Nobody can ever make enough money for as many poor relatives as I’ve got. Somebody’s got a sick kid, or somebody needs an operation, somebody ain’t got this, somebody ain’t got that. Or to give the kids all a car when they graduate.

My experiences in life are getting bigger and better. The more stuff I do, the more stuff I talk about – having kids, traveling, going through relationship problems, dealing with things in my own family. All that stuff builds character.

Always kiss your children goodnight, even if they’re already asleep.

I knew I was blessed with a gift of having both parents.

I’m just a friendly person; that runs in my family.

I think about the milestones from my childhood and what it will be like to watch our kids go through them. Taking Riley to her first day of school was a whirlwind. I can’t imagine what middle school is going to be like, and high school, and graduation.

There are people in the world who aren’t necessarily Christians, but they’re just naturally nice people who do a lot for other people. Those people will almost always be prosperous people.

My ultimate life dream project is my kids. My family.

I used to live with my grandmother. I used to wonder why the other kids in school went home with their mothers and fathers. I wanted to be the guy that got married. I wanted to be the guy with the children and the white picket fence. I never had that.

I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver.

That’s one of the biggest things. Never being home, always traveling, having different interests and focusing on different things, just the time aspect of going back home and seeing them, you don’t have that at all. It was a big sacrifice but, at the end of the day, it was worth it.

My mom is very religious – Catholic – and from a young age they brought me to the church.

Probably because I’m from a middle class family, I have that nature in me that I don’t get too excited with big things.

I’m generous. I give good tips. It’s just – the way I live my life, ironically enough, is: I don’t want anything. I’m not a consumer. I don’t crave objects.

To lose one parent may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness.

I always wanted to be a father and thought it would be great, but it just took the right woman and the right time to make it all happen.

The mother of a family should look upon her housekeeping and the planning of meals as a scientific occupation.

I always joke that my kids‘ favorite holiday is Father’s Day. They love the way I celebrate the occasion by writing each of them a thank-you letter and a generous check. It’s my way of letting them know how much I appreciate the great pleasure and privilege of being their dad.

I think a father is important for everyone. If you don’t have, then maybe not so much. In the world today, it’s possible that you grow up with only one parent in the family.

I never promise anything. I don’t promise anything to my mum. I don’t promise anything to the supporters.

I love everything about my job, except being away from the kids.

When I get up and work out, I’m working out just as much for my girls as I am for me, because I want them to see a mother who loves them dearly, who invests in them, but who also invests in herself. It’s just as much about letting them know as young women that it is okay to put yourself a little higher on your priority list.

Traditions are a common part of our lives. They can be good, and not all traditions are wrong, but sometimes they can take the joy out of life.

I sang a song at my sister’s wedding. My mother forced me into that, too. But that one felt all right.

‚Credit‘ is another word for trustworthiness.

I have ‚Parents‘ magazine in my home.

Those who know me know I’m passionate about lists, and top of my list of priorities is my family. My wife Joan and I do not consider our legacy to our children to be wealth or fame but the opportunity to pursue happiness by following their own path.

My mother and my father have been married 50 years, and he’s just started to understand that something’s wrong with the system. He accepted the whole thing, you see. Yet this industrious kind of engagement didn’t bring him the success, according to American terms, that he wanted. I was probably affected by this very much. In fact, I know I was.

The most amazing philanthropists are people who are actually making a significant sacrifice.

My father always taught me that when you help other people, then God will give you double. And that’s what has really happened to me. When I have helped other people who are in need, God has helped me more.

My chances of developing breast cancer have dropped from 87 percent to under 5 percent. I can tell my children that they don’t need to fear they will lose me to breast cancer.

You don’t have to deserve your mother’s love. You have to deserve your father’s.

I think your values are always influenced by your family and your community.

My mother fought cancer for almost a decade and died at 56. She held out long enough to meet the first of her grandchildren and to hold them in her arms. But my other children will never have the chance to know her and experience how loving and gracious she was.

My mother is from another time – the funniest person to her is Lucille Ball; that’s what she loves. A lot of times she tells me she doesn’t know what I’m talking about. I know if I wasn’t her son and she was flipping through the TV and saw me, she would just keep going.

I’d say it’s been my biggest problem all my life… it’s money. It takes a lot of money to make these dreams come true.

I’ve been my mom’s kitchen helper since I was a little kid.

The only wealth which you will keep forever is the wealth you have given away.

My mom’s one of 13 siblings, and they all got six kids, and till I was 13 everybody was in Compton.

He that hath wife and children hath given hostages to fortune; for they are impediments to great enterprises, either of virtue or mischief.

My dad seemed comfortable with his decision to be a ‚have-not,‘ but I knew that I wasn’t.

The family is the test of freedom; because the family is the only thing that the free man makes for himself and by himself.

One has children in the expectation of dying before them. In fact, you want to make damn sure you die before them, just as you plant a tree or build a house knowing, hoping that it will outlive you. That’s how the human species has done as well as it has.

The man who will use his skill and constructive imagination to see how much he can give for a dollar, instead of how little he can give for a dollar, is bound to succeed.

Millions of Americans and people around the world, especially young people who face intense financial challenges today, haven’t been taught how to take control of their financial future.

But, you know, you can’t be a star at home.

My mother, my grandmother, my uncles would play Ethiopian artists like Aster Aweke and Mulatu Astatke all the time in the house.

The success I have achieved in bodybuilding, motion pictures, and business would not have been possible without the generosity of the American people and the freedom here to pursue your dreams.

As you get older, you have more responsibilities; you have more commitments, more events, kids, you’re married now. You still have all the things that you’ve had, plus you just keep adding.

Love begins by taking care of the closest ones – the ones at home.

The kindness that’s been shown to me, by doctors as well as my family and my friends, it’s really saved my life.

Give to everyone who begs from you; and of him who takes away your goods do not ask them again. And as you wish that men would do to you, do so to them.

Beware of little expenses. A small leak will sink a great ship.

I made lots of mistakes – the number one mistake being trusting other people with my money.

Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself. They came through you but not from you and though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

Money is like manure, of very little use except it be spread.

Treat your kid like a darling for the first five years. For the next five years, scold them. By the time they turn sixteen, treat them like a friend. Your grown up children are your best friends.

The problem with me, as far as getting married and having a family, is that my comedy is so important to me. So I don’t know if I’ll ever be as good a dad as my dad.

People are always coming up to me and saying, ‚I heard your dad’s speech, and it’s really great.‘ And they’ll mention some place I didn’t even know my dad was going to.

You bring children into the world. You love them with heart and soul.

Being the only man in the household with my mom definitely helped me grow up fast.