Absent Fathers Quotes

“The answer to the question ‘How many children do you have?’ and the one to the question ‘How many children are you raising?’ are not identical in all cases: some men are not taking care of their own children, some are knowingly or unknowingly raising other men’s children, and some do not even know that they each have a child, another child, or other children.”
― Mokokoma Mokhonoana

“What right did my father have to the details of my life? He squandered his chance to be the protective father. You can't come rushing to the rescue six months later. I wasn't a person to be saved only when it was a convenient time to swoop in.”
― Tayari Jones, Silver Sparrow

“You're a grown man now, Nathan. I'm sorry for any problems you have, but part of being an adult is to stop blaming your parents for whatever shortcomings you have. That's pretty basic.”
― Noah Van Sciver, The Lizard Laughed

“There would be fewer absent fathers, if straight men were turned on only by women with whom they would not mind having children.”
― Mokokoma Mokhonoana

“Although a million black men can be found in prisons and jails, public acknowledgment of the role of the criminal justice system in "disappearing" black men is surprisingly rare. ... Hundreds of thousands of black men are unable to be good fathers for their children, not because of a lack of commitment or desire but because they are warehoused in prisons, locked in cages. They did not walk out on their families voluntarily; they were taken away in handcuffs, often due to a massive federal program known as the War on Drugs.”
― Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness

“Hes that kind of man. Every few years he sends news of where he is, and he even turned up on the doorstep unannounced once or twice when we were still at school. He's not a bad person, just a flighty one.”
― Josie Silver, The Two Lives of Lydia Bird

“For not taking care of his own child, a man can, with reason, argue that he made, not the child, but love.”
― Mokokoma Mokhonoana

“Stepfathers have been vilified for ages. Books and movies have always depicted stepfathers as this clog in the family system, not to be accepted. Children are programmed to hate a stepfather from the get-go and they do so with a passion. It doesn’t matter if the child’s father is in the picture or not.”
― Thabo Katlholo, Blame Less: A Grim Journey Into the Life of a Chronic Blamer

“It may seem easy and convenient to blame your absentee father for our unhappiness, but in the long run you lose out, as indulging in blame costs you the authority to be in charge.
We miss the profound potential which can be unleashed once we take total responsibility for our life experience, and preside proactively over the purposeful direction of our lives.
To take full ownership of your life, your choices and happiness takes a lot of accountability.”
― Thabo Katlholo, Blame Less: A Grim Journey Into the Life of a Chronic Blamer