25 pieces of wisdom from movie dads

25 pieces of wisdom from movie dads

25 pieces of wisdom from movie dads

Father's Day is upon us once more and before you cry "But what about son's day?", let's take a moment to celebrate the patriarch.

Our dads teach us a lot sure but movie dads teach us even more. Mainly because their every line is being scripted by a professional.

We've selected 25 of the best pieces of fatherly wisdom from cinema for you to compare and contrast with any pearls that have erupted from your actual father's mouth.

(Images: All Star, Rex Features)

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Atticus Finch (To Kill A Mockingbird)

Year: 1962

Played by: Gregory Peck

"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it."

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Matt King (The Descendants)

Year: 2011

Played by: George Clooney

"You give your children enough money to do something but not enough to do nothing"

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Christopher Gardener (The Pursuit of Happyness)

Year: 2006

Played by: Will Smith

"People can't do somethin' themselves, they wanna tell you you can't do it. If you want somethin', go get it. Period"

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Ed Bloom (Big Fish)

Year: 2003

Played by: Albert Finney

"It's rude to talk about religion. You never know who you're gonna offend."

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Mac MacGuff (Juno)

Year: 2007

Played by: JK Simmons

"Look, in my opinion, the best thing you can do is find a person who loves you for exactly what you are. Good mood, bad mood, ugly, pretty, handsome, what have you, the right person is still going to think the sun shines out your ass. That's the kind of person that's worth sticking with."

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Mufasa (The Lion King)

Year: 1994

Played by: James Earl Jones

"When we die, our bodies become the grass, and the antelope eat the grass. And so we are all connnected in the great Circle of Life."

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Clark Griswald (National Lampoon's Vacation)

Year: 1983

Played by: Chevy Chase

"Everything isn't like home. If everything were like home, there would be no reason for leaving home."

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Daniel (Love Actually)

Year: 2003

Played by: Liam Neeson

"The general wisdom is that, in the end, there isn't just one person for each of us."

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Jack Byrnes (Meet The Parents)

Year: 2000

Played by: Robert De Niro

"Can you ever really trust another human being, Greg...no, the answer is you cannot."

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Doc (The Heartbreak Kid)

Year:

Played by: Jerry Stiller

"When your wife, on her honeymoon, asks you to cock her, you cock her good, God damn it!"

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Ben's Dad (Knocked Up)

Year: 2007

Played by: Harold Ramis

"Stuff happens. You just got to deal with it.You roll with it. That's the beauty of it all."

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George Barnes (The Five Year Engagement)

Year: 2012

Played by: Jim Piddick

"The first important thing to remember about marriage is that it requires commitment. The second important thing to remember about marriage is that so does insanity."

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Lester Burnham (American Beauty)

Year: 1999

Played by: Kevin Spacey

"It's a great thing when you realize you still have the ability to surprise yourself."

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Mr Incredible (The Incredibles)

Year: 2004

Played by: Craig T Nelson

"No matter how many times you save the world, it always manages to get back in jeopardy again."

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John Milton (Devil's Advocate)

Year: 1997

Played by: Al Pacino

"No matter how good you are don't ever let them see you coming."

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Furious Styles (Boyz N The Hood)

Year: 1991

Played by: Laurence Fishburne

"Any fool with a dick can make a baby, but only a real man can raise his children."

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Brody (Jaws)

Year: 1975

Played by: Roy Scheider

"It's only an island if you look at it from the water."

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Richard Hoover (Little Miss Sunshine)

Year: 2006

Played by: Greg Kinnear

"There's two kinds of people in this world, there's winners and there's losers. OK, you know what the difference is? Winners don't give up."

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Royal Tenenbaum (The Royal Tenenbaums)

Year: 2001

Played by: Gene Hackman

"You can't raise boys to be scared of life. You gotta brew some recklessness into them."

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Calvin Jarrett (Ordinary People)

Year: 1980

Played by: Donald Sutherland

"Don't admire people too much, they might disappoint you."

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Dr Evil (Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery)

Year: 1997

Played by: Mike Myers

"There's nothing as pathetic as an aging hipster."

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Gideon Largeman (Garden State)

Year: 2004

Played by: Ian Holm

"Saying goodbye is important."

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Oliver Rose (The War Of The Roses)

Year: 1989

Played by: Michael Douglas

"Don't be led by your emotions."

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Lance Clayton (World's Greatest Dad)

Year: 2009

Played by: Robin Williams

"I used to think the worst thing in life was to end up all alone. It's not. The worst thing in life is ending up with people who make you feel all alone."

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Mike Brady (The Brady Bunch Movie)

Year: 1995

Played by: Gary Cole

"If you judge your friends for passing judgment on you, you're not only judging yourself you're judging your friends for judging you. And that would be using bad judgment."

Marc Chacksfield
Content Director

As Content Director of Shortlist, Marc likes nothing more than to compile endless lists of an evening by candlelight. He started out life as a movie writer for numerous (now defunct) magazines and soon found himself online - editing a gaggle of gadget sites, including TechRadar, Digital Camera World and Tom's Guide UK. At Shortlist you'll find him mostly writing about movies and tech, so no change there then.