Our favorite TV dads are far from perfect. They curse, they get angry, they get jealous of their kids, some of them even commit crimes.
But they have two things in common—a deep love for their children and wisdom we can all learn from.
“Modern Family’s” Phil Dunphy
“I’ve always said that if my son thinks of me as one of his idiot friends, I’ve succeeded as a dad.”
“The Simpsons’” Homer Simpson
“Sometime, when you least expect it, you’ll realize that someone loved you. And that means someone can love you again. And that’ll make you smile.”
“Castle’s” Richard Castle
“And one day, you will look back, and you will realize that every experience you ever had, every seeming mistake or blind alley, was actually a straight line to who you were meant to be. And whatever you become, there is no question in my mind you are going to be amazing.”
“That ’70s Show’s” Red Forman
“The first rule to being a man is you’re going to spend your life doing crap you don’t want to do.”
“Friday Night Lights’” Coach Eric Taylor
“I said you need to strive to be better than everyone else. I didn’t say you needed to be better than everyone else. But you gotta try. That’s what character is. It’s in the try.”
“Everybody Loves Raymond’s” Ray Barone
“You know, when I was a kid, I always thought that we had too much homework and, since I hated all the homework, I started to hate learning. In fact what I learned to do more than anything else was to avoid the work… But, you know, it seems to me that kids today, they’ve got 10 times the homework that we had, you know? And I don’t want my daughter to hate learning. I want her to be curious and thoughtful, and get excited about new ideas. And most of all, and I think this is what we want for all our kids, I want her to be happy… You know we’re so worried that the kids won’t be competitive and that kids won’t have a future that we’re taking away their present.”
“Glee’s” Burt Hummel
“You can’t discriminate against my kid based on his sex, religion, political affiliation or the fact that he’s queer as a three-dollar bill.”
“Fresh Off The Boat’s” Louis Huang
“You don’t have to be a hard man to be a hard worker.”
“Ugly Betty’s” Ignacio Suarez
“I want my daughters and my grandson to live the lives they want.”
“Breaking Bad’s”Walter White
“I have spent my whole life scared. Frightened of things that could happen, might happen, might not happen. Fifty years I spent like that. Finding myself awake at 3 in the morning. But you know what? Ever since my diagnosis, I sleep just fine. And I came to realize it’s that fear that’s the worst of it. That’s the real enemy. So get up. Get out in the real world. And you kick that bastard as hard as you can right in the teeth.”