1.

When a child is born, a father is born. A mother is born, too of course, but at least for her it's a gradual process. Body and soul, she has nine months to get used to what's happening. She becomes what's happening. But for even the best-prepared father, it happens all at once. On the other side of a plate-glass window, a nurse is holding up something roughly the size of a loaf of bread for him to see for the first time.

当一个孩子出生时，一位父亲随之诞生。当然一位母亲亦随之诞生，但这对于她来说只是一个渐进的过程。无论身体还是心灵，她都有九个月的时间去习惯。然后顺其自然。但对于一名就算做了万全准备的父亲来说，这也只是一瞬的事情。他站在窗子的另一端，一位护士抱着某个面包大小的东西给他瞧。

--Frederick Buechner, 'Whistling in the Dark'

2.

My father was a statesman¹, I'm a political woman.

我父亲是一名政治家，我是一名从政的女人。

My father was a saint². I'm not.

我父亲是一个圣人。我不是。

--Indira Gandhi

3.

4 years: My Daddy can do anything!

在我四岁时，我爸爸是万能的！

7 years: My Dad knows a lot…a whole lot.

在我七岁时，我爸懂很多的……很多很多。

8 years: My father does not know quite everything.

在我八岁时，我父亲并非了解所有事情。

12 years: Oh well, naturally Father does not know that either.

在我十二岁时，好吧，我父亲也不知道那件事很正常。

14 years: Oh, Father? He is hopelessly old-fashioned.

在我十四岁时，哦，我父亲？他已经过时的没救了。

21 years: Oh, that man-he is out of date!

在我二十一岁时，那男人已经土的没边了！

25 years: He knows a little bit about it, but not much.

在我二十五岁时，他其实懂一些，但不是很多。

30 years: I must find out what Dad thinks about it.

在我三十岁时，我必须问问我爸的看法。

35 years: Before we decide, we will get Dad's idea first.

在我三十五岁时，我们拍板前得征求一下爸的意见。

50 years: What would Dad have thought about that?

在我五十岁时，这事我爸会怎么看呢？

60 years: My Dad knew literally³ everything!

在我六十岁时，我爸几乎懂得一切！

65 years: I wish I could talk it over with Dad once more.

在我六十五岁时，我多希望还能跟爸好好谈一次。

4.

My father always used to say that when you die, if you've got five real friends, then you've had a great life.

我父亲总在说：“当你死时，如果你已拥有五个真正的朋友，那么你才算拥有很棒的人生。”

--Lee Iacocca

5.

It is easier for a father to have children than for children to have a real father.

“父亲拥有孩子”比“孩子得到一位真正的父亲”简单的多。

--Pope John XXIII

6.

Father, whom I murdered every night but one,

父亲，除了某次我每次做梦都想灭掉的人，

That one, when your death murdered me.

那次，你的死讯几乎让我覆灭。

--Howard Moss⁴, Elegy⁵ for My Father (l. 1-2)

7.

Better to be driven out from among men than to be disliked of children.

如果做不到让孩子喜欢，还是不要做男人为好。

--Richard Henry Dana

8.

One night a father overheard⁶ his son pray: Dear God, Make me the kind of man my Daddy is.

某晚一位父亲听到自己的儿子祈祷：“上帝啊，让我变成我爸爸那样的男人吧。”

Later that night, the Father prayed, Dear God, Make me the kind of man my son wants me to be.

随后，那位父亲祈祷： “上帝啊，让我变成我儿所期望成为的男人吧。”

9.

If a son is uneducated, his dad is to blame.

子不教，父之过。

--Chinese proverb

10.

When I was a kid, my father told me every day, 'You're the most wonderful boy in the world, and you can do anything you want to.'

在我小时候，我父亲每天都对我说：“你是这世上最棒的男孩，你能做任何你想做的事。”

--Jan Hutchins

11.

I talk and talk and talk, and I haven't taught people in 50 years what my father taught by example in one week.

我讲啊讲啊讲，用了五十年也没有教会人们那些我父亲通过举例仅用一周教会我的东西。

--Mario Cuomo

12.

My father used to play with my brother and me in the yard.

我父亲以前总带着我和弟弟在院子里玩。

Mother would come out and say, "You're tearing up the grass."

妈妈总会出来训道：“草都被你们踩坏了。”

"We're not raising grass," Dad would reply. "We're raising boys."

“我们没在种草，”爸爸会回答：“我们在养孩子。”

--Harmon Killebrew