101 Short Family Quotes and Sayings That Prove Family Really Is Everything

Your family members are the people who have your back when you need support; they’re the ones who cheer you on as you're celebrating life's successes; and they’re the ones who laugh with you (and only occasionally at you) during your silliest slip-ups. Whether it’s short family quotes to share with your sister, who also happens to be your best friend, or inspirational sayings your grandpa would love, these quotes about family love all share the same message: family is everything. And they don't have to be blood-related.

In honor of the people in your corner–your people—give these inspirational quotes about family, from short ones to funny-yet-endearing ones a read. Because if you weren't feeling the family love already, these 101 family quotes and sayings will inspire warm and fuzzy feelings for your favorite people—no matter how wacky the bunch may be!

101 Best Quotes About Family

1. “It didn’t matter how big our house was; it mattered that there was love in it.” — Peter Buffett

2. “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

3. “Family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten.” — David Ogden Stiers

4. “We may have our differences, but nothing’s more important than family.” – Coco

5. "The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other’s life.” – Richard Bach

6. "A happy family is but an earlier heaven." - George Bernard Shaw

7. “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 Weed

8. “Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city.” ― George Burns

9. "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

10. “The strength of a family, like the strength of an army, lies in its loyalty to each other.” – Mario Puzo

11. The most important thing in the world is family and love.” – John Wooden

12. “When everything goes to hell, the people who stand by you without flinching–they are your family.” – Jim Butcher

13. "To us, family means putting your arms around each other and being there." — Barbara Bush

14. “In family life, love is the oil that eases friction, the cement that binds closer together, and the music that brings harmony.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

15. "The other night I ate at a real nice family restaurant. Every table had an argument going." — George Carlin

16. “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

17. “Family is not an important thing. It’s everything.” –Michael J. Fox

18. “Family faces are magic mirrors. Looking at people who belong to us, we see the past, present, and future.” – Gail Lumet Buckley

19. "The greatest thing in family life is to take a hint when a hint is intended-and not to take a hint when a hint isn't intended." — Robert Frost

20. “The family is one of nature’s masterpieces.” – George Santayana

21. “Families are the compass that guides us. They are the inspiration to reach great heights, and our comfort when we occasionally falter.” – Brad Henry

22. "You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.¨  — Khalil Gibran

23. "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

24. "A man should never neglect his family for business." — Walt Disney

25. “The homemaker has the ultimate career. All other careers exist for one purpose only - and that is to support the ultimate career.” ― C.S. Lewis

26. "Sister is probably the most competitive relationship within the family, but once the sisters are grown, it becomes the strongest relationship." — Margaret Mead

27. “Everyone needs a house to live in, but a supportive family is what builds a home.” – Anthony Liccione

28. "There is no such thing as fun for the whole family." — Jerry Seinfeld

29. “My grandmother started walking five miles a day when she was sixty. She's ninety-seven now, and we don't know where the heck she is.” ― Ellen DeGeneres

30. "You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them." — Desmond Tutu

31. “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

32. “The informality of family life is a blessed condition that allows us all to become our best while looking our worst.” – Marge Kennedy

33. “The greatest gift of family life is to be intimately acquainted with people you might never even introduce yourself to, had life not done it for you.” — Kendall Hailey

34. "I know all those words, but that sentence makes no sense to me.”― Matt Groening

35. “Having a place to go is a home. Having someone to love is a family. Having both is a blessing.” – Donna Hedges

36. “Being part of a family means smiling for photos.” –Harry Morgan

37. “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

38. “There’s nothing that makes you more insane than family. Or more happy, or more exasperated, or more secure.” – Jim Butcher

39. “Family is family.” – Linda Linney

40. “In time of test, family is best.” – Burmese Proverb

41. “If the family were a boat, it would be a canoe that makes no progress unless everyone paddles." – Letty Cottin Pogrebin

42. “One day you will do things for me that you hate. That is what it means to be family.”― Jonathan Safran Foer

43. “I am blessed to have so many great things in my life – family, friends, and God. All will be in my thoughts daily.” –Lil’ Kim

44. “I have learned that to be with those I like is enough.”― Walt Whitman

45. “The family–that dear octopus from whose tentacles we never quite escape, nor, in our inmost hearts, ever quite wish to.” – Dodie Smith

46. “The family is the first essential cell of human society.” – Pope John XXIII

47. “My dear young cousin, if there's one thing I've learned over the eons, it's that you can't give up on your family, no matter how tempting they make it.” ― Rick Riordan

48. “Rejoice with your family in the beautiful land of life.” – Albert Einstein

49. “Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.” –Romans 12:9

50. “Sticking with your family is what makes it a family.” – Mitch Albom

51. “What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family.” — Mother Teresa

52. “It’s all about the quality of life and finding a happy balance between work and friends and family.” – Philip Green

53. “If you cannot get rid of the family skeleton, you may as well make it dance.”
― George Bernard Shaw

54. “Show me a family of readers, and I will show you the people who move the world.”― Napoleon Bonaparte

55. “Family and friendships are two of the greatest facilitators of happiness.” –John C. Maxwell

56. “Parents were the only ones obligated to love you; from the rest of the world you had to earn it.”― Ann Brashares

57. “Nothing is better than going home to family and eating good food and relaxing.” – Irina Shayk

58. “Family and friends are hidden treasures, seek them and enjoy their riches.” – Wanda Hope Carter

59. “Friends are the family you choose.”― Jess C. Scott

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

61. “Stick to the basics, hold on to your family and friends – they will never go out of fashion.” – Niki Taylor

62. "My mother used to tell me that when push comes to shove, you always know who to turn to. That being a family isn't a social construct but an instinct." — Jodi Picoult