The best thing about being a dad? Well, I think it’s just the thing that every man wants – to have a son and heir.

When I’m around the kids I feel like I act the most grown-up just because you’re supposed to. And I say things, like every other day, that remind me of my own parents.

I’d like to think that I’m a calm and sweet person. I tend to be very playful at home with my children, but in life… we have to fight our battles – our work battles, our political battles, our personal battles – and we’re focused.

Why should it be essential to love rarely in order to love much?

A youth, when at home, should be filial and, abroad, respectful to his elders. He should be earnest and truthful. He should overflow in love to all and cultivate the friendship of the good. When he has time and opportunity, after the performance of these things, he should employ them in polite studies.

Heavenly Father loves every one of His children. After all, He is their Father.

It’s possible to love a human being if you don’t know them too well.

Before I was born, my father told my mother, ‚If it’s a boy, he’s going to be a scientist.‘

I understand the importance of bondage between parent and child.

A great fortune is a great slavery.

Love him and let him love you. Do you think anything else under heaven really matters?

I have fallen in love with the imagination. And if you fall in love with the imagination, you understand that it is a free spirit. It will go anywhere, and it can do anything.

Love is an interesting thing.

I like being with my family. That’s my party.

What it lies in our power to do, it lies in our power not to do.

Like every parent, when you start your family, your life completely changes. And you completely live for someone else. I find that the most extraordinary thing. Your life is handed over to someone else. From that moment on, they come first in every choice you make. It’s the most wonderful thing.

Don’t judge other people. For example, if you want God’s anointing to be on you for parenting, you need to be careful not to criticize other parents.

After momma gave birth to 12 of us kids, we put her up on a pedestal. It was mostly to keep Daddy away from her.

Love is only one of many passions.

He who falls in love with himself will have no rivals.

You can never really live anyone else’s life, not even your child’s. The influence you exert is through your own life, and what you’ve become yourself.

Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive.

We have the duty to protect the life of an unborn child.

When you’re around the kids, you feel like you act the most grown up just because you’re supposed to lead. I say things, like every other parent, that reminds you of your own parents. One thing I do know about being a parent, you understand why your father was in a bad mood a lot.

Growing up, my grandmother did not want worldly music in the house. Then when I went out to California, I started listening to Spanish music, mostly Mexican music. But were I in Egypt, I would listen to the music of the people, or if I was in Italy, I’d listen to Italian music.

Since the child knew his parents would give in, he tried the same trick again and again.

All my momma’s people were very musical. My grandpa, who was the Pentecostal minister, he was a great musician. He played the fiddle, he played the piano.

My greatest blessing has been the birth of my son. My next greatest blessing has been my ability to turn people into children of mine.

It is necessary to fall in love… if only to provide an alibi for all the random despair you are going to feel anyway.

I’m sure most parents read to their children to explain what certain things mean. So books are a good way to convey a message to anybody. Everybody reads.

John D. Rockefeller apparently became more of a tightwad the richer he got. I don’t know if it is true, but one story I read was about one of his sons having to wear his older sister’s clothes in order to save money.

We will always be a family. Always.

My sisters like cooking at my place. It has a bit more room, and the food tastes a little bit better. A big pot of spaghetti and sauce, some warm French bread – works all the time. I think I’ve been eating pasta for 26 years.

It was times like these when I thought my father, who hated guns and had never been to any wars, was the bravest man who ever lived.

The influence of a mother upon the lives of her children cannot be measured. They know and absorb her example and attitudes when it comes to questions of honesty, temperance, kindness, and industry.

Everything I have, my career, my success, my family, I owe to America.

Maria is the best reason to come home.

Little children are still the symbol of the eternal marriage between love and duty.

I have a full and satisfying life. My work and my family are very important to me.

When we are in love we seem to ourselves quite different from what we were before.

Any woman who understands the problems of running a home will be nearer to understanding the problems of running a country.

Call me Jonah. My parents did, or nearly did. They called me John.

There is no such thing as society: there are individual men and women, and there are families.

Never pretend to a love which you do not actually feel, for love is not ours to command.

My mother was and will always remain my greatest hero.

When I was a youngster I lived with different families. I nearly always felt closer to the man of the house. Maybe because I always dreamed of having a father of my own.

I love our daughters more than anything in the world – more than life itself. And while that may not be the first thing that some folks want to hear from an Ivy-league-educated lawyer, it is truly who I am. So for me, being Mom-in-Chief is, and always will be, job number one.

Let parents bequeath to their children not riches, but the spirit of reverence.

The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity. The creative mind plays with the objects it loves.

We came into a broken world. And we’re the cleanup crew.

Human beings must be known to be loved; but Divine beings must be loved to be known.

Courage is like love; it must have hope for nourishment.

Power does not corrupt men; fools, however, if they get into a position of power, corrupt power.

In law a man is guilty when he violates the rights of others. In ethics he is guilty if he only thinks of doing so.

Love is like a virus. It can happen to anybody at any time.

A woman can bring a new love to each man she loves, providing there are not too many.

I was totally dominated and revered my father. I admired everything he did. He was a great sports person. He loved me. I was his only boy at that time, before my brother Billy came along.

My father wasn’t a cruel man. And I loved him. But he was a pretty tough character. His own father was even tougher – one of those Victorians, hard as iron – but my dad was tough enough.

Love is too young to know what conscience is.

When you face a ‚performance‘ that might provoke the ‚I’m scared‘ response, choose love and approach your opportunity as a chance to dance with God. It’s more fun than ‚Dancing with the Stars!‘

When Nirvana became popular, you could very easily slip and get lost during that storm. I fortunately had really heavy anchors – old friends, family.