Holidays & Occasions Father's Day 75 Best Father's Day Quotes For Dad The perfect way to fill a Father's Day card or Instagram caption. By Nellah Bailey McGough Nellah Bailey McGough Nellah McGough runs the day-to-day operations in the Southern Living Birmingham office, responds to reader questions and comments, manages freelancer contracts, and invoices. She is also the co-host (with Steve Bender) of Ask Grumpy Podcast. Southern Living's editorial guidelines Updated on May 26, 2024 Close Even though we should let Dad know how much we love him every day, Father's Day is really the time to step it up in the flattery department. Lucky for you, these Father's Day quotes have you covered. If you haven't gotten him a Father's Day gift yet, even sending him a simple text with one of these sweet quotes will make his day. It's time to plan ahead for Father's Day, and these quotes are the perfect way to show Dad your love and appreciation this year. 260 Best Dad Jokes That Are Actually Funny 01 of 10 Quotes To Show Appreciation Southern Living "Dads are most ordinary men turned by love into heroes, adventurers, story-tellers, and singers of song." – Pam Brown"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"A father is someone you look up to no matter how tall you grow." – Unknown“Only the best dads let their children fly. Only the most loved children will soar. Thank you for giving me wings.” – Unknown“It doesn’t matter who my father was; it matters who I remember he was.” – Anne Sexton 02 of 10 Funny Quotes About Dads Southern Living "My daughter got me a 'World's Best Dad' mug. So we know she's sarcastic." – Bob Odenkirk"There should be a children's song "If you're happy and you know it, keep it to yourself and let your dad watch the football game." – Jim Gaffigan, from Dad Is Fat“A father carries pictures where his money used to be.” – Steve Martin “I’ve been to war. I’ve raised twins. If I had a choice, I’d rather go to war.” –George W. Bush "By the time a man realizes that his father was right, he has a son who thinks he's wrong." – Charles Wadsworth "The older I get the smarter my father seems to get." – Tim Russert, from Big Russ & Me: Father & Son: Lessons of Life "Being a father is the single greatest feeling on earth. Not including those wonderful years I spent without a child, of course." – Ryan Reynolds “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 “Being a great father is like shaving. No matter how good you shaved today, you have to do it again tomorrow.” – Reed Markham 03 of 10 Quotes From Daughters Southern Living "To her, the name of father was another name for love." – Fanny Fern"To be the father of growing daughters is to understand something of what Yeats evokes with his imperishable phrase 'terrible beauty.' Nothing can make one so happily exhilarated or so frightened: it's a solid lesson in the limitations of self to realize that your heart is running around inside someone else's body." – Christopher Hitchens, from Hitch-22: A Memoir"I think my mom put it best. She said, 'Little girls soften their daddy's hearts.'" – Paul Walker"A little girl giggles when she is denied an ice-cream by her mother. She knows daddy will get her some later." – 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“Being a daddy’s girl is like having permanent armor for the rest of your life.” — Marinela Reka 04 of 10 Quotes From Sons Southern Living “Every father should remember that one day his son will follow his example rather than his advice.” – Charles F. Kettering"Anyone can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a dad, and that's why I call you dad, because you are so special to me. You taught me the game and you taught me how to play it right." – Wade Boggs"An almost perfect relationship with his father was the earthly root of all his wisdom." – C.S. Lewis, from Lilith“No love is greater than that of a father for his son.” – Dan Brown, from Angels and Demons"Lately all my friends are worried they're turning into their fathers. I'm worried I'm not." – Dan Zevin 05 of 10 Quotes About Lessons From Dad "My father taught me not to overthink things, that nothing will ever be perfect, so just keep moving and do your best…" – Scott Eastwood, to Town & Country "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, from Foucault's Pendulum "What my father especially taught me was to not always take the safe road, the easy road. If you are going to do good work, you have to risk failing badly." – Natasha Richardson "I have found the very best way to advise your children is to find out what they want to do and advise them to do it." – President Harry Truman "He was the first man in my life, the man who taught me how to love." – Jenna Bush Hager "My father is my rock. It's where I learned everything about loyalty, dependability, about being there day-in, day-out, no matter what." – Hugh Jackman "My dad raised me with some good advice: Always tell the truth. Always shoot from the hip. You might not have many friends, but you'll never have enemies, because people will always know where you're coming from." – Pink "My dad taught me that good health is all about living in gratitude." – Mariska Hargitay "In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since. 'Whenever you feel like criticizing any one,' he told me, 'just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had.'" – F. Scott Fitzgerald, from The Great Gatsby "I'd like to take this time to thank some people. I'll start with my mom and dad. My dad for…teaching me everything that I know. He still hasn't taught me everything he knows. But we'll keep working on that as time goes on." – Al Unser Jr. "My dad, like any coach, has always stressed the fundamentals. He taught me responsibility, accountability, and the importance of hard work." – Steve Young 06 of 10 Quotes For Father Figures "I hope I'm at least half the dad that he didn't have to be." – Brad Paisley“It’s not flesh and blood, but the heart which makes us fathers and sons.” – Johann Friedrich von Schiller "My stepdad may not have given me life, but he sure has made my life better." – Gerardo Campbell "Families don't have to match. You don't have to look like someone else to love them." – Leigh Anne Tuohy "He adopted a role called being a father so that his child would have something mythical and infinitely important: a protector." – Tom Wolfe 07 of 10 Quotes About Great Dads Southern Living "Dad: A son's first hero, a daughter's first love." – Unknown"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 Markham"He was there when I didn't understand, he was there when I was wrong, he was there when I cried, he was there when I lied. For some reason my dad was always there, when I needed him the most." – Michael Jordan"I am not ashamed to say that no man I ever met was my father's equal, and I never loved any man as much." – Hedy Lamarr"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"My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person: He believed in me." – Jim Valvano"A father is a man who expects his children to be as good as he meant to be." – Carol Coats"To the world, you are a dad. But to our family, you are the world." – Unknown 08 of 10 Quotes About The Joys Of Fatherhood Southern Living "Daddies don't just love their children every now and then, it's a love without end." – George Strait "The only way I can describe [fatherhood]—it sounds stupid, but—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, to Parade "Being a parent is the single most challenging thing I've ever done/continue to do, but it's also far and away the greatest joy in my life. It has given me purpose, taught me patience, and expanded my heart." – Neil Patrick Harris, via Instagram "A father is the one friend upon whom we can always rely." – Emile Gaboriau, from File Number 113 And The Little Old Man Of Batignolles "No music is so pleasant to my ears as that word—father." – Lydia Maria Child, from Philothea: A Grecian Romance "Never is a man more of a man than when he is the father of a newborn." – Matthew McConaughey "It's the courage to raise a child that makes you a father." – Barack Obama "That's my job, that's what I do. Everything I do is because of you. To keep you safe with me, that's my job, you see." – Conway Twitty "Of all the titles I've been privileged to have, 'Dad' has always been the best." – Ken Norton “Blessed indeed is the man who hears many gentle voices call him father.” – Lydia Maria Child "I've jumped out of helicopters and done some daring stunts and played baseball in a professional stadium, but none of it means anything compared to being somebody's daddy." – Chris Pratt 09 of 10 Father's Day Quotes For New Dads "A good father is one of the most unsung, unpraised, unnoticed, and yet one of the most valuable assets in our society." – Billy Graham"There is no such thing as a perfect parent. So just be a real one." – Sue Atkins"There really are places in the heart you don't even know exist until you have a child.” – Anne Lamott“We never know the love of the parent until we become parents ourselves.” – Henry Ward Beecher"Your kids require you most of all to love them for who they are, not to spend your whole time trying to correct them." – Bill Ayers“Parenthood…it’s about guiding the next generation and forgiving the last.” – Peter Krause“The reward of child rearing is spending the rest of your life proudly knowing this person you helped guide.” – Mike Sager“What makes you a man is not the ability to make a child, it’s the courage to raise one.” – Barack Obama 10 of 10 Short Father's Day Quotes Southern Living "One father is more than a hundred schoolmasters." – George Herbert“For every dream that has taken flight, there’s a father who believed.” – Jennifer Fujita“When you teach your son, you teach your son's son.” – The Talmud“A dad makes sure all his campers are happy campers.” – Bill Whitehead“It is a wise father that knows his own child.” – William Shakespeare“Every son quotes his father, in words and in deeds.” – Terri Guillements“Great fathers don’t find fault. Great fathers find solutions.” – Reed Markham Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit