--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I don't absolve my father completely of…" description: "\"I don't absolve my father completely of his responsibility for what he did to us I feel compassion, maybe. He had his demons. But I still can't underst..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/689/frank-mccourt-2576_begging_i-don-t-absolve-my-father-completely-of_2018134.jpg" --- # I don't absolve my father completely of his responsibility… ![“I don't absolve my father completely of his responsibility for what he did to us I feel compassion, maybe. He had his demons. But I still can't understand how a man can walk away from children. And leave them to starve, as we nearly did, if it wasn't for my mother going out and begging.” quote by Frank McCourt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/689/frank-mccourt-2576_begging_i-don-t-absolve-my-father-completely-of_2018134.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/689/frank-mccourt-2576_begging_i-don-t-absolve-my-father-completely-of_2018134.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/689/frank-mccourt-2576_begging_i-don-t-absolve-my-father-completely-of_2018134.jpg) > “I don't absolve my father completely of his responsibility for what he did to us I feel compassion, maybe. He had his demons. But I still can't understand how a man can walk away from children. And leave them to starve, as we nearly did, if it wasn't for my mother going out and begging.” [Frank McCourt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-mccourt/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator struggles with mixed feelings toward his father, balancing compassion for his struggles with anger over his abandonment. **In simple terms:** He feels both compassion and resentment toward his father. Key Takeaway Acknowledge complex emotions toward abusive parents. Themes family abandonment compassion anger Mood somber conflicted Type memoir reflective When to use this quote - family therapy - personal reflection - support groups - writing memoirs Key Concepts intergenerational trauma moral conflict Questions to Reflect On - What does forgiveness require? - How can one protect oneself while feeling empathy? A Different Perspective Compassion may enable denial of accountability. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Absolve Father](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absolve-father-3641129/) [Begging](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/begging/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Compassion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/compassion/) [Compassion Maybe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/compassion-maybe-3641128/) [Demon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/demon/) [Father](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/father/) [Feel Compassion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feel-compassion/) [Feels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feels/) [Going out](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/going-out/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Mother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mother/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) [Responsibility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/responsibility/) [Stills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stills/) [Walks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/walks/) ## Related quotes > [“Even the strongest and bravest must sometimes weep. 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You watch them closely, wondering about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vironika-tugaleva/when-you-love-people-you-are-curious-about-who-they-are-what-they/) [Vironika Tugaleva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vironika-tugaleva/) > [Some people think that without that spark of empathy we would do nothing, but that's just flat-out wrong. You could feel compassion for somebody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bloom/some-people-think-that-without-that-spark-of-empathy-we-would-do/) [Paul Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bloom/) ## More by Frank McCourt > [I'm not one of those James Joyce intellectuals who can stand back and look at the whole edifice... 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So it was a long, long time before I actually went out to Brooklyn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-mccourt/my-childhood-here-was-very-limited-so-it-was-a-long-long-time-before/) [Frank McCourt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-mccourt/) > [We never really had any kind of a Christmas. This is one part where my memory fails me completely.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-mccourt/we-never-really-had-any-kind-of-a-christmas-this-is-one-part-where-my/) [Frank McCourt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-mccourt/) > [A lot of people say writers start losing their powers after 60 or 65. But I look at the best-seller list and see a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-mccourt/a-lot-of-people-say-writers-start-losing-their-powers-after-60-or-65/) [Frank McCourt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-mccourt/) > [“When the dark clouds flutter like bats in my head I wish I could open a window and release them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-mccourt/when-the-dark-clouds-flutter-like-bats-in-my-head-i-wish-i-could-open/) [Frank McCourt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-mccourt/) > [Shakespeare is like mashed potatoes, you can never get enough of him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-mccourt/shakespeare-is-like-mashed-potatoes-you-can-never-get-enough-of-him/) [Frank McCourt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-mccourt/) > [I just have to proceed as usual. No matter what happens, nothing helps with the writing of the next book.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-mccourt/i-just-have-to-proceed-as-usual-no-matter-what-happens-nothing-helps/) [Frank McCourt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-mccourt/) > [Worse than the ordinary, miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-mccourt/worse-than-the-ordinary-miserable-childhood-is-the-miserable-irish/) [Frank McCourt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-mccourt/) > [It's not enough to be American. You always have to be something else, Irish-American, German-American, and you'd wonder how they'd get along if someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-mccourt/it-s-not-enough-to-be-american-you-always-have-to-be-something-else/) [Frank McCourt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-mccourt/) > [I had to get rid of any idea of hell or any idea of the afterlife. That's what held me, kept me down. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-mccourt/i-had-to-get-rid-of-any-idea-of-hell-or-any-idea-of-the-afterlife/) [Frank McCourt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-mccourt/) [Explore all 159 Frank McCourt quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-mccourt/) ## More Begging quotes > [“You are the queen, he ought to be begging leave of you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-r-r-martin/you-are-the-queen-he-ought-to-be-begging-leave-of-you/) [George R.R. Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-r-r-martin/) > [Daddy always said the only thing worth begging for was your life, but maybe he was wrong. Maybe sometimes your love is a little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-zevin/daddy-always-said-the-only-thing-worth-begging-for-was-your-life-but/) [Gabrielle Zevin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-zevin/) > [How much more of the mosque, of prayer and fasting? Better go drunk and begging round the taverns. 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I am doing you a favor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-hocking/the-desperation-was-coming-off-you-in-waves-you-were-all-but-begging/) [Amanda Hocking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-hocking/) > [While you're ignoring me, someone else is begging for my attention.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/while-you-re-ignoring-me-someone-else-is-begging-for-my-attention/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I would willingly stand at street corners, hat in hand, begging passerby to drop their unused minutes into it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-berenson/i-would-willingly-stand-at-street-corners-hat-in-hand-begging/) [Bernard Berenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-berenson/) > [A man in love ... is the master, so it seems, but only if his lady friend permits it! 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