It was one thing for a grandparent to withhold something […] from a grandchild, quite another for a father to keep it from his son—and for so long.

Sudden love takes the longest time to be cured.

I stopped loving my father a long time ago. What remained was the slavery to a pattern.

Love takes time.

Industrialization created the “Father’s Catch-22”: a dad loving his children by being away from the love of his children.

It takes a long time to grow an old friend.

The fact is that child rearing is a long, hard job, the rewards are not always immediately obvious, the work is undervalued, and parents are just as human and almost as vulnerable as their children.

It takes a very long time to become young.

A father has to be a provider, a teacher, a role model, but most importantly, a distant authority figure who can never be pleased. Otherwise, how will children ever understand the concept of God?

Nick was experiencing the father’s catch-22: loving his family by being away from the love of his family.

It takes a long time to figure out what you care about.

Moreover, the child of parents who have a bad relationship will be unfilial. This is natural. Even the birds and beasts are affected by what they are used to seeing and hearing from the time they are born. Also, the relationship between father and child may deteriorate because of a mother’s foolishness. A mother loves her child above all things, and will be partial to the child that is corrected by his father. If she becomes the child’s ally, there will be discord between father and son. Because of the shallowness of her mind, a woman sees the child as her support in old age.

Vengeance and retribution require a long time; it is the rule.

It takes a long time to bring excellence to maturity.