My dad taught me how to be a man. Not with words, but by going to work every day and being faithful to my mom. He taught me how to man up when adversity calls, as it surely does in each of our lives. He taught me that talk is cheap but character is invaluable, and family is worth more than all the treasure in the world.
Below are a few of my favorite lines concerning dads.
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 he had learned in seven years.
--Mark Twain
Any fool can father a child. It takes a real man to be a dad.
-- Philip Whitmore Sr
Only a Dad, by Edgar Guest
Only a dad but he gives it his all,
To smooth the way for his children small
Doing with courage stern and grim
The deeds that his father did for him
This is the line that for him I pen
Only a dad, but the best of men
Happy Fathers Day to you Pal.
ReplyDeleteAny fool can father a child. It takes a real man to be a dad.
ReplyDelete-- Philip Whitmore Sr
So true.
My father was nearly 41 when I, his only child, was born. As I look back on what kind of father he was (He passed away in 1998), I realize just how lucky I was to have a father such as my dad was.
I miss Dad every day -- especially today as today would have been Dad's 100th birthday. When Dad's birthday fell on Fathers' Day, we always had a huge celebration. Now all I can do is put flowers on his grave. **sigh**
I completely identify with the Mark Twain quote. It's funny how an idea so profound can be conveyed in just a few words.
ReplyDeleteA classic definition of manhood given by Rudyard Kipling, a very famous father, who tragically lost his only son in World War One.
ReplyDeleteIF
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, donít deal in lies,
Or, being hated, donít give way to hating,
And yet donít look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream-and not make dreams your master;
If you can think-and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth youíve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken
And stoop and build íem up with worn-out tools;
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on;"
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings-nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty secondsí worth of distance run-
Yours is the Earth and everything thatís in it,
And-which is more-youíll be a Man, my son!
~ Rudyard Kipling
HAPPY FATHER'S DAY from FreeThinke
Happy Fathers Day to one and all.
ReplyDeleteMy father taught me well.
To respect others who respect you.
Never be a quitter.
Stand by your principles and work hard to achieve your goals.
Couldn't have asked for a better father.
My life is enriched because of him!
FreeThinke: That's an excellent one, and all of my children have sat on my knee to hear me read it from William Bennett's Book of Virtues.
ReplyDeleteIt's a true classic and a treasure of great literature and life lessons, great for parents and grandparents to teach and entertain their young.
nice one Silver...and HAPPY FATHERS DAY!!!:)
ReplyDeleteHappy Dad's Day, Silverfiddle...we need more men to pass on your dad's message.
ReplyDeleteI was lucky, too....it doesn't take a village, it takes a real MAN.
xxx
_______________ A Father's Prayer______________
ReplyDeleteAsk not, my child, what I can do for you.
Forgive what seems like stinginess today.
A lot will be required to go through
The process of discovering the right way.
Help yourself. Don't wait for me, my child.
Each one of us must learn to stand alone.
Rich rewards like Love can't be beguiled,
Seduced or bought. They must in toil be grown
Perhaps to you I sound a bit too stern?
Remember that I've lived a longer time.
A joy cannot exist until you earn
Your way. To do do it FOR you'd be a crime.
Exacting though I seem, my little one,
Respect me now, and later you'll have fun.
~ by FreeThinke - from The Sandpiper, Autumn, 1996
Happy Fathers Day, all.
ReplyDeleteMy father, who thank God is still with us at 80, having lead a fascinating and incredible life (really, just amazing), taught me many things I will never forget. I think I can sum it all up with these simple concepts:
Peace.
Respect.
Class.
Honesty.
Joy.
Love.
Those six things are all you'll ever really need.
JMJ
Hope you all had a great Father's Day.
ReplyDeleteFather's Day and Christmas has always been a hard time in our family being I lost my dad in 1980 on Christmas Day,right after John Lennon actually.
I still have a letter he wrote to me and left on my pillow to tell me how proud of me he was and how much he loved me. I cry like a baby still when I pull out that letter.
My dad was a gentle soul and yet such a proud Army Veteran of 22 years.
All my friends adored him and he was like a dad to all of them.
He never refused any stray cat I bought home.
I miss the relationship I never had with him as an adult but am grateful for one thing that he got to see his first Grandchild(my nephew). He adored that child and he lit up whenever he saw him.
Like every year we go to the military cemetery he is buried to place some flowers, reminisce and shed a tear or two..
"Any fool can father a child. It takes a real man to be a dad."
ReplyDeleteSo true, far too many fools around these days.