50 Family Quotes to Keep By Your Desk

As the creator of Apple and one of the founders of Pixar, Steve Jobs’ home and family life were hardly as ideal as his climb to success. While he was said to come home after work each night and avoided social activities, his relationships with his children were strained and distant. Even when he was home, Jobs’ mind and attention were still back in the office. Ultimately, his many years of emotional unavailability for his family caused an irreparable disconnect.

However, this isn’t just a problem Steve Jobs faced. Overwork, stress, and signs of burnout are common issues among millions of executives, managers, and employees. For instance, a 2019 study conducted by RescueTime found that 26 percent of work is done outside of normal working hours and that 40 percent of workers use their computers after 10:00 p.m. 

Maintaining a healthy work-life balance to be an effective leader outside of the office is equally important as being an effective leader inside the office. Practicing poor time management, having unclear priorities, and a general lack of boundaries or ability to say “no” are all qualities that can cause this balance to shift quickly, negatively impacting a family unit. 

Family life moves fast. If you don’t slow down, you might miss it. Restore balance and reconnect to what’s important by:

• Recognizing the top signs of burnout
• How to restore work-life balance
• Reviewing 50 inspirational family and even work family quotes to help you prioritize where you spend your time 

Common Signs of Burnout

Stress that is prolonged or repeated can result in mental, emotional, and even physical exhaustion. This is called burnout, and if you’re like 62 percent of employees, you’ve experienced it recently. Burnout is caused by stress found at work, at home, or in relationships. Long workdays or excessive multi-tasking are often cited as the causes for burnout, but it actually occurs when a lack of control or support is present, or if the task(s) conflict with one’s sense of self.

Here are some of the most common signs of burnout:

• Feeling distant
• Strained relationships
• Physical concerns
• Difficulty relaxing
• Emotional sensitivity and exhaustion
• Overall distress

If some of these signs sound familiar, don’t worry. There are steps you can start taking today to combat overwork and burnout and begin re-prioritizing personal and family life. 

How to Maintain Work-Life Balance

• Establish, and stick to, a daily balanced routine: This might mean waking up earlier, meditating or exercising, planning out the day’s priorities, and scheduling in time for other important things, like mentoring a friend. 
• Go for completion, not perfection: Your value and self-worth doesn’t and shouldn’t come from doing anything perfectly. Instead, commit to doing your best and bringing projects to completion rather than perfection. Doing so will keep your momentum high and focused.
• Plan time off: 42 percent of those still working from home due to the pandemic are not planning to take time off. Yet this is so important. Fully disconnecting from your job to reconnect with yourself, your family, and your loved ones provides the nourishment your soul needs to do your best work. Go ahead and plan that vacation. 
• Establish boundaries: Saying “no” to anything not on your priority list is an excellent example of setting a boundary that supports work-life balance. It can be tempting to say “yes” to most things, particularly if you want to help and serve others, but staying mindful and practicing “no” will nurture a balanced routine.
• Sharpen your time management: Getting clear on what needs to be accomplished each week, both at work and home, is crucial for good time management. Once priorities are identified, categorize them from most urgent to least urgent and block off time accordingly to accomplish each. 

Family members can help us during the tough times. When family love comes through, nothing else can match it. The following is a selection of family quotes that will have you saying “I love my family” with more sincerity than ever before.

Short Family Quotes

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

“In times of test, family is best.” —Burmese Proverb

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

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

“Family is a life jacket in the stormy sea of life.” —J.K. Rowling

“Family makes a house a home.” —Jennifer Hudson

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

Inspiring Family Quotes

“The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each others’ life.” —Richard Bach

“In every conceivable manner, the family is a link to our past, bridge to our future.” —Alex Haley

“A happy family is but an earlier heaven.” —George Bernard Shaw

“There is no doubt that it is around the family and the home that all the greatest virtues, the most dominating virtues of human, are created, strengthened and maintained.” —Winston S. Churchill

“You don’t choose your family. They are God’s gift to you, as you are to them.” —Desmond Tutu

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

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

“You go through life wondering what is it all about but at the end of the day it’s all about family.” —Rod Stewart

“The love of family . . . is much more important than wealth and privilege.” —Charles Kuralt

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

“Family means no one gets left behind or forgotten.” —David Ogden Stiers

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.” —1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Family and Work-Life Balance Quotes

“Never get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life.” —Dolly Parton

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

“No one on his deathbed ever said ‘I wish I had spent more time at the office.'” —Paul Tsongas

“Don’t confuse having a career with having a life.” —Hillary Clinton

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

“A man should never neglect his family for business.” —Walt Disney

“You leave home to seek your fortune and, when you get it, you go home and share it with your family.” —Anita Baker

“Find a group of people who challenge and inspire you; spend a lot of time with them, and it will change your life.” —Amy Poehler

“The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.” —Stephen Covey

“You will never find time for anything. If you want time, you must make it.” —Charles Buxton

“Always take some of the play, fun, freedom, and wonder of the weekend into your week and your work.” —Rasheed Ogunlaru

“You will never feel truly satisfied by work until you are satisfied by life.” —Heather Schuck

“The family is the test of freedom; because the family is the only thing that the free man makes for himself and by himself.” —Gilbert K. Chesterton

Friends and Family Quotes

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

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

“A sweet friendship refreshes the soul.” —Proverbs 27:9

“There are friends, there is family and then there are friends that become family.” —Unknown

“Surround yourself with only people who are going to lift you higher.” —Oprah Winfrey

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

“What draws people to be friends is that they see the same truth.” —C.S. Lewis

“Friendship is the wine of life.” —Edward Young

Funny Quotes About Family

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

“Families are like fudge—mostly sweet, with a few nuts.” —Les Dawson

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

“A family is a unit composed not only of children but of men, women, an occasional animal, and the common cold.” —Ogden Nash

“A dysfunctional family is any family with more than one person in it.” —Mary Karr

“Always be nice to your children because they are the ones who will choose your rest home.” —Phyllis Diller

“Having children is like living in a frat house—nobody sleeps, everything’s broken, and there’s a lot of throwing up.” —Ray Romano

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

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

“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

Bridging the Gap Between Your Personal and Professional Life

Tennis is just a game, family is forever. 

serena williams

Redefining your understanding of success can be pivotal for bridging the work-life gap. For example, it may be helpful to ask yourself: “Is what I’m doing driving people closer, or further, away?” If the latter is true, then restructuring this perspective of what success is and looks like will be tremendous towards your development as a leader and as a partner, parent, and friend. 

In the article “4 Steps to Create Balance in Your Life,” author and leadership expert John C. Maxwell defines success as “having those closest to me love and respect me the most.” If you find yourself spending a lot of time at work, refer to these short family quotes to be reminded of what’s truly important.

Effective leadership requires the support of our friends and family. In fact, a 2017 analysis by the National Center for Biotechnology Information used 64 individual studies to prove the correlation between social support and mental health. The studies concluded that social support does influence mental wellness. Without strong health and mental wellness, our ability to produce and accomplish our goals can falter.

To learn more leadership behaviors that drive success, check out: 

8 Leadership Behaviors That Increase Success