Bobby Bowden Quotes

I think that even though my father wasn't there, in his death and in his memory, he has been a mentor to me in my manhood because my mom couldn't teach me how to be a man.

My grandfather was raising me, and in many respects, I was trying to understand what it meant to be a man. He was my role model.

Not having a father is big. You need guidance. I know, personally, when my father died, I needed guidance; I needed somebody to show me how to be a man, how to grow up, basically how to do the right thing.

I was always looking for the same man - a strong father figure.

Becoming a dad means you have to be a role model for your son and be someone he can look up to.

I don't know how consciously anyone looks for a father figure.

Our father never had to yell at us much when we were growing up. No one ever wanted to let Dad down.

A father is the template of a man Nature gives a girl

Whoever does not have a good father should procure one.

Most single guys I know think fatherhood is terrifying.

That's so important for children when they're growing up, to have a strong male role model.

A man is not complete until he has seen the baby he has made.

For any child, boy or girl, a father is both Jedi and Sith: Obi-Wan Kenobi - gentle and calming and good - and Vader, fierce and terrifying.

I'm a very hands-on father. I like being a hands-on father. I am probably more like one of my kids in my family, but the dominating kid.

We have so many young men, especially, who are growing up without their dads. We have to fill that void. We have to do a better job helping young people see what it means to be a man, what it means to be a woman. And then, somehow, we have to put that family structure back together.

Any man can be a father; not any man can be a dad.

My stepfather is my mentor. He's also like a father to me. He taught me how to be a man, how to carry myself and how to handle my business.

I didn't know how to be a father.

It is very difficult when you grow up without a father because you don't have a man who can give you direction and discipline.

My dad, he's a great father, but he's also been one of my mentors.

The prospect of being a father made me ask myself a question. How do you know what kind of adult your child will turn out to be? And how much can you control that?

In order to influence a child, one must be careful not to be that child's parent or grandparent.

You didn't have a choice about the parents you inherited, but you do have a choice about the kind of parent you will be.

This part of being a man, changing the way we parent, happens only when we want it to. It changes because we are determined for it to change; and the motive for changing often comes out of wanting to be the kind of parent we didn't have.

Make no mistake about it: Next to parents and families, our teachers are the most important influence in our children's lives.