Father's Day Quotes: 45+ Heartfelt Sayings about Dads

Famous Father's Day Quotes from Literature and History

Some of the best Father's Day quotes were not written for Father's Day at all — they come from plays, novels, speeches and letters by some of the most celebrated writers and figures in history. These are the quotes that lend a card or a tribute a touch of weight and timelessness.

“It is a wise father that knows his own child.”

— William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice

“Father! — to God himself we cannot give a holier name.”

— William Wordsworth

“None of you can ever be proud enough of being the child of SUCH a Father who has not his equal in this world — so great, so good, so faultless. Try, all of you, to follow in his footsteps and don't be discouraged, for to be really in everything like him none of you, I am sure, will ever be. Try, therefore, to be like him in some points, and you will have acquired a great deal.”

— Queen Victoria

“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

“A man knows when he is growing old because he begins to look like his father.”

— Gabriel García Márquez

“I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father's protection.”

— Sigmund Freud

“It is not flesh and blood but the heart which makes us fathers and sons.”

— Johann Schiller

“By profession I am a soldier, and take pride in that fact. But I am prouder, infinitely prouder, to be a father.”

— General Douglas MacArthur

Heartfelt Father's Day Quotes about a Dad's Love

These are the quotes for when you want to say something tender — the lines that capture a father's quiet, steady love and the way it shapes a child's life.

“Dads are most ordinary men turned by love into heroes, adventurers, storytellers, and singers of song.”

— Pam Brown

“A good father is one of the most unsung, unpraised, unnoticed, and yet one of the most valuable assets in our society.”

— Billy Graham

“You didn't tell me how to live; you lived, and let me watch you do it.”

— Clarence Budington Kelland

“Be kind to thy father, for when thou wert young,
Who loved thee so fondly as he?
He caught the first accents that fell from thy tongue,
And joined in thy innocent glee.”

— Margaret Courtney

“Blessed indeed is the man who hears many gentle voices call him father!”

— Lydia M. Child

“To her, the name of father was another name for love.”

— Fanny Fern

“A father is the one friend upon whom we can always rely.”

— Émile Gaboriau

“My father didn't do anything unusual. He only did what dads are supposed to do — be there.”

— Max Lucado

“Until you have a son of your own, you will never know the joy, the love beyond feeling that resonates in the heart of a father as he looks upon his son.”

— Kent Nerburn

“One night a father overheard his son pray: 'Dear God, make me the kind of man my Daddy is.' Later that night, the father prayed, 'Dear God, make me the kind of man my son wants me to be.'”

— Anonymous

Inspirational Father's Day Quotes about Fatherhood

Quotes about fatherhood at its best — the wisdom, the patience, the unseen sacrifices. Good for cards, speeches and tributes.

“The power of a dad in a child's life is unmatched.”

— Justin Ricklefs

“Any man can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a dad.”

— Anne Geddes

“When you teach your son, you teach your son's son.”

— The Talmud

“My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person — he believed in me.”

— Jim Valvano

“Every father should remember that one day his son will follow his example instead of his advice.”

— Charles Kettering

“Sometimes the poorest man leaves his children the richest inheritance.”

— Ruth E. Renkel

“When my father didn't have my hand, he had my back.”

— Linda Poindexter

“When I was a kid, my father told me every day, 'You're the most wonderful boy in the world, and you can do anything you want to.'”

— Jan Hutchins

“The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother.”

— Theodore Hesburgh

“The greatest mark of a father is how he treats his children when no one is looking.”

— Dan Pearce

Funny Father's Day Quotes

Sometimes a laugh says more than a sigh. These funny Father's Day quotes have been making families chuckle for years.

“A father carries pictures where his money used to be.”

— Steve Martin

“If my father had hugged me even once, I'd be an accountant right now.”

— Ray Romano

“By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he's wrong.”

— Charles Wadsworth

“Lately all my friends are worried they're turning into their fathers. I'm worried I'm not.”

— Dan Zevin

“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

“There must always be a struggle between a father and son, while one aims at power and the other at independence.”

— Samuel Johnson

“I don't care how poor a man is; if he has family, he's rich.”

— Dan Wilcox

“Becoming a dad is one thing — being a dad is many things.”

— Steve Chapman

“You fathers will understand. You have a little girl. She looks up to you. You're her oracle. You're her hero. And then the day comes when she gets her first permanent wave and goes to her first real party, and from that day on, you're in a constant state of panic.”

— Stanley T. Banks

Short Father's Day Quotes Perfect for Cards and Captions

Short Father's Day quotes are the workhorses of cards, gift tags and Instagram captions. These are pithy, easy to remember, and easy to share.

“A father is someone you look up to no matter how tall you grow.”

— Unknown

“Dad: a son's first hero, a daughter's first love.”

— Unknown

“Behind every great daughter is a truly amazing dad.”

— Unknown

“Old as she was, she still missed her daddy sometimes.”

— Gloria Naylor

“I am not ashamed to say that no man I ever met was my father's equal, and I never loved any other man as much.”

— Hedy Lamarr

“I have never been a material girl. My father always told me never to love anything that cannot love you back.”

— Imelda Marcos

“My father gave me my dreams. Thanks to him, I could see a future.”

— Liza Minnelli

“I've had a hard life, but my hardships are nothing against the hardships that my father went through in order to get me to where I started.”

— Bartrand Hubbard

“Babies don't need fathers, but mothers do. Someone who is taking care of a baby needs to be taken care of.”

— Amy Heckerling

“Better to be driven out from among men than to be disliked of children.”

— Richard Henry Dana