--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To be the father of growing daughters is…" description: "\"To be the father of growing daughters is to understand something of what Yeats evokes with his imperishable phrase 'terrible beauty.' Nothing can make ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/238/christopher-hitchens-117_atheism_to-be-the-father-of-growing-daughters-is_2022608.jpg" --- # To be the father of growing daughters is to understand… ![“To be the father of growing daughters is to understand something of what Yeats evokes with his imperishable phrase 'terrible beauty.' Nothing can make one so happily exhilarated or so frightened: it's a solid lesson in the limitations of self to realize that your heart is running around inside…” quote by Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/238/christopher-hitchens-117_atheism_to-be-the-father-of-growing-daughters-is_2022608.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/238/christopher-hitchens-117_atheism_to-be-the-father-of-growing-daughters-is_2022608.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/238/christopher-hitchens-117_atheism_to-be-the-father-of-growing-daughters-is_2022608.jpg) > “To be the father of growing daughters is to understand something of what Yeats evokes with his imperishable phrase 'terrible beauty.' Nothing can make one so happily exhilarated or so frightened: it's a solid lesson in the limitations of self to realize that your heart is running around inside someone else's body. It also makes me quite astonishingly calm at the thought of death: I know whom I would die to protect and I also understand that nobody but a lugubrious serf can possibly wish for a father who never goes away.” [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote explores the paradox of parental love, feeling both intense joy and fear, and how this deep bond reshapes one's perception of self and mortality. **In simple terms:** Loving a child brings joy and fear, changing self‑view and mortality. Key Takeaway Embrace the profound love and its transformative power. Themes parenthood love identity mortality fear Mood introspective poignant reflective Type philosophical emotional literary When to use this quote - raising daughters - coping with loss - contemplating death - protective instincts Key Concepts attachment self‑transcendence existential reflection Questions to Reflect On - How does parental love alter your sense of self? - What fears arise from deep attachment? A Different Perspective The intensity of feeling may be idealized and not universal. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Atheism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atheism/) [Atheist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atheist/) [Beauty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty/) [Body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/) [Calm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/calm/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Daughter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/daughter/) [Daughters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/daughters/) [Father](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/father/) [Fatherhood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fatherhood/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Lessons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lessons/) [Limitation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/limitation/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) [Running](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/running/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Wish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wish/) ## Related quotes > [As a young man, Yeats spoke to me in a way I could understand. Shakespeare I couldn't understand, but Yeats I could. It was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-cohen/as-a-young-man-yeats-spoke-to-me-in-a-way-i-could-understand/) [Leonard Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-cohen/) > [“Come away! O, human child! To the woods and waters wild, With a fairy hand in hand, For the world’s more full of weeping…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nora-roberts/come-away-o-human-child-to-the-woods-and-waters-wild-with-a-fairy/) [Nora Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nora-roberts/) > [It means everything to be a father. I had a father growing up, so I wanted my kids to have a father as well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mustard/it-means-everything-to-be-a-father-i-had-a-father-growing-up-so-i/) Mustard > [I never thought of my father when I was growing up. Truly. He was a strong, silent man who worked hard to support his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lepage/i-never-thought-of-my-father-when-i-was-growing-up-truly-he-was-a/) [Robert Lepage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lepage/) > [I remember as a teen being able to eat more than my father. I was growing so fast and my body couldn’t keep up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saskia-de-brauw/i-remember-as-a-teen-being-able-to-eat-more-than-my-father-i-was/) [Saskia de Brauw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saskia-de-brauw/) > [To a father growing old nothing is dearer than a daughter…!!!! A daughter is a gift of love...!!!!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pooja/to-a-father-growing-old-nothing-is-dearer-than-a-daughter-a-daughter/) [Pooja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pooja/) > [Can't believe all of my friends are becoming a father, growing up is too weird!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/can-t-believe-all-of-my-friends-are-becoming-a-father-growing-up-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [My stepdad didn't have a father growing up, so he didn't know how to have a father-son style conversation. Plus, we had a tense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lecrae/my-stepdad-didn-t-have-a-father-growing-up-so-he-didn-t-know-how-to/) [Lecrae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lecrae/) > [ I never really saw \[my father\] at all when I was growing up. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-fisher/i-never-really-saw-my-father-at-all-when-i-was-growing-up/) [Carrie Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-fisher/) > [To a father growing old nothing is dearer than a daughter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/euripides/to-a-father-growing-old-nothing-is-dearer-than-a-daughter/) [Euripides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/euripides/) > [I didn't know my biological father growing up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keyshia-cole/i-didn-t-know-my-biological-father-growing-up/) [Keyshia Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keyshia-cole/) > [He was an abusive father. He was never a father to me growing up as a kid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angelina-pivarnick/he-was-an-abusive-father-he-was-never-a-father-to-me-growing-up-as-a/) [Angelina Pivarnick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angelina-pivarnick/) > [“Incidentally, I have also learned a bit about the importance of avoiding feminine embarrassment ('Daddy,' wrote Sophia when she enrolled at the New School…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/incidentally-i-have-also-learned-a-bit-about-the-importance-of/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [“ . . . after twenty centuries of stony sleep, what rough beast, its hour come round at last, slouches toward Bethlehem to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-b-yeats-2/after-twenty-centuries-of-stony-sleep-what-rough-beast-its-hour-come/) [W. B. Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-b-yeats-2/) > [I didn't want to be like Yeats; I wanted to be Yeats.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berryman/i-didn-t-want-to-be-like-yeats-i-wanted-to-be-yeats/) [John Berryman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berryman/) ## More by Christopher Hitchens > [“The spirit of our accurate and exact philosophy is outraged by conclusions that contradict each other so glaringly.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/the-spirit-of-our-accurate-and-exact-philosophy-is-outraged-by/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [“Many governments employ torture but this was the first time that the element of Saturnalia and pornography in the process had been made so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/many-governments-employ-torture-but-this-was-the-first-time-that-the/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [ It's \[Los Angeles\] mostly full of nonsense and delusion and egomania. They think they'll be young and beautiful forever, even though most of them… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/it-s-los-angeles-mostly-full-of-nonsense-and-delusion-and-egomania/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [To be against rationalization is not the same as to be opposed to reasoning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/to-be-against-rationalization-is-not-the-same-as-to-be-opposed-to/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [ \[Religion\] attacks us in our deepest integrity - the core of our self-respect. 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