50 Stepdad Quotes That Celebrate Your Amazing Bonus Dad

Stepdad quotes to make him feel appreciated

Father’s Day comes but once a year (in June!), but Father’s Day quotes are good for any day you want to honor dad. Children can get specific in their cards and messages with father-son quotes and father-daughter quotes But what about stepdad quotes for the bonus father in your life?

In Sweden, blended families are called bonusfamiljen: bonus family! Bonus Family is also the name of a successful Netflix show about a blended family in Sweden. This leads to the terms bonusmamma (bonus mom) and bonuspappa (bonus dad), which have been adopted by many English-speaking stepparents. That’s why we made this beautiful list of stepdad quotes—about stepdads and for stepdads—to honor all bonus dads on Father’s Day and beyond!

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Short stepdad quotes

1. “No man stands taller than when he stoops to help a child.” —Abraham Lincoln

2. “It’s not flesh and blood, but the heart that makes us father and son.” —Johann Schiller

3. “We aren’t ‘step,’ we aren’t ‘half,’ we’re just family.” —Unknown

4. “The power of a dad in a child’s life is unmatched.” —Justin Ricklefs

5. “Family is not an important thing. It’s everything.” —Michael J. Fox

6. “I did not give you the gift of life. Life gave me the gift of you.” —Unknown

7. “Actions speak louder than DNA.” —Unknown

8. “Family don’t end with blood.” —Jim Beaver as Bobby Singer on Supernatural

9. “He was the purest example of how to love and live life fully.” —Lauren Alaina

10. “My stepdad is probably the greatest man I’ve ever known.” —Justin Timberlake

11. “The heart of a father is the masterpiece of nature.” —Antoine-François Prévost

12. “A family portrait is only complete with love to fill its frame.” —Wes Fesler

13. “Fatherhood requires love, not DNA.” —Unknown

Loving these stepdad quotes? Don’t wait until June to share these funny Father’s Day quotes too!

Meaningful Stepdad quotes

14. “A stepparent is so much more than just a parent: They made the choice to love when they didn’t have to.” —Unknown

15. “Stepparents are not around to replace a biological parent, rather to augment a child’s experience.” —Azriel Johnson

16. “Any man can help make a child, but it takes a special man to help raise a child.” —Tony Gaskins

17. “A child cannot have too many people who love them and want them to succeed.” —Unknown

18. “My stepdad may not have given me life, but he sure has made my life better.” —Gerardo Campbell

19. “He adopted a role called being a father so that his child would have something mythical and infinitely important: a protector.” —Tom Wolfe

20. “A dad is someone who wants to catch you before you fall but instead picks you up, brushes you off and lets you try again.” —Unknown

21. “A stepfather means so many things … an understanding heart, a source of strength and of support, right from the very start.” —Unknown

22. “A father is neither an anchor to hold us back nor a sail to take us there, but a guiding light whose love shows us the way.” —Unknown

23. “Step-parenting is like working at a late-night convenience store … all of the responsibility and none of the authority.” —Valerie J. Lewis Coleman

24. “It takes a strong man to accept somebody else’s children and step up to the plate another man left on the table.” —Ray Johnson

25. “What greater thing is there for human souls than to feel that they are joined for life—to be with each other in silent unspeakable memories.” —George Eliot

26. “Lookin’ back, all I can say about all the things he did for me, is I hope I’m at least half the dad that he didn’t have to be.” —Brad Paisley

27. “Any fool can have a child. That doesn’t make you a father. It’s the courage to raise a child that makes you a father.” —Barack Obama

28. “Biology is the least of what makes someone a parent. Parenting comes from the heart.” —Unknown

29. “The only steps in this house are the stair steps, and the only half in this house is the half & half creamer.” —Al Hodson

30. “My mom is my heart. But my stepdad was my role model, the hardest working man I ever knew.” —Brian Urlacher

31. “You never tried to replace my parent, and now I could never replace you.” —Unknown

32. “I don’t have stepchildren, I have children who happened to be born before I met them.” —Unknown

33. “Anyone can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a dad, and that’s why I call you dad, because you are so special to me. You taught me the game, and you taught me how to play it right.” —Wade Boggs

34. “When it feels as if you can’t do right by the other parent, do right by your step-child instead. You’ll never fail with their best interest at heart.” —Jessica James

You know what might be better than these stepdad quotes? Funny dad jokes, of course!

Stepdad quotes about family bonds

35. “The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other’s life.” —Richard Bach

36. “Family not by birth but by good fortune, I’m so lucky to have you in my life.” —Unknown

37. “Co-parenting is not a competition. It’s a collaboration of two homes working together with the best interest of the child at heart. Work for your kids, not against them.” —Anne Brown

38. “Not being biologically related to a child, doesn’t make you any less of a parent.” —Unknown

39. “Family isn’t defined only by last names or by blood; it’s defined by commitment and made by love.” —Dave Willis

40. “Families don’t have to match. You don’t have to look like someone else to love them.” —Leigh Anne Tuohy

41. “To us, family means putting your arms around each other and being there.” —Barbara Bush

42. “My family was my guide to my reality.” —Haywood Nelson

43. “He never treated me like I was a package deal. I wasn’t a burden in his eyes, I was a bonus.” —Ashley Stock

44. “Family isn’t something that’s supposed to be static or set. It’s always evolving, turning into something else.” —Sarah Dessen

45. “Family isn’t blood. It’s the people who love you. The people who have your back.” —Cassandra Clare

46. “I never had that wicked stepmother or evil stepfather thing at all. I’m very close to both step-parents and I consider them to be my parents, too.” —Mark Ronson

47. “You must remember, family is often born of blood, but it doesn’t depend on blood. Nor is it exclusive of friendship. Family members can be your best friends, you know. And best friends, whether or not they are related to you, can be your family.” —Trenton Lee Stewart

48. “There is no such thing as a broken family. Family is family and is not determined by marriage certificates, divorce papers and adoption documents. Families are made in the heart.” —C. Joybell C.

49. “I also believe that parents, if they love you, will hold you up safely, above their swirling waters, and sometimes that means you’ll never know what they endured, and you may treat them unkindly, in a way you otherwise wouldn’t.” —Mitch Albom

50. “Becoming a blended family means mixing, mingling, scrambling and sometimes muddling our way through delicate family issues, complicated relationships, and individual differences, hurts, and fears. But through it all, we are learning to love like a family.” —Tom Frydenger

Looking for even longer heartwarming messages for your stepdad? Consider reading him a loving Father’s Day poem (they can be shared after the holiday ends too).

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