50 stepdad quotes to remind him how much he's loved on Father's Day

Stepdads are something special.

Whether they're there from the beginning or enter a bit later in life, stepfathers are irreplaceable in the heart and in the family. Because much like the name suggests, they often "step" in when we need them the most.

If there's a stepfather you'd like to recognize on Father's Day, a birthday or other significant occasion, we've got a collection of stepdad quotes that are fitting for anyone you'd like to honor or pay tribute to.

After all, it's not blood that defines family, but love. And that's worth celebrating 365 days a year.

Among this list of meaningful messages, you'll find short stepdad quotes to use as Instagram captions or to jot down in a greeting card, as well as emotional sayings that are sure to touch his heart, like Tony Gaskins' memorable quote, “Any man can help make a child, but it takes a special man to help raise a child.”

Included below are stepdad sayings from celebrities, authors, luminaries and authors. Choose one for your stepfather or use these thoughtful quotes to inspire your own words.

Either way, you'll make his day (maybe his whole year), and there's no better way to say “thanks” than that.

Short stepdad quotes

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

• “Home is people. Not a place.” — Robin Hobb, "Fool's Fate"

• “You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them.” — Desmond Tutu

• “When one has not had a good father, one must create one.” — Friedrich Nietzsche

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

• “Give a little love to a child, and you get a great deal back.” — John Ruskin

• “The family you come from isn't as important as the family you're going to have.” — Ring Lardner

• “You don't have to give birth to someone to have a family.” — Sandra Bullock

• “My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me.” — Jim Valvano

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

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

• “Being a parent wasn’t just about bearing a child. It was about bearing witness to its life.” — Jodi Picoult, “Handle with Care”

• “We do not need to know the beginning of a child’s story to change the ending.” — Fi Newood

• “The circumstances surrounding your birth are not as important as the opportunity to live life.” — Lailah Gifty Akita, “Think Great, Be Great!”

• “Whether your children are yours through biology or adoption, they are yours through love.” — Sadia Rebecca Rodriguez

• “We should not be asking who this child belongs to, but who belongs to this child.” — James L. Gritter

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

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

• “The golden rule of parenting is do unto your children as you wish your parents had done unto you.” — Louise Hart

• “Parenting is a lifetime job and does not stop when a child grows up.” — Jake Slope

• “Parenthood … It’s about guiding the next generation, and forgiving the last.” — Peter Krause

• “If we are wonderful parents and family members, then there’s really nothing else to prove.” — Ron Baratono

• “My father didn’t tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it.” — Clarence Budington Kelland

• “You can learn many things from children. How much patience you have, for instance.” — Franklin P. Jones

• “Each day of our lives, we make deposits in the memory banks of our children.” — Charles R. Swindoll

• “Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” — Henry Ford

Best stepdad quotes

• “Love runs stronger than blood. Deeper than any name you could give me.” — Andrew Peterson, “The Warden and the Wolf King”

• “It is much easier to become a father than to be one.” — Kent Nerburn

• “My dad always said, ‘Don’t worry what people think because you can’t change it.’” — Daisy Donovan

• “I hope I am remembered by my children as a good father.” —  Orson Scott Card

• “To a father growing old nothing is dearer than a daughter.” — Euripides

• “My father said there were two kinds of people in the world: givers and takers. The takers may eat better, but the givers sleep better.” — Marlo Thomas

• “My father used to say that it’s never too late to do anything you wanted to do. And he said, ‘You never know what you can accomplish until you try.’” — Michael Jordan

• “In my life, I’m just looking for that life of integrity that my father had. I have a good heart; I’m not a heartbreaker.” — Johnathon Schaech

• “My father always said, ‘Never trust anyone whose TV is bigger than their bookshelf.’” — Emilia Clarke

• “Son, brother, father, lover, friend. There is room in the heart for all the affections, as there is room in heaven for all the stars.” —Victor Hugo, “Victor Hugo’s Intellectual Autobiography”

• “My father was my teacher. But most importantly he was a great dad.” — Beau Bridges

• “Being a father, being a friend, those are the things that make me feel successful.” — William Hurt

Emotional stepdad quotes

• “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." — Wade Boggs

• “Families are the compass that guides us. They are the inspiration to reach great heights, and our comfort when we occasionally falter.” — Brad Henry

• “All that we love deeply becomes a part of us.” — Helen Keller

• “One of the greatest titles in the world is parent, and one of the biggest blessings in the world is to be one.” — Jim DeMint

• “The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other’s life.” — Richard Bach, “Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah”

• “Belonging to a family is a natural and vital component of life, and every child deserves to be a member of a loving and nurturing family.” — Ronald Reagan

• “Anyone who ever wondered how much they could love a child who did not spring from their own loins, know this: It is the same. The feeling of love is so profound, it’s incredible and surprising.” — Nia Vardalos, “Instant Mom”

• “At the end of the day, the most overwhelming key to a child’s success is the positive involvement of parents.” — Jane D. Hull

• “I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father’s protection.”  — Sigmund Freud

• “Children are educated by what the grownup is and not by his talk.” — Carl Jung

• “Nothing you do for children is ever wasted. They seem not to notice us, hovering, averting our eyes, and they seldom offer thanks, but what we do for them is never wasted.” — Garrison Keillor

• “Children begin by loving their parents; as they grow older they judge them; sometimes they forgive them.” — Oscar Wilde, “The Picture of Dorian Gray”

This article was originally published on TODAY.com