80 Family Quotes To Express Your Love

Your inner circle is everything, and these family quotes express just that.

By
Jenna Sims
Jenna Sims, Associate Digital Editor at Southern Living
Jenna Sims
Jenna is a Senior Digital Editor for Southern Living and joined the team in 2014. She writes, produces, and assigns content with a focus on email growth and commerce content. She covers a range of topics in the lifestyle space from holiday gift guides to new product launches to tips for cooking with your air fryer.
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Updated on January 29, 2024
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Family: the only six-letter word in which unconditional love, exasperation, and flat-out feuds can coexist. Sometimes, the only thing we can muster up is, "It's complicated." But for all the quarrels and misgivings we may have at times, we can't deny that there's nothing like family. They'll always be the once source of love we'll never have to earn; the place we run to for help and comfort; and the ever-steady constant in the inevitable tides of change.

The love of our families sustains us and keeps us going when we need it most, and they'll celebrate all our victories. They are, quite literally, everything—and these family quotes express just that. Whether you need a caption for a family picture you're posting on Instagram or need a message to share in a card for a family member, these quotes about life, love, and kinship will help you show your family how much they mean to you.

Family Quotes About Love

Michael J Fox Family Is Important Quote

Southern Living
  • "Family is not an important thing. It's everything." - Michael J. Fox
  • "Family means no one gets left behind or forgotten." - David Ogden Stiers
  • "The love of a family is a life's greatest blessing." - Eva Burrows
  • "When everything goes to hell, the people who stand by you without flinching–they are your family." - Jim Butcher
  • "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
  • "In every conceivable manner, the family is a link to our past, a bridge to our future." - Alex Haley
  • "I believe the world is one big family, and we need to help each other." - Jet Li
  • "The family you come from isn't as important as the family you're going to have." - Ring Lardner
  • "My family's the most important thing in my life." - Joe Namath
  • ""At the end of the day, a loving family should find everything forgivable." ~ Mark V. Olsen

Family Quotes About Priorities

Put Family First Quote Jamie Lee Curtis

Southern Living
  • "I've always put my family first and that's just the way it is." - Jamie Lee Curtis
  • "When all the dust is settled and all the crowds are gone, the things that matter are faith, family, and friends." - Barbara Bush
  • "The most important thing in the world is family and love." - John Wooden
  • "My mother had a slender, small body, but a large heart-a heart so large that everybody's joys found welcome in it, and hospitable accommodation." - Mark Twain
  • "Family is the most important thing in the world." - Princess Diana
  • "Other things may change us, but we start and end with the family." - Anthony Brandt
  • "We may have our differences, but nothing's more important than family." - Coco
  • "Our most basic instinct is not for survival but for family." - Paul Pearsall
  • "The family is the first essential cell of human society." - Pope John XXIII
  • "Dignity is not negotiable. Dignity is the honor of the family." - Vartan Gregorian
  • "The happiest moments of my life have been the few which I have passed at home in the bosom of my family." – Thomas Jefferson
  • "It’s all about quality of life and finding a happy balance between work and friends and family." – Philip Green
  • "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
  • "What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family." - Mother Teresa
  • "No matter what you've done for yourself or for humanity, if you can't look back on having given love and attention to your own family, what have you really accomplished?" ~ Lee Iacocca

Funny Family Quotes

Sweet Family Quote

Southern Living
  • "Families are like fudge–mostly sweet, with a few nuts." - Les Dawson
  • "Insanity runs in my family. It practically gallops." - Cary Grant
  • "Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city." - George Burns
  • "The other night I ate at a real nice family restaurant. Every table had an argument going." - George Carlin
  • "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
  • "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
  • "People are pretty forgiving when it comes to other people's families. The only family that ever horrifies you is your own." - Douglas Coupland
  • "I want my children to have all the things I couldn’t afford. Then I want to move in with them." – Phyllis Diller
  • "I grew up with six brothers. That’s how I learned to dance—waiting for the bathroom." – Bob Hope
  • "Family: A unit composed not only of children, but of men, women, an occasional animal, and the common cold." - Mark Twain

Family Quotes About A Strong Foundation

Faith Hill Family Quote

Southern Living
  • "The foundation of family—that's where it all begins for me." - Faith Hill
  • "The memories we make with our family is everything." - Candace Cameron Bure
  • "Families are like branches on a tree, we grow in different directions yet our roots remain as one." - Unknown
  • "You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them." - Desmond Tutu
  • "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
  • "The strength of a family, like the strength of an army, lies in its loyalty to each other." - Mario Puzo
  • "Sister is probably the most competitive relationship within the family, but once the sisters are grown, it becomes the strongest relationship." - Margaret Mead
  • "The only rock I know that stays steady, the only institution I know that works, is the family." - Lee Iacocca
  • "In family relationships, ‘love’ is really spelled ‘t-i-m-e,’ time. Taking time for each other is the key for harmony at home." – Dieter F. Uchtdorf
  • "My life is proof that no matter what situation you're in, as long as you have a supportive family, you can achieve anything." - Michaela DePrince
  • "I had a very supportive family environment that gave me room to explore and discover things about myself." - Brad Pitt
  • "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 Churchill

Family Quotes Full Of Gratitude

Joanna Gaines Family Gift Quote

Southern Living
  • "Time together as a family is a gift." - Joanna Gaines
  • “A happy family is but an earlier heaven." - George Bernard Shaw
  • "It didn't matter how big our house was; it mattered that there was love in it." - Peter Buffett
  • "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
  • "Rejoice with your family in the beautiful land of life." - Albert Einstein
  • "For there is no friend like a sister in calm or stormy weather; To cheer one on the tedious way, to fetch one if one goes astray, to lift one if one totters down, to strengthen whilst one stands." - Christina Rossetti
  • "Spend some time this weekend on home improvement; improve your attitude toward your family." - Bo Bennett
  • "Don’t worry about the family that ignores and acts like you don’t matter. Love the ones who are always there for you no matter what." – Unknown
  • "In family life, love is the oil that eases friction, the cement that binds closer together, and the music that brings harmony." - Friedrich Nietzche
  • "The family is where we are formed as people. Every family is a brick in the building of society." - Pope Francis

Quotes About Family Ties

Maya Angelou Family Love Quote

Southern Living
  • "I sustain myself with the love of family." - Maya Angelou
  • "To us, family means putting your arms around each other and being there." - Barbara Bush
  • "Families are the compass that guides us. They are the inspiration to reach great heights, and our comfort when we occasionally falter." - Brad Henry
  • "The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life." - Richard Bach
  • "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
  • "Home isn't where you're from, it's where you find light when all grows dark." - Pierce Brown
  • "A family is a place where principles are hammered and honed on the anvil of everyday living." - Charles R. Swindoll
  • "I find the family the most mysterious and fascinating institution in the world." - Amos Oz
  • "Families are the tie that reminds us of yesterday, provide strength and support today, and give us hope for tomorrow." – Bill Owens
  • "The family is one of nature's masterpieces." - George Santayana
  • "Family life is too intimate to be preserved by the spirit of justice. It can be sustained by a spirit of love which goes beyond justice." - Reinhold Niebuhr
  • "I think togetherness is a very important ingredient to family life." - Barbara Bush

Positive Family Quotes

Positive Family Quote About Working Together

Southern Living
  • "If the family were a boat, it would be a canoe that makes no progress unless everyone paddles." - Letty Cottin Pogrebin
  • "To care for those who once cared for us is one of the highest honors.” - Tia Walker
  • “A man travels the world over in search of what he needs, and returns home to find it.” - George A. Moore
  • “Families don’t have to match. You don’t have to look like someone else to love them.” - Leigh Anne Tuohy
  • “Home is people. Not a place. If you go back there after the people are gone, then all you can see is what is not there anymore.”- Robin Hobb
  • "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 Phifer
  • "Family and friends are hidden treasures, seek them out and enjoy their riches." - Wanda Hope Carter
  • “Having somewhere to go is home. Having someone to love is family. Having both is a blessing.” - Anonymous
  • “Everyone needs a house to live in, but a supportive family is what builds a home.” — Anthony Liccione
  • “You need a rock-solid foundation of friends and family to keep you where you need to be.” - Lilly Singh


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