Ralph Waldo Emerson on family

It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them.

The only way to have a friend is to be one.

What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.

When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around.
But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.

The family you come from isn’t as important as the family you’re going to have.

Ring Lardner1885–1933

Fatherhood is pretending the present you love most is soap on-a-rope.

Bill Cosbyborn 1937