Some Literary Father Quotes

In honor of Father’s Day:

“I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do.”

Atticus Finch, To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee

“God forgives us. Who am I not to forgive?”

Rev. Stephen Kumalo, Cry, The Beloved Country – Alan Paton

Calvin: Why does the sky turn red as the sun sets?
Calvin’s dad: That’s all the oxygen in the atmosphere catching fire.
Calvin: Where does the sun go when it sets?
Calvin’s dad: The sun sets in the west. In Arizona actually, near Flagstaff. That’s why the rocks there are so red.
Calvin: Don’t the people get burned up?
Calvin’s dad: No, the sun goes out as it sets. That’s why it’s dark at night.
Calvin: Doesn’t the sun crush the whole state as it lands?
Calvin’s dad: Ha ha, of course not. Hold a quarter up. See, the sun’s just about the same size.
Calvin: I thought I read that the sun was really big.
Calvin’s dad: You can’t believe everything you read, I’m afraid.

Calvin and Hobbes – Bill Watterson

“Ginny!” said Mr. Weasley, flabbergasted. “Haven’t I taught you anything? What have I always told you? Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can’t see where it keeps it’s brain?”

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets – J.K. Rowling

“If we knew each morning that there was going to be another morning, and on and on and on, we’d tend not to notice the sunrise, or hear the birds, or the waves rolling into shore.  We’d tend not to treasure our time with the people we love.  Simply the awareness that our mortal lives have a beginning and will have an end enhances the quality of our living.  Perhaps it’s even more intense when we know that the termination of the body is near, but it shouldn’t be.”

Grandfather Eaton, A Ring of Endless Light – Madeleine L’Engle.