--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Few sons are like their fathers - many…" description: "\"Few sons are like their fathers - many are worse, few better.\" — Homer" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/917/homer-357_children_few-sons-are-like-their-fathers-many-are_1778833.png" --- # Few sons are like their fathers - many are worse, few… ![“Few sons are like their fathers - many are worse, few better.” quote by Homer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/917/homer-357_children_few-sons-are-like-their-fathers-many-are_1778833.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/917/homer-357_children_few-sons-are-like-their-fathers-many-are_1778833.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/917/homer-357_children_few-sons-are-like-their-fathers-many-are_1778833.png) > “Few sons are like their fathers - many are worse, few better.” [Homer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Acknowledge that children often differ from their parents, sometimes unfavorably, sometimes better. **In simple terms:** Children can be worse, same, or better than parents. Key Takeaway Accept and guide children individually. Themes family inheritance character Mood reflective thoughtful Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - parenting - education - family counseling Key Concepts nature vs nurture generational traits Questions to Reflect On - How do you support a child who differs from you? - What influences shape a child's character? A Different Perspective Not all traits are inherited; environment matters. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Dad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dad/) [Father](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/father/) [Fathers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fathers/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) [Son](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/son/) [Sons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sons/) ## Related quotes > [“Few sons are like their fathers--most are worse, few better.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer/few-sons-are-like-their-fathers-most-are-worse-few-better/) [Homer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer/) > [“Few sons, indeed, are like their fathers. Generally they are worse; but just a few are better.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer/few-sons-indeed-are-like-their-fathers-generally-they-are-worse-but/) [Homer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer/) > [Dickens had more energy than anyone in the world, and he expected his sons to be like him, and they couldn't be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claire-tomalin/dickens-had-more-energy-than-anyone-in-the-world-and-he-expected-his/) [Claire Tomalin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claire-tomalin/) > [The age of our fathers, which was worse than that of our ancestors, produced us, who are about to raise a progeny even more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/the-age-of-our-fathers-which-was-worse-than-that-of-our-ancestors/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [For rarely are sons similar to their fathers: most are worse, and a few are better than their fathers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer/for-rarely-are-sons-similar-to-their-fathers-most-are-worse-and-a-few/) [Homer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer/) > [Few sons are equal to their fathers; most fall short, all too few surpass them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer/few-sons-are-equal-to-their-fathers-most-fall-short-all-too-few/) [Homer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer/) > [Men are more like the time they live in than they are like their fathers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-vaughan/men-are-more-like-the-time-they-live-in-than-they-are-like-their/) [Bill Vaughan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-vaughan/) > [I think I really thought I was a boy until I was ten years old because my parents divorced when I was born, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eliza-dushku/i-think-i-really-thought-i-was-a-boy-until-i-was-ten-years-old/) [Eliza Dushku](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eliza-dushku/) > [I deal with my sons like young men. If they have a problem with something, they come to me. I am the type of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracy-morgan/i-deal-with-my-sons-like-young-men-if-they-have-a-problem-with/) [Tracy Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracy-morgan/) > [“Parents of murdered children have it worst, and to me the fathers have it even worse than the mothers because they are taught to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-landay/parents-of-murdered-children-have-it-worst-and-to-me-the-fathers-have/) [William Landay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-landay/) > [Fathers should teach their sons how to earn money because mothers teach their daughters how to spend it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/fathers-should-teach-their-sons-how-to-earn-money-because-mothers/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [Yes, we are our fathers' sons and daughters, but we are not their choices. For despite their absences we are still here. Still alive,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-beaty/yes-we-are-our-fathers-sons-and-daughters-but-we-are-not-their/) [Daniel Beaty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-beaty/) > [“I never told you this enough- it's a failing between all men, I think, but too often of fathers to their sons- I love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-d-lacey/i-never-told-you-this-enough-it-s-a-failing-between-all-men-i-think/) Joseph D'Lacey > [We must speed up the time table for fathers, brothers and sons to provide their mothers, daughters and sisters with the same opportunities that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-m-kunin/we-must-speed-up-the-time-table-for-fathers-brothers-and-sons-to/) [Madeleine M. Kunin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-m-kunin/) > [“You can know a thing to death and be for all purposes completely ignorant of it. A man can know his father, or his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/you-can-know-a-thing-to-death-and-be-for-all-purposes-completely/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) ## More by Homer > [He knew the things that were and the things that would be and the things that had been before.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer/he-knew-the-things-that-were-and-the-things-that-would-be-and-the/) [Homer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer/) > [“Few sons are like their fathers--most are worse, few better.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer/few-sons-are-like-their-fathers-most-are-worse-few-better/) [Homer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer/) > [The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, as it pleases him, for he can do all things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer/the-lord-gives-and-the-lord-takes-away-as-it-pleases-him-for-he-can/) [Homer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer/) > [“Sing in me, Muse, and through me tell the story of that man skilled in all ways of contending, the wanderer, harried for years…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer/sing-in-me-muse-and-through-me-tell-the-story-of-that-man-skilled-in/) [Homer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer/) > [Hateful to me as are the gates of hell, Is he who, hiding one thing in his heart, Utters another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer/hateful-to-me-as-are-the-gates-of-hell-is-he-who-hiding-one-thing-in/) [Homer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer/) > [“And Zeus said: “Hera, you can choose some other time for paying your visit to Oceanus — for the present let us devote ourselves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer/and-zeus-said-hera-you-can-choose-some-other-time-for-paying-your/) [Homer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer/) > [Ruin, eldest daughter of Zeus, she blinds us all, that fatal madness—she with those delicate feet of hers, never touching the earth, gliding over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer/ruin-eldest-daughter-of-zeus-she-blinds-us-all-that-fatal-madness-she/) [Homer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer/) > [“Scepticism is as much the result of knowledge, as knowledge is of scepticism. To be content with what we at present know, is, for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer/scepticism-is-as-much-the-result-of-knowledge-as-knowledge-is-of/) [Homer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer/) > [Boy, everyone is stupid except me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer/boy-everyone-is-stupid-except-me/) [Homer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer/) > [“With that the dream departed, leaving him there, his heart racing with hopes that would not come to pass. He thought he would take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer/with-that-the-dream-departed-leaving-him-there-his-heart-racing-with/) [Homer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer/) > [Tell me, O Muse, of that ingenious hero who travelled far and wide after he had sacked the famous town of Troy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer/tell-me-o-muse-of-that-ingenious-hero-who-travelled-far-and-wide/) [Homer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer/) > [Ah, beer, my one weakness. My Achille's heel, if you will.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer/ah-beer-my-one-weakness-my-achille-s-heel-if-you-will/) [Homer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer/) > [My life is more to me than all the wealth of Ilius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer/my-life-is-more-to-me-than-all-the-wealth-of-ilius/) [Homer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer/) > [Being popular is the most important thing in the world!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer/being-popular-is-the-most-important-thing-in-the-world/) [Homer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer/) > [Urge him with truth to frame his fair replies And sure he will for Wisdom never lies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer/urge-him-with-truth-to-frame-his-fair-replies-and-sure-he-will-for/) [Homer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer/) [Explore all 639 Homer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer/) ## More Children quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [Behind every successful child is an adult who believed in him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-warren/behind-every-successful-child-is-an-adult-who-believed-in-him/) [Rick Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-warren/) > [I believe in freedom to do what you want if you aren't hurting others, but pictures of obese protesters giving their children big gulps.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-defranco/i-believe-in-freedom-to-do-what-you-want-if-you-aren-t-hurting-others/) [Philip DeFranco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-defranco/) > [If the audience likes your work, if they like you, they don't think whether you are married or have children or not. I made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dimple-kapadia/if-the-audience-likes-your-work-if-they-like-you-they-don-t-think/) [Dimple Kapadia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dimple-kapadia/) > [It doesnt seem to me strange that children should like the macabre, the sensational, and the forbidden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-hecht/it-doesnt-seem-to-me-strange-that-children-should-like-the-macabre/) [Anthony Hecht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-hecht/) > [Let children support their parents or be imprisoned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/let-children-support-their-parents-or-be-imprisoned/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Gratitude isn't just a feeling, it's an action. Expressing gratitude by writing in a journal, taking a photo, or shooting a video creates a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janice-kaplan/gratitude-isn-t-just-a-feeling-it-s-an-action-expressing-gratitude-by/) [Janice Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janice-kaplan/) > [My embarrassing confession is that my father is a 'Camelot: The Musical' obsessive. So as a child, when we were going to visit relatives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-chibnall/my-embarrassing-confession-is-that-my-father-is-a-camelot-the-musical/) [Chris Chibnall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-chibnall/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [My school was one of the most beautiful places a child can grow up in. You are surrounded by nature - cats, dogs, birds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amala-akkineni/my-school-was-one-of-the-most-beautiful-places-a-child-can-grow-up-in/) [Amala Akkineni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amala-akkineni/) > [A lesser complaint: hair extensions. There are moments on 'All My Children' when half the women actors, young and old, seem to be afflicted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/a-lesser-complaint-hair-extensions-there-are-moments-on-all-my/) [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) > [As a child, I had a lot of older gay men taking care of me. There's a trust there. I feel like little girls…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-cho/as-a-child-i-had-a-lot-of-older-gay-men-taking-care-of-me-there-s-a/) [Margaret Cho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-cho/) > [If my child had prejudice in his head, I'd be ashamed. I would see it as my failure as a parent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/if-my-child-had-prejudice-in-his-head-i-d-be-ashamed-i-would-see-it/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [“Children's lives are always beginning and adults' lives are always ending. Or is it the opposite? Your childhood is always ending and your adult…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-espach/children-s-lives-are-always-beginning-and-adults-lives-are-always/) [Alison Espach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-espach/) > [As a child I was very involved with sports and I knew at age 9 that I wanted to be an Olympic champion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marion-jones/as-a-child-i-was-very-involved-with-sports-and-i-knew-at-age-9-that-i/) [Marion Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marion-jones/) [Browse all 62,396 Children quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Few sons are like their fathers - many are worse, few better.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Homer" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer/few-sons-are-like-their-fathers-many-are-worse-few-better/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Children" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer/few-sons-are-like-their-fathers-many-are-worse-few-better/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/917/homer-357_children_few-sons-are-like-their-fathers-many-are_1778833.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/917/homer-357_children_few-sons-are-like-their-fathers-many-are_1778833.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/917/homer-357_children_few-sons-are-like-their-fathers-many-are_1778833.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Few sons are like their fathers - many are worse, few better.” — Homer", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Homer", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Few sons are like their fathers...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer/few-sons-are-like-their-fathers-many-are-worse-few-better/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer/few-sons-are-like-their-fathers-many-are-worse-few-better/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```