“I have learned that to be with those I like is enough”
Walt Whitman (1819–1892) American poet, essayist and journalist
Family quotes
A collection of quotes on the topic of for mother, relationship, for father, for parents.
Best family quotes
“The language of Friendship is not words, but meanings.”
Henry David Thoreau A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers
Source: A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers
“The only way to have a friend is to be one.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) American philosopher, essayist, and poet
“Try to be a rainbow in someone's cloud.”
Maya Angelou book Letter to My Daughter
Variant: Be a rainbow in somebody else's cloud.
Source: Letter to My Daughter
“To love is to will the good of the other.”
Thomas Aquinas book Summa Theologica
II-II, q. 26, art. 6
Summa Theologica (1265–1274)
“The question is—what is the question?”
John Archibald Wheeler (1911–2008) American physicist
Leonard Susskind, The Black Hole War (2008), chapter 13
“The important thing is to be nothing.”
Bram van Velde (1895–1981) Dutch painter
1960's, Conversations with Samuel Beckett and Bram van Velde' (1965 - 1969)
“Insanity runs in my family, it practically gallops”
Cary Grant (1904–1986) British-American film and stage actor
Family quotes
“Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.”
Dr. Seuss (1904–1991) American children's writer and illustrator, co-founder of Beginner Books
Georges Duhamel in THE HEART'S DOMAIN (1919). As it was composed in French, the wording in English may vary in translation. Theodore Geisel / Dr. Seuss was born in 1904, and would have been about 15 years old at the time that it was published. The full text can be found at the link below: We do not know the true value of our moments until they have undergone the test of memory. Like the images the photographer plunges into a golden bath, our sentiments take on color; and only then, after that recoil and that trans-figuration, do we understand their real meaning and enjoy them in all their tranquil splendor.
Misattributed
Oprah Winfrey (1954) American businesswoman, talk show host, actress, producer, and philanthropist
Variant: Everyone wants to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down.
Richard Bach (1936) American spiritual writer
Illusions : The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah (1977)
Source: Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah
Trenton Lee Stewart The Mysterious Benedict Society
Source: The Mysterious Benedict Society
“I would rather walk with a friend in the dark, than alone in the light.”
Helen Keller (1880–1968) American author and political activist
Variant: Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light.
“Happiness is having a loving, close knit family in another city.”
George Burns (1896–1996) American comedian, actor, and writer
As quoted in The Mammoth Book of Zingers, Quips, and One-Liners (2004) by Geoff Tibballs, p. 251
“After a good dinner one can forgive anybody, even one's own relations.”
Oscar Wilde A Woman of No Importance
Source: A Woman of No Importance
“The world, we'd discovered, doesn't love you like your family loves you.”
Louis Zamperini (1917–2014) Italian-American middle distance runner
Source: Devil at My Heels
“One day you will do things for me that you hate. That is what it means to be family.”
Jonathan Safran Foer book Everything Is Illuminated
Source: Everything Is Illuminated
“True friends are like diamonds – bright, beautiful, valuable, and always in style.”
Nicole Richie (1981) American television personality, musician, actress, and author
“I know all those words, but that sentence makes no sense to me.”
Matt Groening (1954) American cartoonist
“Family love is messy, clinging, and of an annoying and repetitive pattern, like bad wallpaper.”
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German philosopher, poet, composer, cultural critic, and classical philologist
“The strength of a family, like the strength of an army, lies in its loyalty to each other.”
Mario Puzo (1920–1999) American Novelist
Barbara Bush (1925–2018) former First Lady of the United States
Source: Reflections: Life After the White House
Erma Bombeck (1927–1996) When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent le…
Christina Rossetti book Goblin Market and Other Poems
Goblin Market, st. 28 (1862).
Source: Goblin Market and Other Poems
Kristin Hannah (1960) American writer
Source: Summer Island
Chelsea Handler book Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea
Are You There Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea (2008)
Source: Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea
“Nothing like watching your relatives fight, I always say.”
Rick Riordan book The Lightning Thief
Source: The Lightning Thief
“A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it.”
Kathleen Norris (1880–1966) American writer
“There is no such thing as fun for the whole family.”
Jerry Seinfeld (1954) American comedian and actor
“Fatherhood is great because you can ruin someone from scratch.”
Jon Stewart (1962) American political satirist, writer, television host, actor, media critic and stand-up comedian
"Late Night with Conan O'Brien," January 29, 2009
“Traveling in the company of those we love is home in motion.”
Leigh Hunt (1784–1859) English critic, essayist, poet and writer
“A dysfunctional family is any family with more than one person in it.”
Mary Karr book The Liars' Club
Source: The Liars' Club
“Rejoice with your family in the beautiful land of life.”
Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born physicist and founder of the theory of relativity
Douglas Coupland (1961) Canadian novelist, short story writer, playwright, and graphic designer
Source: All Families are Psychotic
“The highlight of my childhood was making my brother laugh so hard that food came out his nose.”
Garrison Keillor (1942) American radio host and writer
“In every conceivable manner, the family is link to our past, bridge to our future.”
Alex Haley (1921–1992) African American biographer, screenwriter, and novelist
As quoted in Traits of a Healthy Family (1985) by Dolores Curran, p. 199.
Context: The family is our refuge and our springboard; nourished on it, we can advance to new horizons. In every conceivable manner, the family is link to our past, bridge to our future.
“Strangers are just family you have yet to come to know.”
Mitch Albom book The Five People You Meet in Heaven
The Five People You Meet in Heaven (2003)
“The strength of a nation derives from the integrity of the home.”
Confucius (-551–-479 BC) Chinese teacher, editor, politician, and philosopher
“This was the trouble with families. Like invidious doctors, they knew just where it hurt.”
Arundhati Roy book The God of Small Things
Source: The God of Small Things
“If you cannot get rid of the family skeleton, you may as well make it dance.”
George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish playwright
Variant: If you cannot get rid of the family skeleton, you may as well make it dance.
Source: Immaturity
“My home is not a place, it is people.”
Lois McMaster Bujold Vorkosigan Saga
Source: Vorkosigan Saga, Barrayar (1991)
“The biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the life of your dreams.”
Oprah Winfrey (1954) American businesswoman, talk show host, actress, producer, and philanthropist
“Writers will happen in the best of families.”
Rita Mae Brown (1944) Novelist, poet, screenwriter, activist
“You don’t choose your family. They are God’s gift to you, as you are to them.”
Desmond Tutu (1931) South African churchman, politician, archbishop, Nobel Prize winner
Address at his enthronement as Anglican archbishop of Cape Town (7 September 1986)
“You are born into your family and your family is born into you. No returns. No exchanges.”
Elizabeth Berg (1948) American novelist
Source: The Art of Mending
“Siblings: children of the same parents, each of whom is perfectly normal until they get together.”
Sam Levenson (1911–1980) American journalist
Mitch Albom book The Five People You Meet in Heaven
Source: The Five People You Meet in Heaven (2003)
Margaret Mead (1901–1978) American anthropologist
Attributed in Sisters by Birth Friends by Choice : All the Things I Love About You (2003) by Ellyn Sanna
2000s
“A family is one of nature's solubles; it dissolves in time like salt in rainwater.”
Pat Conroy book The Prince of Tides
Source: The Prince of Tides
“Parents were the only ones obligated to love you; from the rest of the world you had to earn it.”
Ann Brashares book Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood
Source: Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood
“The capacity for friendship is God's way of apologizing for our families.”
Jay McInerney (1955) American writer
Source: The Last of the Savages
“The future was not what it used to be.”
K. A. Bedford book Time Machines Repaired While-U-Wait
Source: Time Machines Repaired While-U-Wait (2008), Chapter 13 (p. 156)
Jean Kerr book Please Don't Eat the Daisies
"How to Get the Best of Your Children"
Please Don't Eat the Daisies (1957)
“A man should never neglect his family for business.”
Walt Disney (1901–1966) American film producer and businessman
Source: How to Be Like Walt : Capturing the Magic Every Day of Your Life (2004), Ch. 14 : The Real Walt Disney, p. 361
“Women's natural role is to be a pillar of the family.”
Grace Kelly (1929–1982) American actress and Princess consort of Monaco
Attributed to Kelly in: Paula Munier (2004) On Being Blonde: Wit And Wisdom From The World's Most Infamous Blondes. p. 78
“A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it.”
George Moore (novelist) (1852–1933) Irish novelist, short-story writer, poet, art critic, memoirist and dramatist
The Brook Kerith http://www.gutenberg.org/files/12821/12821-h/12821-h.htm, ch. 11 (1916).
“There are things worth fighting for.”
Robert Jordan (1948–2007) American writer
Rand al'Thor
(15 October 1994)
Clive Staples Lewis (1898–1963) Christian apologist, novelist, and Medievalist
Paraphrased from a letter C. S. Lewis wrote to Mrs. Johnson on March 16, 1955: "A housewife's work [is] surely, in reality, the most important work in the world ... your job is the one for which all others exist", as reported in The Misquotable C.S. Lewis (2018) by William O'Flaherty, p. 63
Misattributed
“There are only two things a child will share willingly—communicable diseases and his mother's age.”
Benjamin Spock (1903–1998) American pediatrician and author of Baby and Child Care
Dr. Spock's Baby and Child Care (1945)
“Family is the most important thing in the world.”
Diana, Princess of Wales (1961–1997) First wife of Charles, Prince of Wales
Princess Diana: 10 most inspiring quotes from the 'people's princess', Hello Magazine Daily News, (1 July 2015) http://us.hellomagazine.com/royalty/1201411051084/princess-diana-s-10-most-inspiring-quotes/
“No other success can compensate for failure in the home.”
David O. McKay (1873–1970) President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Quoted from J. E. McCullough, Home: The Savior of Civilization [1924], 42; Conference Report, Apr. 1935, p. 116.
A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (1931–2015) 11th President of India, scientist and science administrator
Arvind Gupta, Mukul Chaturvedi, Akshay Joshi (2004) Security and Diplomacy: Essential Documents. p. 144.
Michelle Obama (1964) lawyer, writer, wife of Barack Obama and former First Lady of the United States
2010s, 2016 Democratic National Convention (2016)
Context: With every word we utter, with every action we take, we know our kids are watching us. We as parents are their most important role models. And let me tell you, Barack and I take that same approach to our jobs as president and first lady because we know that our words and actions matter, not just to our girls, but the children across this country, kids who tell us I saw you on TV, I wrote a report on you for school.
“There is no foreign land; it is the traveller only that is foreign”
Robert Louis Stevenson book The Silverado Squatters
The Silverado Squatters.
Context: There is no foreign land; it is the traveller only that is foreign, and now and again, by a flash of recollection, lights up the contrasts of the ear.
Jim Bishop (1907–1987) American journalist and author
Robert Frost (1874–1963) American poet
As quoted in Bartlett's Book of Love Quotations (1994)
Undated