I never had a speech from my father ’this is what you must do or shouldn’t do’ but I just learned to be led by example. My father wasn’t perfect.

Sandler contrasts explicit moral instruction (“this is what you must do”) with the quieter, more powerful education of observation. The line suggests that character is often formed less by lectures than by watching how a parent behaves day to day—how they treat others, handle stress, and show up for family. By adding “My father wasn’t perfect,” he resists idealizing parenthood and implies that imperfect people can still model valuable traits. The quote also carries an implicit ethic of humility: learning from example includes learning from mistakes, and love or guidance need not be delivered as rigid rules to be formative.