I have always been a words person. Come to think of it, that probably has something to do with how I ended up as a professional journalist. If words are your thing, too, you’re probably a sucker for a good quote, especially family quotes. Maybe you have pages of saved lines on social media, endless underlines and notes scribbled in the margins of your favorite paperbacks, or are always on the lookout for the best encouraging lines to tuck into your child’s lunchbox. Maybe like me, words are your love language.
Finding the right words to describe how we’re feeling to our families can sometimes feel impossible. Maybe you need extra help expressing your love for the people closest to your heart. Whether you want to sprinkle quote art into your home decor, are searching for your next craft project inspiration, are on the hunt for the perfect Instagram post caption, or need a quote to top off your aunt’s birthday card that’s waiting to be mailed out, Baby Chick has you covered! We went on a hunt for the best family quotes, so you don’t have to.
20 Family Love Quotes
When you need to show a little extra love to the ones you love, here are 20 family love quotes:
1. “Having a place to go is a home. Having someone to love is a family. Having both is a blessing.” ― Donna Hedges
2. “Because when I look at you, I can feel it. And I look at you . . . and I’m home.” ― Finding Nemo
3. “Being a family means you are a part of something very wonderful. It means you will love and be loved for the rest of your life.” ― Lisa Weedn
4. “My family is my life, and everything else comes second as far as what’s important to me.” ― Michael Imperioli
5. “Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family: Whatever you call it, whoever you, you need one.” ― Jane Howard
6. “The world, we’d discovered, doesn’t love you like your family loves you.” ― Louis Zamperini
7. “It didn’t matter how big our house was; it mattered that there was love in it.” ― Peter Buffett
8. “So much of what is best in us is bound up in our love of family, that it remains the measure of our stability because it measures our sense of loyalty.” ― Haniel Long
9. “Families are the compass that guides us. They are the inspiration to reach great heights, and our comfort when we occasionally falter.” ― Brad Henry
10. “You go through life wondering what is it all about, but at the end of the day, it’s all about family.” ― Rod Stewart
11. “A family is a risky venture because the greater the love, the greater the loss . . . That’s the trade-off. But I’ll take it all.” ― Brad Pitt
12. “The most important thing in the world is family and love.” ― John Wooden
13. “Be grateful for the home you have, knowing that at this moment, all you have is all you need.” ― Sarah Ban Breathnach
14. “Think of your family today and every day thereafter, don’t let the busy world of today keep you from showing how much you love and appreciate your family.” ― Josiah
15. “Love your family. Spend time, be kind and serve one another. Make no room for regrets. Tomorrow is not promised, and today is short.” ― Unknown
16. “Spending time with the ones who are dear to you is like being in a dream, is it not?” ― Sakura Tsukuba
17. “My family is a little bit of crazy, a little bit of loud, and a whole lot of love.” ― Unknown
18. “Family is where today’s little moments become tomorrow’s precious memories.” ― Unknown
19. “A family portrait is only complete with love to fill its frame.” ― Wes Fesler
20. “I asked God for a life full of love and happiness. He sent me my family.” ― Unknown
20 Short Family Quotes
Sometimes we must convey what we want to say in a few words. These 20 quotes keep things short and sweet:
1. “Family is not an important thing. It’s everything.” ― Michael J. Fox
2. “I have a wonderful shelter, which is my family.” — José Carreras
3. “What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family.” – Mother Teresa
4. “How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.” – A.A. Milne (Winnie-the-Pooh)
5. “Your children need your presence more than your presents.” – Jesse Jackson
6. “I sustain myself with the love of family.” ― Maya Angelou
7. “Time together as a family is a gift.” ― Joanna Gaines
8. “Life is beautiful. It’s about giving. It’s about family.” ― Walt Disney
9. “Our most basic instinct is not for survival but for family.” ― Paul Pearsall
10. “Family is a life jacket in the stormy sea of life.” ― J.K. Rowling
11. “Family means no one gets left behind or forgotten.” ― David Ogden Stiers
12. “Other things may change us, but we start and end with the family.” ― Anthony Brandt
13. “The family is link to our past, bridge to our future.” ― Alex Haley
14. “Family: where life begins and love never ends.” ― Unknown
15. “The family is one of nature’s masterpieces.” ― George Santayana
16. “Give a little love to a child, and you get a great deal back.” ― John Ruskin
17. “People come and go in your life. But family always stays.” ― Unknown
18. “Being happy in your family is more important than being perfect.” — Unknown
19. “The memories we make with our family is everything.” – Candace Cameron Bure
20. “Happiness is homemade.” ― Unknown
10 Challenging Family Quotes
Families are imperfect, and sometimes family feuds can cut the deepest because it comes from the people who know us most intimately. These quotes lend some perspective when family challenges strike:
1. “Spend some time this weekend on home improvement; improve your attitude toward your family.” ― Bo Bennett
2. “Sister is probably the most competitive relationship within the family, but once the sisters are grown, it becomes the strongest relationship.” ― Margaret Mead
3. “Family quarrels are bitter things. They don’t go according to any rules. They’re not like aches or wounds; they’re more like splits in the skin that won’t heal because there’s not enough material.” ― F. Scott Fitzgerald
4. “If you are too busy to enjoy quality time with your family, then you need to re-evaluate your priorities.” ― Dave Willis
5. “Family is a unique gift that needs to be appreciated and treasured, even when they’re driving you crazy. As much as they make you mad, interrupt you, annoy you, curse at you, try to control you, these are the people who know you the best and who love you.” ― Jenna Morasca
6. “It’s frightening seeing in ourselves the same ingredients as dysfunctional members of our families. Fortunately, as it is with baking, the proportions, mix, and temperature of the exact same ingredients can yield anything from burnt cookies to elegant soufflés.” ― Alan Robert Neal
7. “Family is your greatest gift and your greatest challenge.” ― Unknown
8. “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.
9. “There is no such thing as a perfect parent. So just be a real one.” ― Sue Atkins
10. “Stop thinking that things are going to be perfect. It’s not going to happen. The kids will not get along all the time, the house will not always be quiet, and you will not always hear ‘please’ and ‘thank you.’ It isn’t realistic. What is realistic is taking stock of how incredibly lucky you are to have more children to love and to guide.” ― Kellee Mulkerin-Ford
10 Family Bonds
The bond we have with our families can feel indescribable. These quotes do a great job of articulating just how lasting familial ties are:
1. “When all the dust is settled and all the crowds are gone, the things that matter are faith, family, and friends.” ― Barbara Bush
2. “Dignity is not negotiable. Dignity is the honor of the family.” ― Vartan Gregorian
3. “The only rock I know that stays steady, the only institution I know that works, is the family.” ― Lee Iacocca
4. “Families are the tie that reminds us of yesterday, provide strength and support today, and give us hope for tomorrow. No government, no matter how well-intentioned, or well-managed, can provide what our families provide.” ― Bill Owens
5. “The strength of a family, like the strength of an army, lies in its loyalty to each other.” ― Mario Puzo
6. “We must take care of our families wherever we find them.” ― Elizabeth Gilbert
7. “You leave home to seek your fortune and, when you get it, you go home and share it with your family.” ― Anita Baker
8. “You are born into your family, and your family is born into you. No returns. No exchanges.” ― Elizabeth Berg
9. “We cannot destroy kindred: our chains stretch a little sometimes, but they never break.” ― Marquise de Sévigné
10. “That’s what people do who love you. They put their arms around you and love you when you’re not so lovable.” ― Deb Caletti
18 Funny Family Quotes
Family can make us frustrated, angry, hysterical, and everything in between. Sometimes, all you can do is laugh and share these relatable words of wisdom:
1. “The other night, I ate at a real nice family restaurant. Every table had an argument going.” — George Carlin
2. “Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city.” ― George Burns
3. “There is no such thing as fun for the whole family.” — Jerry Seinfeld
4. “Parents are like God because you wanna know they’re out there, and you want them to think well of you, but you really only call when you need something.”― Chuck Palahniuk
5. “The informality of family life is a blessed condition that allows us all to become our best while looking our worst.” – Marge Kennedy
6. “Nothing like watching your relatives fight, I always say.”― Rick Riordan
7. “Family: A social unit where the father is concerned with parking space, the children with outer space, and the mother with closet space.” – Evan Esar
8. “A dysfunctional family is any family with more than one person in it.” ― Mary Karr
9. “Families are like fudge–mostly sweet, with a few nuts.” ― Les Dawson
10. “The advantage of having only one child is that you always know who did it.” ― Erma Bombeck
11. “A family is a unit composed not only of children but of men, women, an occasional animal, and the common cold.” ― Ogden Nash
12. “People are pretty forgiving when it comes to other people’s families. The only family that ever horrifies you is your own.” ― Douglas Coupland
13. “Maybe there is no actual place called hell. Maybe hell is just having to listen to our grandparents breathe through their noses when they’re eating sandwiches.” ― Jim Carrey
14. “Families are messy. Immortal families are eternally messy. Sometimes the best we can do is to remind each other that we’re related for better or for worse and try to keep the maiming and killing to a minimum.” ― Rick Riordan (The Sea of Monsters)
15. “Family ties mean that no matter how much you might want to run from your family, you can’t.” – Unknown
16. “Families weren’t like a box of standardized-test-taking number two pencils. Families were like a box of assorted-color Sharpie markers: different, kinda stinky (but not in a bad way), and permanent whether you liked it or not.” — Roshani Chokshi (Aru Shah and the Song of Death)
17. “Insanity runs in my family. It practically gallops.” — Cary Grant (Arsenic and Old Lace)
18. “No one’s family is normal. Normalcy is a lie invented by advertising agencies to make the rest of us feel inferior.” ― Claire LaZebnik
7 Blended Family
Here are some perfect quotes for blended families paving their path forward:
1. “We aren’t step, we aren’t half, we’re just family.” ― Unknown
2. “The secret to blending families is . . . There is no secret. It’s scary and awesome and ragged and perfect and always changing. Love and laugh hard, try again tomorrow, but that’s life advice, right?” ― Mir Kamin
3. “Families don’t have to match. You don’t have to look like someone else to love them.” ― Leigh Anne Tuohy
4. “Don’t worry if you’re not an instant, happily-ever-after blended family. Expect to endure ‘I give up’ days and rejoice in the ‘I can do this,’ days. It will take work, dedication, an excellent sense of humor, and strong resolve. But hey, since when has any family taken the easy route? We don’t do ‘easy’ — we do ‘worth it!’” ― Jessica James
5. “Home should be an anchor, a port in a storm, a refuge, a happy place in which to dwell, a place where we are loved and where we can love.” ― Marvin J. Ashton
6. “Family isn’t always blood. It’s the people in your life who want you in theirs. The ones who accept you for who you are. The ones that would do anything to see you smile and who love you no matter what.” ― Unknown
7. “There is always space in our hearts to welcome more family.” ― Unknown
15 Friends Who Become Family
Who says family is limited to the one you’re born into? These quotes speak to the strength and love of friends who are more like family:
1. “The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other’s life.” – Richard Bach
2. “Friends are the family you choose.” ― Unknown
3. “Stick to the basics, hold on to your family and friends – they will never go out of fashion.” ― Niki Taylor
4. “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
5. “In truth, a family is what you make it. It is made strong, not by number of heads counted at the dinner table, but by the rituals you help family members create, by the memories you share, by the commitment of time, caring, and love you show to one another . . .” ― Marge Kennedy
6. “You can kiss your family and friends goodbye and put miles between you, but at the same time, you carry them with you in your heart, your mind, your stomach because you do not just live in a world, but a world lives in you.” ― Frederick Buechner
7. “There are friends, there is family, and then there are friends that become family.” ― Unknown
8. “Rarely do members of one family grow up under the same roof.” ― Richard Bach
9. “Spread love. Hug the people you care about and make sure they know that you care and appreciate them. Make it known to your friends and family that you love them.” ― Germany Kent
10. “When everything goes to hell, the people who stand by you without flinching — they are your family.” ― Jim Butcher
11. “Family isn’t defined only by last names or by blood; it’s defined by commitment and by love.” ― Dave Willis
12. “I don’t believe an accident of birth makes people sisters or brothers. It makes them siblings, gives them mutuality of parentage. Sisterhood and brotherhood is a condition people have to work at.” ― Maya Angelou
13. “Life is short, so I want to spend it with people who make me laugh and feel loved.” ― Unknown
14. “Family is family, whether it’s the one you start out with, the one you end up with, or the family you gain along the way.” — Modern Family
15. “To us, family means putting your arms around each other and being there.” — Barbara Bush
Family is messy, crazy, chaotic, frustrating, beautiful, and unique. When you can’t find the right words to say what you feel, we hope these words can lend you a voice. Do you have a favorite family quote that captures what family means to you?
