfather.” —Joy Hargrove
• “Grandfathers are for loving and fixing things.” —Unknown

• “Grandpas bring a little wisdom, happiness, warmth and love to every life they touch.” —Unknown
• “My grandfather always said that living is like licking honey off a thorn.” —Louis Adamic
• “Great fathers get promoted to grandfathers.” —Joseph Marshall III

Religious Father’s Day Quotes.

• “Blessed indeed is the man who hears many gentle voices call him father!” —Lydia M. Child
• “Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.” —Psalm 127:3-5
• “Father! – to God himself we cannot give a holier name.” —William Wordsworth

• “Children’s children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children.” —Proverbs 17:6
• “Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the Lord your God is giving you.” —Deuteronomy 5:16
• “So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.” —Luke 15:20

Fathers may not always have the right words, but they have an infinite supply of unconditional love, good advice, and goofy jokes. And hopefully you’ve found the perfect words in this collection of quotes about fathers for a heartfelt message that’s as special as the dad in your life. 💗

Wishing your favorite dads a very happy Father’s Day,

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