“Dad worked in a warehouse when I was little and I didn't see him for three years as he was doing all the overtime God gave him to buy me new ballet shoes, or a new tutu.”
Fatherhood does not come with a manual, which is probably why so many people have tried to write about it. These quotes cover the pride, worry, humor, and fierce love that come with being a dad — or having one who shaped who you became.
“Baseball is the president tossing out the first ball of the season. And a scrubby schoolboy playing catch with his dad on a Mississippi farm.”
“Dad worked in a warehouse when I was little and I didn't see him for three years as he was doing all the overtime God gave him to buy me new ballet shoes, or a new tutu.”
“You have to respect your parents. They are giving you an at-bat. If you're an entrepreneur and go into the family business, you want to grow fast. Patience is important. But respect the other party... My dad and I pulled it off because we really respect each other.”
“My dad says I could sing before I could talk, if that's possible. I was always humming and things like that.”
“My dad used to say, 'Just because you dress up in a coat and tie, it doesn't influence your intelligence.'”
“My dad used to say to me, 'You look more like me than I do.'”
“My mother always taught me, even my dad, just never let other people's opinions of you shape your opinion of yourself. And I never have and I never will.”
“My dad always said, 'Champ, the measure of a man is not how often he is knocked down, but how quickly he gets up.'”
“Also for me it was different because I play a lot of villains and in this one I play a dad and I play a good guy, basically. He's the Secretary of the Treasury. I never had a job like that.”
“My dad was a militant atheist, or is a militant atheist. My mum was sort of bought up in a religious family because she was a Protestant from Ireland but wasn't especially religious.”
“My dad always used to tell me that if they challenge you to an after-school fight, tell them you won't wait-you can kick their ass right now.”
“I go off and make movies I come home, and I'm a dad and I hang with my girls.”
“I know that I will never find my father in any other man who comes into my life, because it is a void in my life that can only be filled by him.”
“I was into the Mets because my Dad worked at IBM where he got free Mets tickets, so I was into the Mets... then I got to 'Saturday Night Live' where my boss has unbelievable N.Y. Yankees tickets, so he invites us to the games. I'm going to all the games, so I might as well root for the team I'm gonna go sit with.”
“Music was always the distraction, so it was the obvious choice to pursue. My dad always said to find a job I love to do, that way it wouldn't feel like a job. So I did that.”
“I met Gemma, my wife, when she was 12. She had a schoolgirl crush on me and her dad had arranged for her to meet me. Later, she started coming to my concerts, but I only got to know her well after her mother died. I rang to see how she was, and that's how it started.”