30 Quotes For Men About Masculinity, Being A Good Father & What Makes A Man
Becoming a man takes more than just growing up.
When men embrace their masculinity, they can become leaders who defend the world from tyranny, firefighters who save babies from burning buildings, or husbands working hard to support their families.
Men play a critical role the family setting as well — studies have found that children who grow up without a father have more chances to become depressed, get pregnant and commit more crimes. Men are needed just as much as women to balance the development of a child.
In a world that's positively changing to become a more gender-equal place, where gender roles are ever-evolving, fights against toxic masulinity run hot, and topics like paternity leave are finally being discussed, it can be easy to get lost when you're growing up as a boy into a man, trying to find your own identity. Look to these quotes for men about masculinity, gender roles, how to be a good father and a good husband to help you find your place in the world, and learn about what it really takes to be a man.
1. What makes a man is his character.
“A man’s ledger does not tell what he is, or what he is worth. Count what is in man, not what is on him, if you would know what he is worth—whether rich or poor.” – Henry Ward Beecher
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2. Being a great involves helping those in need.
“We do not admire the man of timid peace. We admire the man who embodies victorious effort; the man who never wrongs his neighbor, who is prompt to help a friend, but who has those virile qualities necessary to win in the stern strife of actual life.” – Theodore Roosevelt
3. Being a great man is apart of being a great parent.
“This part of being a man, changing the way we parent, happens only when we want it to. It changes because we are determined for it to change, and the motive for changing often comes out of wanting to be the kind of parent we didn’t have.” – Augustus Y. Napier
4. You die as a man.
“A man does not die of love or his liver or even of old age; he dies of being a man.” — Miguel de Unamuno
5. Take responsibility for your life.
“Part of being a man is learning to take responsibility for your successes and for your failures. You can’t go blaming others or being jealous. Seeing somebody else’s success as your failure is a cancerous way to live.” — Kevin Bacon
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6. Be the man you want to be.
“In the end, my story, in Iraq and afterward, is about more than just killing people or even fighting for my country. It’s about being a man. And it’s about love as well as hate.” — Chris Kyle
7. Look deep inside a man.
“People ask for this life, but they don’t really understand what comes with it. People just see the outside and that looks good – big houses, cars, girls, but you never see how the person is feeling deep down inside. Me personally, being a man, I’m going to feel better displaying all of this and pouring my heart out on each record.” — Bow Wow
8. Do no wrong to your fellow man.
“To have done no man a wrong…to walk and live, unseduced, within arm’s length of what is not your own, with nothing between your desire and its gratification but the invisible law of rectitude—this is to be a man.” – Horace Mann
9. Be a gentleman to everyone.
“You have to be a man before you can be a gentleman.” – John Wayne
10. Don't force kindness.
“Acting is just being a man. Being human. Not forcing it.” — Peter O’Toole
11. Keep your promises.
"A gentleman makes commitments. A loser makes promises"- Unknown
12. Your ideal doesn't exist.
“The ideal man doesn’t smoke, doesn’t drink, doesn’t do drugs, doesn’t swear, doesn’t get angry, doesn’t exist.” — Unknown
13. A man's not a machine.
“For a long time, I felt instinctively irritated – sometimes repelled – by scientific friends’ automatic use of the word ‘mechanism’ for automatic bodily processes. A machine was man-made; it was not a sentient being; a man was not a machine.” – A. S. Byatt
14. Being a man is hard.
“Being a good actor isn’t easy. Being a man is even harder. I want to be both before I’m done.” — James Dean
15. Fake it till you make it.
“You act at being a man, and before you know it, you are one.” — Richard Madden
16. Refuse your instincts.
“Man is the only creature who refuses to be what he is.” ― Albert Camus
17. Be a better man.
“I love watching Marty Scorsese’s films, but they always make me feel terrible about being a man.” — Martin Donovan
18. Being a man is changing.
“There have been many changes in the gender roles over the past 30 or more years. As a result, the idea of being a “real man” has changed but one thing is for sure — there are some traits that define masculinity that most men and women would still agree upon.”-Unknown
19. Real men are hard to find.
“A real man is hard to find but that can change with a couple of small adjustments. Let these real man quotes be the guide to becoming a stronger, better person.”“A real man is hard to find but that can change with a couple of small adjustments. Let these real man quotes be the guide to becoming a stronger, better person.”- Unknown
20. Overcome challenges as a man.
“The real man smiles in trouble, gathers strength from distress, and grows brave by reflection.” – Thomas Paine
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21. Unleash your hidden child.
“In every real man, a child is hidden that wants to play.” – Friedrich Nietzsche
22. Live like a man.
“I live, like every real man, in my work.” – Max Frisch
23. Stand up for what you believe in.
“If you want to be a real human being – a real woman, a real man – you cannot tolerate things which put you to indignation, to outrage. You must stand up. I always say to people, ‘Look around; look at what makes you unhappy, what makes you furious, and then engage yourself in some action.'” – Stephane Hessel
24. Look for the woman who makes you happy.
“A real man won’t date the most beautiful girl in the world – he’ll date the girl that makes his world beautiful.” – Unknown
25. Look for the right woman for you.
“It’s a real man who can go out with a woman who’s taller than he is. That’s an alpha male right there.” – Miranda Hart
26. Protect your kids.
“You can’t be a real man if you don’t look out for your kids. They need you.” – Bill O’Reilly
27. Let people know the kind of man you are.
“Let men see, let them know, a real man, who lives as he was meant to live.” – Marcus Aurelius
28. Never accept excuses.
“The real man is one who always finds excuses for others, but never excuses himself.” – Henry Ward Beecher
29. Be man enough to accept your flaws.
“It takes a real man to make a true confession – a Chocolate Soldier will excuse or cloak his sin.” – Charles Studd
30. Where are the real men?
“Remember those black-and-white films with Frank Sinatra? Those guys looked like men and they were only 27! Listen to Otis Redding singing ‘Try A Little Tenderness’. That was a man who understood what a man has to know in the world. Show me a real man now! Where are they?” – Chrissie Hynde
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31. You can identify with a real man.
“You can’t relate to a superhero, to a superman, but you can identify with a real man who in times of crisis draws forth some extraordinary quality from within himself and triumphs but only after a struggle.” – Timothy Dalton
32. Be a real man.
“I’m sick of very white teeth and lots of gymnasium practice. I’m bored, you know, send in the next one. I wanted a real man that I could believe was my brother, my father, you know, my next-door neighbor – a real person.” – Tim Roth
33. The real man is conceived by the author.
“I know that I am a singer and an actor, yet in order to give the public the impression that I am neither one nor the other, but the real man conceived by the author, I have to feel and to think as the man the author had in mind.”– Enrico Caruso
34. Always be a gentleman.
“The stronger a man is, the more gentle he can afford to be.” – Elbert Hubbard
35. Men are like steel.
“Men are like steel. When they lose their temper, they lose their worth.” – Chuck Norris
If you're searching for the best quotes and memes to share with the people you love (or just want to feel inspired yourself) ... look no further! From the sweetest love quotes, inspirational sayings, and hilarious friendship truths, we've got you covered.
Steven Hall is a writer who covers astrology, pop culture, and relationship topics.