As the family goes, so goes the nation and so goes the whole world in which we live.
—Pope John Paul II, 1986Quotes
God is our father, but even more is God our mother.
—Pope John Paul I, 1978The greatest thing in family life is to take a hint when a hint is intended—and not to take a hint when a hint isn’t intended.
—Robert Frost, 1939A Jewish man with parents alive is a fifteen-year-old boy, and will remain a fifteen-year-old boy till they die!
—Philip Roth, 1969A family’s photograph album is generally about the extended family—and, often, is all that remains of it.
—Susan Sontag, 1977The strength of a family, like the strength of an army, is in its loyalty to each other.
—Mario Puzo, 2001The root of the kingdom is in the State. The root of the State is in the family. The root of the family is in the person of its Head.
—Mencius, c. 270 BCFamily! Thou art the home of all social evil, a charitable institution for comfortable women, an anchorage for house-fathers, and a hell for children.
—August Strindberg, 1886To be a successful father… there’s one absolute rule: when you have a kid, don’t look at it for the first two years.
—Ernest Hemingway, 1954My mother protected me from the world and my father threatened me with it.
—Quentin Crisp, 1968He that hath wife and children hath given hostages to fortune; for they are impediments to great enterprises, either of virtue or mischief.
—Francis Bacon, 1625It is impossible to please all the world and one’s father.
—Jean de La Fontaine, 1668Families, I hate you! Shut-in homes, closed doors, jealous possessions of happiness.
—André Gide, 1897