family quotes

I was very blessed to have family and friends, but particularly family, who told me I was not only all right, I was just right, so I believe that my brain is a good one, and it’s lasting me very well.

To bring a healthy child into this world, raise them right and watch them grow is the biggest miracle there is.

You know, my family and friends have never been yes-men: ‚Yes, you’re doing the right thing, you’re always right.‘ No, they tell me when I’m wrong, and that’s why I’ve been able to stay who I am and stay humble.

The reason that I’m here at all is because of my relationship with my family and their encouragement of me to be a musician and to work hard. As long as I stay there in that space, I can do anything. That’s my truth.

My mom was a terrible parent of young children. And thank God – I thank God every time I think of it – I was sent to my paternal grandmother. Ah, but my mother was a great parent of a young adult.

I come from a family of 12, so I kind of got a little lost as a child.

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.

It’s true; once you are a father, there’s no turning back. Your heart strings as well as your purse strings are never again the same.

You know, my Grandpop Finnegan used to have an expression: he used to say, ‚Joey, the guy in Olyphant’s out of work, it’s an economic slowdown. When your brother-in-law’s out of work, it’s a recession. When you’re out of work, it’s a depression.‘

My husband and I had to raise five of my younger brothers and sisters. They lived with us. We sent them to school.

And when I was young, my family was perfectly nice. I write a lot about it, as you noticed. But it was rather limited. I think, I don’t think anyone in my family would really feel I’d done them an injustice by saying that. We didn’t see many people. There were many books. It was as if I wanted to get away from home.

I do have a lot of gays in my family now, but some will never come out.

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 whole family are hams. They’re storytellers and everyone outdoes the next one.

OK, I have a nickname. My family calls me ‚Trey‘ because I’m William the third. My dad has the same name, which is always confusing because my dad is well known, and I’m also known.

I’m focusing on me. I’m focusing on my family’s security, my family’s financial security, so that’s all I can do.

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.

The ‚Billionaire‘ song is what my kids tease me with. They sing it to me. It’s funny.

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.

But now, being a parent, I go home and see my son and I forget about any mistake I ever made or the reason I’m upset. I get home and my son is smiling or he comes running to me. It has just made me grow as an individual and grow as a man.

It’s hard knowing who to trust with your personal life. When you cry in your room at night, you don’t always know who to call. So I am very close to my family.

My father had died, and very swiftly, too, of cancer of the esophagus. He was 79. I am 61. In whatever kind of a ‚race‘ life may be, I have very abruptly become a finalist.

I want to – more than anything – to create a moment that people will never forget. Not for me, but for themselves. That’s what I remember about great Super Bowl performances in the past, when you really get lost in the moment with your family.

My grandmother took me to church on Sunday all day long, every Sunday into the night. Then Monday evening was the missionary meeting. Tuesday evening was usher board meeting. Wednesday evening was prayer meeting. Thursday evening was visit the sick. Friday evening was choir practice. I mean, and at all those gatherings, we sang.

There’s no political point worth my son’s life.

I love my daddy. My daddy’s everything. I hope I can find a man that will treat me as good as my dad.

I would love to continue in music, with writing… but I am not the kind of person who will hang around if I start to become irrelevant. If that happens, I will bow down gracefully, raise my kids, and have a garden. And I am going to let my hair go gray when I am older. I don’t need to be blonde when I’m 60!

I didn’t have a father figure in the house.

How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is to have a thankless child!

When I cook for my family on Christmas, I make feijoada, a South American dish of roasted and smoked meats like ham, pork, beef, lamb, and bacon – all served with black beans and rice. It’s festive but different.

When I’m writing, I don’t feel neurotic. So it’s better for the family if I’m working.

A mother defends herself with a heart filled with love before doing so with words. I wonder whether there is any love for the church in the hearts of those who pay so much attention to the scandals.

If I walked into the kitchen without washing my hands as a kid, I’d hear a loud ‚A-hem!‘ from my mother or grandmother. Now I count on other people to do the same.

I like to think my dad was easygoing and kind, and I think some of those things have been passed down. I am like him in a sense of being positive and hopeful. He was compassionate, and I’ve got a lot of that in me as well.

I have ‚Parents‘ magazine in my home.

I made a decision when my father passed away that I was going to be who God made me to be and not try to preach like my father.

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

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

Every man sees in his relatives, and especially in his cousins, a series of grotesque caricatures of himself.

I feel like I’m the kind of guy that would have kids before getting married. The first thing would be kids.

I grew up around lots of men – my father, my brothers, my uncles – so I wasn’t intimidated by them.

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

I did have two dads; one was a socialist, and one was a capitalist. I really decided I would rather be a capitalist.

I guess you could say I devoted myself so strongly to my music that for awhile I forgot about my family. But I only get one set of parents, and I think I forgot about that for a little while.

My parents were the same in the pulpit as they were at home. I think that’s where a lot of preachers‘ kids get off base sometimes. Because they don’t see the same things at both places.

My dad was the town drunk. Most of the time that’s not so bad; but New York City?

My fans saw me get engaged, saw me make that woman my wife, me having kids, me divorcing, me talking about divorce before the divorce, me talking about my kids‘ reaction to that divorce.

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

The one thing I want to leave my children is an honorable name.

The kids are a big part of my schedule.

I’ve never had a divorce, but I’ve seen so many of my friends, my sister, my family go through that stuff, so I try to write for the people that can’t write about it. I take on their sorrow, so I’m able to kind of express it, or their joy.

My kids are the funniest two human beings there are.

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.

My son is becoming me – just a silly, silly prankster guy.

Just got back from a pleasure trip: I took my mother-in-law to the airport.

I’ve got incredible support from my wife and family and people around me. I’ve got great people around me who handle anything on the outside, business-wise, who help free me up to create in my job.

My dad had a church of 90 people when I was born. It was just, over the years it continued to grow.

I just want my family to be safe. Because I am sometimes polarizing, I fear for their safety.

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