Inside: Absent father quotes to help heal your inner child.
Our parents are the pillars of our lives when we are children. So when one is absent, it has a huge impact on who we are as people. Though many kids may not like to admit it…it is a truly hurtful thing that leaves a lasting scar.
The scare of an absent father is one that needs care and tenderness to be able to heal. The first step in this process is looking directly at your pain. This may sound uncomfortable, and that is because it is. But I can tell you from experience it does you no good to swallow your pain and pretend it doesn’t exist.
So how do we look at our pain? This can be hard because there is no good place to start. I compiled a list of over 100 absent father quotes for you to look through. See which ones resonate with you and which ones hit straight home. Allow yourself to feel when you read these. Then you can begin your journey!
Absent Father Quotes
First up, we have some heavy-hitting absent father quotes. Honestly, I don’t think any of these are soft hitters besides a few that make it a joke. But even those are heavy. So be prepared to get into it.
1. “Dear Absent Fathers: Never Assume that the mother taught the child to hate you. A child can notice a father who doesn’t want to be involved in his child’s life. Stop this nonsense of always thinking that mothers poison their kids against you. Your absence is the biggest poison.”
2. “There is nothing worse than a man that can be everything to everybody else except a father to their own child.”
3. “One day, you’ll regret not being there. You’ll regret the birthdays and holidays missed. You’ll regret not watching them grow up and being in their lives. You’ll regret everything and by then, it will be too late.”
4. “There should be an anti-father day. A bad dad’s day, that way I could truly say, ‘you are the best.'”
5. “Just remember, when you are ignoring her, you are teaching her to live without you.”
6. “Healing from the pain of an absent or emotionally distant dad.”
7. “You crossed my mind today. I don’t know why. Instead of feeling rage, heartache, or hate, I found myself smiling a little. Not because of you but because of me. I am a fatherless daughter that survived your failure. I’m moving forward, my life is better than yours, I am better than you, and you are missing out on something special.” – Cash
8. “Hey, Dad! I did it without you.”
9. “Boys want to grow up to be like their male role models. And boys who grow up in homes with absent fathers search the hardest to figure out what it means to be male.” – Geoffrey Canada
10. “Respect to all moms doing double duty because of men failing to do their part as dad.” -John Mark Green
11. “If she could put the hollow ache that haunts her words, she would tell him, ‘I miss the father you never were.'” – John Mark Green
12. “To be in your children’s memories tomorrow, you have to be in their lives today.”
13. “Father’s Day is hard for me.”
14. “I will not beg or bribe anyone to be involved in my children’s lives. If you don’t come around, it sucks to be you.”
15. “Having kids doesn’t make you a father; raising them does.”
16. “If a man cannot be a father to his own child, there is nothing worse than that.”
17. “When a father, absent during the day, returns home at six, his children receive only his temperament, not his teaching.” Robert Bly
18. “Fathers, take note. Children will always remember the man who treated them with love and affection. Don’t be an absent father.” – Abu Muawiyah Ismail Kamdar
19. “Any food can have a child. That doesn’t make you a father. It’s the courage to raise a child that makes you a father.” – Barack Obama
20. “You don’t think I had it in me to my father to grow?” – Maya Hart
21. “It is much easier to become a Father than to be one.” – Kent Nerburn
Strong Quotes About Not Having a Father
I think one large takeaway that I gained from reading these was the acknowledgment that we have to grieve someone who is not dead, and that can be a whole lot harder to understand. See what absent father quotes open your eyes below.
22. “I should know enough about the loss to realizing that you never really stop missing someone- you just learn to live around the huge gaping hole of their absence.” – Alyson Noel
23. “I decided to put as much effort into contacting you as you do with me – that’s why we don’t talk anymore.”
24. “A toxic father is more dangerous than an absent father.” – Ghaju
25. “You can’t tell me I was a bad parent. I was never around!”
26. “I will never be good enough for you. I got that.”
27. “I don’t get it. Why? Am I that easy to forget and abandon? Did I really mean so little?
28. “It sucks when you know in your head that you need to let go of something, but you don’t because you still have hope in your heart that the impossible might happen.”
29. “God is a father to the fatherless.” -Pslam 68
30. “You showed me why people can’t be trusted.”
31. “Daddy Issues: The classic conception of a woman who yearns for a prospective, older male figure to fill the void left by her inadequate father.”
32. “You never apologized. Not even once.”
33. “Even though I can say it’s his loss, deep down, I know it will be mine too.”
34. “Beneath every strong independent woman lies a broken little girl who has to learn to get back up and to never depend on anyone.”
35. “Time heals all wounds.’ Yet here I am years later, still broken.”
36. “One of the hardest things you will ever have to do my dear, is grieving the loss of a person who is still alive.”
37. “I wanted my father to hold me and tell me I was unbreakable and priceless. I never had a father to tell me I was his little princess.”
38. “Dear Dad, You’ve never been a part of my life yet, you’ve always been in it. And it hurts that I can’t decide which is worse.”
39. You’re the first person who broke my heart. For the rest of my life, you will always be the one who me most. Don’t forget that.”
40. “Karma is like a rubber band: It can only stretch so far before it comes back and smacks you.”
Heartbreaking Absent Father Sayings
Next up, we have heartbreaking absent father quotes. I think this is the portion of the article where it becomes mandatory that you stop and get some tissues. Your face deserves something softer than your T-shirt to be wiped with.
41. “His words didn’t tell me I wasn’t enough; his absence did.” – Cat Burnal
42. “The best feeling is when you realize that you are perfectly happy without the people you thought you needed most.”
43. “The smarter the woman is, the more difficult it is to find the right man.”
44. “Sorry you won’t be getting a Father’s Day card this year, I couldn’t find the address of the gutter you are living in.”
45. “You may be my father, but you’ll never be my dad. So don’t waltz into my life like you’ve been there all along.”
46. “It takes a strong man to accept somebody else’s children and step up to the plate another man left on the table.”
47. “It’s hard to grow up without a father, but it’s easy when you have a fantastic mother who plays both roles.”
48. “There is a big difference between “Can’t” & ‘It just isn’t a high priority.”
49. “Thanks for reminding me why I don’t feel guilty that I can’t stand you.”
40. “Sometimes I wonder how you sleep at night, but then I remember you are a self-centered Narcissist with no conscience.”
50. “The only thing worse than a deadbeat dad is a woman who supports him.”
51. “Father’s Day comes around more than you do.”
52. “And I hate how you made me question myself when the problem was you all along.”
53. “You can have fun for now, but one day you’ll stop and realize that you missed every precious moment of watching your children grow up…that will be your HELL ON EARTH.”
54. “There are two things I judge harshly on. The inability for one to admit when they are wrong, and the lack of courage to say I am sorry.”
55. “A Daughter needs a dad to be the standard against which she will judge all me.”
56. “Clothes, cars, homes, and money does not define a good man or a good father. Character, good morality, respect, and handling your responsibilities do!”
57. “Don’t play victim to circumstances you created.”
58. “For all the daughters who wished their Dad loved them…”
59. “Being abandoned or given up is the most devastating emotion we can cause in another human being.”
60. “Abandonment issues stem not from the fear of someone leaving, but the belief that someone leaving would be your fault.” Shaundel Stewert
61. “You made a choice and I suffered deeply for it. I’ve let it go, but I’ll never forget it.”
Tough Quotes About Fathers
Fathers are supposed to be the ones that teach us to be strong and independent, and I guess they still teach us that whether they are there or not. But they do not get the credit for not putting in the work. Read these absent father quotes.
62. “She builds others because she knows what it’s like to be torn down.”
63. “My father doesn’t know he won’t be invited to my future wedding. I’m going to have my brother walk me down the aisle. He doesn’t deserve to give me off when he never took care of me in the first place.”
64. “You have no idea of the damage you cause a woman when you leave her without a valid reason. You install a bear in her, even if deep within, that whatever comes next might leave her too. Shame on you.” -M. Sosa
65. “The storm that was sent to break you is going to be the storm. God used to make you. Amen”
66. “Your feelings are valid. You have every right to feel whatever emotion you want. You aren’t being dramatic. You aren’t over-exaggerating. You’re feeling. And that’s okay.”
67. One of the most disrespectful things a man can do is to abandon his own kids to take care of someone else’s kids.”
68. “Someday you’ll wish you were a better man.”
69. “One day you’re going to wake up and notice that you should’ve tried. I was worth the fight.”
70. “Dear Dad. I made it without you!”
71. “Had I not fallen I would have arisen. Had I not been subject to darkness, I could not have seen the light.” – Midrash
72. “Dad, I searched high and low for a father’s day card that expressed all you’ve done for me. I finally found one, but it is blank.”
73. “And maybe I should be grateful to you for showing me exactly the kind of man I don’t want to be.”
74. “I had to get over the fact that I would never get an apology from him, because in his twisted mind, he’d done absolutely nothing wrong at all.”
75. “A daughter should not have to beg her father for a relationship.”
76. “He isn’t coming back, whispered my head. He has to, sobbed my heart.” – Rupi Kaur
77. “And here you are, living, despite it all.” – Rupi Kaur
78. “It is a wise father that knows his own child.” – William Shakespeare
79. “Real dads support their children without the law telling them they have to.”
80. “Your child feels let down and lose hope in you when you leave them.”
81. “Just because your father’s present doesn’t mean he isn’t absent.” – Elizabeth Acevedo
Try Not To Cry Father Quotes
I am really hoping you got those tissues because it’s getting taken up a notch with these. I hope you find the community of people who have gone through similar things to be comforting. Check out these absent father quotes.
82. “Someday, you’ll cry for me as I cried for you. Someday you’ll miss me as I missed you. Someday you’ll need me as I needed you. Someday you’ll love me, but I won’t love you.”
83. “The psychological absence of fathers can be nearly as devastating as a physical absence. When fathers are alive but not a predictable presence actively participating in their daughter’s lives, the relationship becomes a permanent maybe.” – Victoria Secunda
84. You know, if fathers just did what they’re supposed to do, half of the junk that we face in the streets wouldn’t exist. – Nathan Hayes
85. “As old as she was.She still missed her daddy sometimes.”
86. “Some kids are able to become independent without the presence of their father.”
87. “A father may turn his back on his child, but a mother’s love endures through all.”- Washington Irving
88. “My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person; he believed in me.” – Jim Valvano
89. “Only twenty-two percent of fathers who don’t live in the same house as their children are “actively” involved.”
90. “Dear absent father from the mother of a daddy less daughter. i just want to say ..Thank you and you are welcome!”
91. “When you grew up with an absent father, you grew up dreaming and wanting. But most of all, you grew up way too fast.”
92. “So you lied about what you did, how you felt, who you were, and basically pretended to be a fake person who didn’t exist, but you’re calling me “crazy”. Okay.”
93. “I come from the school of thought where a dad’s absence is something to be counted on. Now I see all the men with camouflage diaper bags and babies hanging from their chests like little ship figureheads.”- Kaui Hart Hemmings
94. “That would make me a completely absent father, and that’s unacceptable.” – Ken Salazar
95. “A father’s smile has been known to make a child’s day, so what is left when there is no father at all?”
96. “My Dad was a good man, but an emotionally absent one. Which was worse than him not being there at all.” – Jim Hamilton
97. “If you can’t make sacrifices for your kids, you don’t deserve them. A true parent would give their life and their very last breath!”
98. “Dad…Remembering you is easy; I do it every day. Missing you is the heartache that never goes away.”
99. “No matter how old you get, the hole in your heart created by your father’s absence still aches.”
100. “I am sorry that you weren’t the man that I needed you to be.”
101. “I’ve been half an orphan since he left. Half a woman, half a person. Empty no matter what good or bad thing I pour into myself. He took everything I was and everything I wanted to be as a little girl. He left a lot of sadness behind, and I’m clinging on to it, thinking it I let go, that little half that I still am might perish.”
Absent Father Quotes To Heal Your Inner Child
Sometimes the simple act of acknowledging that your parent was not a good person, that their choice was not a reflection of your worth, is one of the most powerful things that you can learn. You are strong. Take a look at these absent father quotes.
102. “If a guy has children and he has nothing to do with them. He is not a good person.”
103. “A poor present father is far better than a rich absent father.” – Nii Smart
104. “Only goal as a mother: Raise children that don’t have to recover from their childhood.”
105. “An absent father needs to realize his child’s needs before it’s too late.”
106. “I look forward to father’s day the same way I look forward to doing my taxes.”
107. “The absent are always in the wrong.”
108. “Turns out I didn’t need you, but I wanted you and you didn’t want me.”
109. “Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, but having to grieve someone who is still here…now that is awful.”
110. “A bad father has never a good son.”
111. “I will never know if you were a bad dad.”
112. “I think the worst part of this is that I actually have so many good memories of you, along with the bad ones.”
113. “My brain holds on to the good memories and lets go of the hurtful ones. You are remembered in my brain as this sweet, eccentric man. That is why I cannot see you now, I will be faced with the reality that you are a narcissist who only wanted me as a way to boost your own ego. And when I did not do that anymore, you left.”
114. “Being abandoned by your dad is such a strang feeling; like you are walking around with only one shoe on.”
115. “What would my life be like if you had stayed? Would it be better or were you doing me a kindness by leaving?”
116. “Now, the only thing that I have left of my father is his red hair and the fear I get when I see an 50-year-old walking down the street that sort of resembles you.”
117. “Sometimes I get a whiff of a random smell that transports me back into your bear hugs, and it makes the reality of your absence that much harder.”
118. “You are only 20 minutes away, and yet we are worlds apart. You do not know me the way I know you.”
119. “It is such an odd thing to see your father and a stranger wrapped up into one person.”
120. “If I hug you now, would it bring the same comfort as it did before you left? Or would I be hugging the person who stabbed a knife in my back?”
121. “As a child, I forgive you. As a parent, I could never understand you.”
I hope you found these quotes helpful and that they started you along your healing journey. Welcome your tears, your anger, and your sadness. They are all a part of this.
At the very least, I hope these quotes show you that you are not alone. You have so much to offer the world, more than your father ever did. So go out there and end those generational cycles. You already are, just by existing and not being willing to repeat the mistakes of our parents.
If you want to continue reading good quotes, you are in the right place. We have so many different themes for you to explore, but you can start here and work your way through them.