95 Family Quotes About Love, Laughter, and Belonging

Whether it’s the people who raised you or the ones you’ve chosen along the way, family shapes who we are and where we belong.

We’ve gathered short family sayings, funny quotes, and words about love, family challenges, blended families, and friends who become family. Find one for a card, a photo caption, or a message to someone you love.

19 Heartfelt Quotes About Family and Love

These quotes put a family’s love and appreciation into words.

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.”
— Dory, 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 are, 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. “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

15. “Spending time with the ones who are dear to you is like being in a dream, is it not?”
— Sakura Tsukuba

16. “My family is a little bit of crazy, a little bit of loud, and a whole lot of love.”
— Unknown

17. “Family is where today’s little moments become tomorrow’s precious memories.”
— Unknown

18. “A family portrait is only complete with love to fill its frame.”
— Wes Fesler

19. “I asked God for a life full of love and happiness. He sent me my family.”
— Unknown

10 Meaningful Quotes About Family Bonds

These quotes focus on the ties that connect family members across time and distance.

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

17 Short Family Quotes

These short family quotes fit easily in a card, photo caption, or keepsake.

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. “Your children need your presence more than your presents.”
— Jesse Jackson

5. “I sustain myself with the love of family.”
— Maya Angelou

6. “Time together as a family is a gift.”
— Joanna Gaines

7. “Our most basic instinct is not for survival but for family.”
— Paul Pearsall

8. “Family means no one gets left behind or forgotten.”
— Lilo & Stitch

9. “Other things may change us, but we start and end with the family.”
— Anthony Brandt

10. “The family is link to our past, bridge to our future.”
— Alex Haley

11. “Family: where life begins and love never ends.”
— Unknown

12. “The family is one of nature’s masterpieces.”
— George Santayana

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

14. “People come and go in your life. But family always stays.”
— Unknown

15. “Being happy in your family is more important than being perfect.”
— Unknown

16. “The memories we make with our family is everything.”
— Candace Cameron Bure

17. “Happiness is homemade.”
— Unknown

9 Quotes About Family Challenges

Families are imperfect, and challenges can cut deep because they come from the people who know us best.

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. “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

6. “Family is your greatest gift and your greatest challenge.”
— Unknown

7. “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.

8. “There is no such thing as a perfect parent. So just be a real one.”
— Sue Atkins

9. “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

For encouragement when you’re feeling overwhelmed, read these reminders for exhausted moms.

7 Quotes About Blended Families

These quotes reflect the work and love involved in bringing a blended family together.

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 Quotes About Friends Who Become Family

Some friendships become family relationships. These quotes are for the people we choose to keep close.

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

18 Funny Family Quotes

These funny family quotes find humor in arguments, parenting, and the quirks of living together.

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

Choose a quote that sounds like your family, whether it’s affectionate, funny, or a little complicated. Add a personal memory or a few words of your own when you share it.

For words about a particular relationship, browse our daughter quotes, mom quotes, dad quotes, mother-daughter quotes, and grandma quotes.