Quotes on fathers, for fathers, by fathers etc.

Tips I've collected through the years.


"There is no better place to build faith than in the home, where the lessons and practical applications are realized and lived day to day." Elder Francisco J. Vinas		"I could always communicate with my father. He did not chit-chat, but he always gave good counsel. He was solid, had good judgment, was great on the basics. He never pretended to be something that he was not. Even though his work often took him away from home, I had the feeling he was always there. He was my security." Karen Haight Huntsman, daughter of Elder Haight
	"Without this one-on-one counseling together with out children, they are prone to believe that Dad and Mom, or Grandpa and Grandma don't understand or care about the challenges they are facing. As we listen with love and refrain from interrupting, the Spirit will help us learn how we can be of help to our children and teach them." Elder Robert D. Hales
	"As parent, teachers, and leaders of children our future depends on our pouring our lives into them, taking the time to complete the mentoring task of handing over the baton of values." Dave Ramsey
"We hear of fathers who financially neglect their own families. We say to men and women everywhere, if you bring children into the world, it is your solemn obligation to do all within your power to provide for them. No man is fit to be called a man who gathers around himself cars, boats, and other possessions while neglecting the sacred financial obligations he has to his own wife and children. Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin
			"A child's father is typically the first male to write his thoughts and felling on his child's heart." Dr. James Schaller
"Now more than ever, when we see that the family is at the center of attacks from the forces of evil-as in the days of the prophet Mormon, when 'the power of the evil one was wrought upon all the face of the land' (Mormon 1:19)-it is necessary for us as parents to incorporate these principles into our lives in order to radiate their influence and for this influence to be perceived by our children." Elder Francisco J. Vinas			"When a man refuses to act like a man his wife will act like his mother." Ed Cole

"It is in the home where fathers and mothers can teach provident living to their children. Sharing of tasks and helping one another set a pattern for future families as children grow, marry, and leave home. These lessons learned in the home are those that last the longest." President Thomas S. Monson

"Our wives are often inspired but sometimes in counterintuitive ways-a reality, young men, which your fathers may be brave enough to explain to you sometime." Elder Neal A. Maxwell		"Commitment is turning your heart more toward your family, locking your heart on the relationships that matter. If you want to fix our families, to shore up your children .. you must start with recommitment. Let the recommitment start in your heart, and then you will be capable of sending it out through your words and your eyes to reassure and bless the lives of those you love most." Linda and Richard Eyre
	"Many parents consider the games and the camps and the clubs as their family time. They are with their kids, taking them places, watching them. But these are poor substitutes for the old traditional kids of family time. There is little interaction between and about family members. Attention is focused on competition and comparing rather than on cooperation and communication, and the logistics and expenses of getting to every thing, outfitting for everything, paying for everything create their share of stress sand family tensions." Linda and Richard Eyre
"There is no substitute for regular conversation. It is the vehicle whereby father and child discuss thoughts, feelings, ideas, desires, and decisions. It is where a child learns of a father's history and a father teaches his values. It is where a child asks questions and receives answers, where a father gives encouragement and plants ideas. Conversation is one of the essential tools of fathering, and in a functional family, the father uses it regularly." Gary Chapman in "Five Signs of a Loving Family"
	"The poorest shack in which love prevails over a united family is of far greater value to God and future humanity than any other riches. In such a home God can work miracles, and will work miracles. Pure hearts in a pure home are always in whispering distance of Heaven." President David O. McKay
	"Loving, protecting, and nurturing our children are among the most sacred and eternally important things we will do. Worldly belongings will vanish, today's number-one movie or song will be irrelevant tomorrow, but a son or daughter is eternal." Elder W. Douglas Shumway
"I could always communicate with my father. He did not chit-chat, but he always gave good counsel. He was solid, had good judgment, was great on the basics. He never pretended to be something that he was not. Even though his work often took him away from home, I had the feeling he was always there. He was my security." Karen Haight Huntsman, daughter of Elder Haight			"Put your homes in order...Then expect to have inspiration, which is revelation. Expect intervention from power from beyond the veil to help you move, in due time, to what is best for your family." President Boyd K. Packer
"Find happiness in ordinary things, and keep you sense of humor" President Boyd K. Packer			"The home is the ultimate career. All other careers exist for one purpose and that is to support the ultimate career." C.S. Lewis
	"..[C]ommunication takes time. And in this busy world of over commitment and trying to do everything, it is the time for needed relationships that is so often lost. We trade relationships for achievements. We trade communication for busyness. We trade time spent talking for time spent running around and trying to keep up with all those we view as competitors. These are always bad trade-offs, but we get in the habit of doing them." Linda and Richard Eyre
"Although the adversary seeks to destroy the key elements necessary for a happy marriage and a righteous family, let me assure you that the gospel of Jesus Christ provides the tools and teachings necessary to combat and conquer the assailant in this war. If we will but honor our marriages by imparting more love and selflessness to our spouses; nurture our children through gentle persuasion and the expert teacher we call example; and fortify the spirituality of our families through consistent family home evening, prayer, and scriptures study, I testify to you that the living Savior, Jesus Christ, will guide us and grant us victory in our efforts to achieve and eternal family unit." Elder W. Douglas Shumway
`"`Character is not a gift. It is a conquest, and its kingdom lies upstream. It is never reached by drifting." Reverend Dale Turner		"Your most important friendship should be with your own brothers and sisters and with your father and mother. Love your family." Ezra Taft Benson
"Satan, in his carefully devised plan to destroy the family, seeks to diminish the role of fathers, increased youth violence, youth crime, greater poverty and economic insecurity, and the failure of increasing numbers of children in our schools offer clear evidence of lack of a positive influence of fathers in the homes. A family needs a father to anchor it." Elder L. Tom Perry
"A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination." Nelson Mandela		"Permanence, perseverance and persistence in spite of all obstacles, discouragements, and impossibilities: It is this, that in all things distinguishes the strong soul from the weak." Thomas Carlyle
	"During the past few decades, Satan has waged a vigorous campaign to belittle and demean this basic and most important of all organizations. His success is becoming increasingly evident-the grim facts are seen, reported, and heard about daily and involve the collapse of many family units. With the decay of the family, we see the terrible effects on our society-increased crime, behavior disorders, poverty, drug abuse, and the list continues to grow and grow. "It appears to me that the crosshairs of Satan's scope are centered on husbands and fathers. Today's media, for example, have been relentless in their attacks-ridiculing and demeaning husbands and fathers in their God-given roles." Elder L. Tom Perry
"Today we are witnessing an unending assault on marriage and the family. They seem to be the adversary's prime targets for belittlement and destruction. In a society where marriage is often shunned, parenthood avoided, and families degraded, we have the responsibility to honor our marriages, nurture our children, and fortify our families." Elder W. Douglas Shumway
	"Fathers, by divine decree, you are to preside over your family units. This is a sobering responsibility and the most important one you will ever assume, for it is an eternal responsibility. You place the family in its proper priority. It's the part of your life that will endure beyond the grave. I testify that the following statement is true: 'The position which men occupy in the family, and especially those who hold the Melchizedek Priesthood, is one of first importance and should be clearly recognized and maintained in the order and with the authority which God conferred upon man in placing him at the head of his household. 'There is no higher authority in matters relating to the family organization, and especially when that organization is presided over by one holding the higher priesthood, then that of the father.." Elder L. Tom Perry
"The way of a superior man is three-fold: Virtuous, he is free from anxieties; wise, he is free from perplexities; bold, he is free from fear." Confucius
"Parents, today more than ever, need clear and specific goals and plans for their families. We need an offense good enough that we're not forced to constantly react and to rely always on our defense. The best offense in today's world is a plan for teaching our children values that will protect them, maximize their chances to be happy, and avoid some of the problems for which you would need more defense." Linda and Richard Eyre			"Nothing is so strong as gentleness; nothing so gentle as real strength." St. Francis de Salis
	"Learn to think of your job and your work as something you do to support your family rather than the other way around. Balance your life and your thinking by working as hard on family goals and plans as you do on career goals and plans. Remind yourself that inner relationships last longer and have more ultimate value than outer achievements." Linda and Richard Eyre
"President Thomas S. Monson reminds us: 'The mantle of leadership is not the cloak of comfort, but the role of responsibility...Youth needs fewer critics and more models [to follow]. One hundred year from now it will not matter what kind of car we drove, what kind of a house we lived in, how much we had in the bank account, nor what our clothes looked lie. But the world may be a little better because we were important in the life of a boy or a girl" (Pathways to Perfection [1973], 131)." Elder W. Douglas Shumway			"Men and women aren't equal, they are complementary." Dave Ramsey
"To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift." Steve Roland Prefontaine		"One thing is very clear; the safest place and the best protection against the moral and spiritual diseases is a stable home and family. This has always been true; it will be true forever. We must keep that foremost in our minds." President Boyd K. Packer
"Like Jochebed, we raise our families in a wicked and hostile world-a world as dangerous as the courts of Egypt ruled by Pharoah. But, like Jochebed, we also weave around our children a protective basket-a vessel called 'the family'-and guide them to safe places where our teachings can be reinforced in the home and at church." Elder Robert D. Hales
	"Principles like faith, repentance, love, forgiveness, and prayer, lived in the process I just described, become the best vaccine to combat the disease of sin, which can manifest itself in families in different ways, such as immorality, pride, envy, contention, abuse, and other practices that affect family relationships and that result in pain, deception, and the breakup of family ties." Elder Francisco J. Vinas
"Parenting is no longer something that can be done by instinct and reaction. It requires an offense and a strategy. But the good news I that this kind of positive, strategic parenting is both fulfilling and fun. Once parents understand what they are up against and have some clear ideas concerning what to do about it, raising children and creating strong families today can be the most fascinating and the most rewarding part of our lives." Linda and Richard Eyre			"No person was ever honored for what he received. Honor has been the reward for what he gave." Calvin Coolidge
"Adults who did not receive a positive self-image from their fathers when they were children may feel insecure for a lifetime. Those who did receive positive, supportive messages from their dads will usually be strong even in the midst of adversity." Gary Chapman in "Five Signs of a Loving Family"
	"Another very important message is the need to strengthen and safeguard our families. Far too many families are breaking up. This heartbreaking trend has an endless train of consequences. Happiness in marriage begins with husband and wife living together in love, kindness, and mutual respect, walking righteously and humbly before the Lord. It is contingent on being faithful to all vows and covenants." President James E. Faust
"In 'early life' we fall in love, start families, and know the joys and sorrows that come with the risks of committed, caring relationships. In midlife we grow impatient, disillusioned, or just tired, and allow some combination of selfishness, foolishness, and fatigue to turn us away from spouse or child. Or we simply stop putting forth the necessary effort and let family relationships gradually slip and slide away. Them in late life we realize that what we gave up was everything and what we traded it for is nothing." Linda and Richard Eyre
"Our duty is to be useful, not according to our desires but according to our powers." Henry F. Amiel		"Character is that which reveals moral purpose, exposing the class of things a man chooses and avoids." Aristotle
We cannot and we must not allow the school, community, television or even Church organizations to establish our children's values. The Lord has placed this duty with mothers and fathers. M. Russell Ballard			And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath; but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Ephesians 6:4
	"We gravitate to achievements because they are easier than relationships-easier to obtain, to preserve, and to measure. They are also less risky; they take less emotional energy. So we go for achievement and for ownership, even though, deep down, most of us know that they are the very concept of ownership (which drives most of our "achieving") is flawed. When we take the long-range perspective, we really don't own anything. Things pass through us. We are temporary stewards over everything we supposedly own, from our cars and houses to our children. An ownership mentality always produces greed, envy, and jealousy on the one hand and pride, conceit and condescension on the other. Yet we all seem locked into the idea of wanting more." Linda and Richard Eyre
"Brethren, it is my belief and testimony that collectively we have the responsibility to set the example of righteousness to all of the world. Under the great leadership of President Gordon B. Hinckley, we must point the way by the inspired choices we make. The power of choice is yours. May we all use our God-given agency wisely as we make these eternal choices." President James E. Faust
		"Our fathers are carried around inside us long after they are dead. We continue to model them, dialogue with them, and listen to them.. Many of us continue to mirror the image of ourselves that our fathers have written on our souls." Dr. James Schaller
"The person who obtains meekness and lowliness of heart and who enjoys the company of the Holy Ghost will have no desire to offend or hurt others, nor will he feel affected by any offenses received from others. He will treat his spouse and children with love and respect and will have good relationships with everyone he associates with." Elder Francisco J. Vinas, April 2004
	"Good parenting has never been more important than it is today because those who are now raising children, running companies, creating media, making laws, teaching, writing, voting, consuming-the adults of this world as it learns to start each new year with a 2-are this nation's last chance. If we continue to ignore (or take an aspirin for) the symptoms and if we fail to understand or combat the real causes, the America we have known will not exist for our children. But if we make families and values a priority, we can rescue or own happiness even as we turn aside the forces that would destroy our children's future." Linda and Richard Eyre
	Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities. By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners. First Presidency, The Family: A Proclamation to the World
The longer that I am involved with home schooling - the more convinced I am that supportive and participating dads are mandatory for home school excellence. Dr. John Monnett			One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?) Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil. 1 Timothy 3:4-5
Fathers, draw close to your children. Learn to communicate. Learn to listen. This means giving a father’s most valuable commodity—time! Only good results occur when a father interviews his sons and daughters regularly. He can know their problems and their hopes. He can align himself with them as their unconditional friend. To the extent we become friends with our children in unconditional love, to that extent we become like our Heavenly Father. In the family relationship, we find our best laboratory in which to practice celestial living. While this task is fraught with much challenge and some adversity, it is, nevertheless, blessed with that supreme joy that can come only to a father. It should have great meaning that of all the titles of respect and honor and admiration that could be given him, that God himself, He who is the highest of all, chose to be addressed simply as “Father.” The Role of Fathers; President A. Theodore Tuttle, Ensign Jan 1974
	No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood, only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned; by kindness and pure knowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy, and with out guile—Reproving betimes with sharpness, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost; and then showing forth afterwards an increase of love toward him whom thou hast reproved, lest he esteem thee to be his enemy; That he may know that they faithfulness is stronger than the cords of death. Let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith, and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distil upon thy shoulders as the dews from heaven. Doctrine and Covenants 121:41-45


	We call upon parents to devote their best efforts to the teaching and rearing of their children in gospel principles which will keep them close to the Church. The home is the basis of a righteous life, and no other instrumentality can take its place or fulfill its essential functions in carrying forward this God-given responsibility. We counsel parents and children to give highest priority to family prayer, family home evening, gospel study and instruction, and wholesome family activities. However worthy and appropriate other demands or activities may be, they must not be permitted to displace the divinely-appointed duties that only parents and families can adequately perform. First Presidency’s letter dated February 11, 1999


It is commonly assumed that mothers do almost all the teaching in the home. Is this really true? If so, why? And if not, why do we think so? What is a father's place in homeschools? Where in the achievement, behavior, and social records credited to home education in recent years had dad been? Home education is awash with impressions that the dads do little or none of the teaching. And for some that's true. But if your definition of teaching is not narrow, most dads do a lot more than they get credit for. How about washing the car, doing the garden, leading out at story time or worship? If you think of education as example, as many good dictionaries do; if part of your program calls for Dad's reading during morning or evening story or worship hour; if you give him teaching credit for washing the car together with the kids, or sharing with them in the family industry, or playing together in the backyard or on picnics or camping trips, then his percentage multiplies mightily. If you are interested first in character development as we are, this kind of teaching by both parents through association and example is the most powerful education of all! Dr. Raymond and Dorothy Moore
	The Lord organized [His children] in the beginning with a father who procreates, provides, and loves and directs, and a mother who conceives and bears and nurtures and feeds and trains, [and children who] come to love, honor, and appreciate each other. The family is the great plan of life as conceived and organized by our Father in heaven. Spencer W. Kimball

	How do you strengthen your family? 1. Make your family your number one priority in time and effort. 2. Equate everything you do with this standard, “Will what I do bless my family?” If it won’t, don’t do it. 3. Daily look for ways to help each member of the family. 4. Seek to praise and compliment every day. 5. Never criticize or condemn the person; separate the behavior from the person. Help them understand and appreciate what they should do; then their behavior and attitude will change. 6. Competition often breeds problems; emphasize cooperation. 7. Meet together as a family regularly to discuss concerns, standards, and calendar events of things to do together. 8. Make your home a safe place—security, love, and peace are hallmarks. 9. Make home a place of learning-values and standard, life skills, and pursuit of a quality education begin at home. 10. Remember the haunting words never uttered by the dying wealthy businessman. “I wished I had spent more time at the office.” The number of things one can do to strengthen the family is limitless. The only things required to really strengthen families are the desire, attitude, work ethic, and values. We all have observed this in families that are well adjusted and happy. It is for us to do – to make our families the best they can be. Ed J. Pinegar
Parents should not leave the training of children to others. There seems to be a growing tendency to shift this responsibility from the home to outside influences such as the school and the church and of greater concern, to various child-care agencies and institutions . . . Constant training, constant vigilance, companionship, and being watchmen of our own children are necessary in order to keep our homes intact and to bless our children in the Lord's own way. The Doctrine and Covenants makes it very clear. It is the responsibility of parents to teach their children. All other agencies are secondary. If parents do not teach their children - THEIR children - they will be held responsible. Spencer W. Kimball

	To you of the administration and faculty [of BYU], I repeat the counsel given to Karl G. Maeser by President Brigham Young when he sent him here to start this school: "You ought not to teach even the alphabet or the multiplication tables without the Spirit of God. That is all. God bless you." To you students, I quote a revelation to you from the Lord: "As all have not faith, seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith." (D&C 88:118) Boyd K. Packer