Quotes / Like Parent, Like Spouse

"I have the coolest dad in the entire world. My dad is hilarious. He's also strong, smart and makes me feel like he's going to take care of everything. I think those are the qualities I look for in a boyfriend."

— Lea Michele

"You remember what my father was like? I fell in love with a man who turned out to be everything I always hated in my father. Why would I do that? How could I be so blind?"

— Beverly Marsh, IT

"It's trite but true that a lot of young women look for a man who reminds them of their dad. Your dad fights monsters. I fight monsters. Your dad rescued your mom from a dragon. I rescued you from Arctis Tor. Seeing the pattern here?"

— Harry Dresden to Molly Carpenter, Proven Guilty

"Today, I told Yukito-san that I loved him. But Yukito-san said that he wasn't my number one person. He asked me whether or not my feelings for him and the way I feel about my dad were similar, and I thought about it. They are alike. But there was another kind of ‘like’ for Yukito-san, too. Maybe not much, but different from the way I like my dad."

— Sakura to Syaoran after confessing her love to Yukito, Cardcaptor Sakura

"I know it sounds like I'm falling in love
Well, when we're finding a mate, it's our parents we're thinking of"

— "Maybe She's Not Such a Heinous Bitch After All", Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

Weiss: What's there to love about Jaune anyway?
Yang: Well, he's kind and caring. A good sense of humor. Always trying to improve himself. Nice thick blond hair, deep blue eyes. Tall. [beat] You know, saying all this why am I trying to convince you to like him? I should go after him myself.
Weiss: Go ahead. It sounds like you just described your father anyway.
Yang: Aaaaaaand it's ruined. Thanks a lot, Weiss.

— RWBY fanfic Jaune's Schneecret Admirer

"My father was a short Jewish man. My husband is a short Jewish man. Go figure".

—Carrie Fisher

Lots of historical things that people bring with them in how they connect to a partner — and especially a partner. There's only two relationships that resemble each other: it's the one you had with your parents or your caregivers, and the one you have with your partners. You can tell me, "I never have this [kind of conflict] with anybody else," and I will say, "I believe you." No other relationships trigger in us and evoke in us the basics of connection and disconnection, of rupture and reparse, the way romantic love mirrors our original love.

—Esther Perel, The Melissa Ambrosini Show, episode 493

Hayley: Oh my god, I'm not becoming my mother... I married her.
Jeff: (obliviously emulating his mother-in-law) Now then, give mama some sugar (voice distorts as Hayley hallucinates him turning into Francine) so she can have them sweet dreams.
Hayley: (screaming in horror)
Jeff: (joins Hayley in screaming)

—American Dad!, "The Sinister Fate!!"

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