50 Family Quotes

Family is one of the most important things in your life. Being blessed with a strong, happy family is one of the best things that can happen to you. They may be crazy, eccentric and annoying at times, but they are one of the main sources of support and happiness for your life.

1. “I’ve always put my family first and that’s just the way it is.” -Jamie Lee Curtis

Hopefully, you grew up with a family like this. If you did not, you have a chance to make your family and future children feel like you put them first.

2. “There’s nothing I value more than the closeness of friends and family, a smile as I pass someone on the street.” -Willie Stargell

Where are your values in life? Do you place family first in your priorities or is something else in that spot?

3. “I’ll never stop dreaming that one day we can be a real family, together, all of us laughing and talking, loving and understanding, not looking at the past but only to the future.” -LaToya Jackson

If you are estranged from some of your family members, you are probably able to sympathize with those family quote.

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

As you can see, many of the family quotes and sayings on this list tend to focus on the importance of family.

5. “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

If you have not told your sister that you love her for a long time, send her this quote to remind her that she is extremely important to you.

6. “If a country is to be corruption free and become a nation of beautiful minds, I strongly feel there are three key societal members who can make a difference. They are the father, the mother and the teacher.” -A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

Although schools and society matter, most of the values and skills that you learn in life are in the home. This is why parents and relatives should always take care in raising children.

7. “Children are the keys of paradise.” -Eric Hoffer

As someone who baby-sits for my nieces and nephews, I can tell you that this is not always true. When they are good, children are amazing and the keys of paradise. When they are not so good, though…

8. “My family is my strength and my weakness.” -Aishwarya Rai Bachchan

Having something to love means that you have the potential to feel great pain. Although this is a source of weakness, it is also what gives you strength to get through the difficult times.

9. “When you start about family, about lineage and ancestry, you are talking about every person on earth.” -Alex Haley

If you go back in your lineage far enough, you will discover that you are essentially related to everyone on the planet.

10. “I think togetherness is a very important ingredient to family life.” -Barbara Bush

Interestingly, I feel like Barbara Bush did not have a lot of time for togetherness since her husband spent eight years in the White House.

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

Although your family determines a large part of who you are, you have the capability to determine who you will become and the family that you will one day have.

12. “You don’t have to give birth to someone to have a family.” -Sandra Bullock

Sandra Bullock has had to answer questions about the adoption of her son in the past. It seems insane, but there are seriously people who believe that an adopted child is not as loved or as much of the family as a birth child. Fortunately, she has spent some time educating these people.

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

At face value, you could assume that this quote means that more than just your blood relatives are your family. If they are there for you when you need support or just a hug, that person is a part of your family.

14. “My kids give me the balance to live right.” -Celine Dion

Once you have a child that depends on you and looks up to you, it is a lot easier to remember to take the high road in life.

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

This family quote is one of the main reason why I believe that more than just your blood relatives can be a part of your family.

16. “My father used to play with my brother and me in the yard. Mother would come out and say, ‘You’re tearing up the grass’; ‘We’re not raising grass,’ Dad would reply. ‘We’re raising boys.’ “ -Harmon Killebrew

If you ever needed a reminder to just relax and let things be, this family saying is perfect.

17. “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

Unfortunately, this is all too true. We have all heard of or experienced arguments in a family that caused two people to spend years or decades without speaking to each other.

18. “I woke up one morning thinking about wolves and realized that wolf packs function as families. Everyone has a role, and if you act within the parameters of your role, the whole pack succeeds, and when that falls apart, so does the pack.” -Jodi Picoult

For a family to get ahead in life, every member has to be working toward the same cause.

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

Hopefully, you have the type of family that you would like to share your fortune with!

20. “Sister is probably the most competitive relationship within the family, but once the sisters are grown, it becomes the strongest relationship.” -Margaret Mead

I am not sure if this is true in every case. I think that a lot of the competitiveness may depend on how close the sisters are in age.

21. “Cherish your human connections – your relationships with friends and family.” -Barbara Bush

When it comes time to die, one of the top regrets that people have is that they did not spend enough time with their loved ones. Value your family and friends now so that you do not have this regret when it comes time to die.

22. “Insanity runs in my family. It practically gallops.” -Cary Grant

If you have one of those “crazy” families, this family quote is for you.

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

In some ways, I agree with this. I suppose that it just depends on what type of masterpiece we are talking about—a Picasso, Dali or Thomas Kincaid.

24. “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

It is a trade-off that is well-worth taking.

25. “The love of family and the admiration of friends is much more important than wealth and privilege.” -Charles Kuralt

Unfortunately, not everyone sees it this way, but the smarter people realize it in time.

26. “The family you come from isn’t as important as the family you’re going to have.” -Ring Lardner

You were born into a family that you did not choose, but you get to pick the family that stays with you for a lifetime.

27. “Family is the most important thing in the world.” -Princess Diana

In light of the autobiography on her life, this is a rather sad quote about families.

28. “I don’t think anyone has a normal family.” -Edward Furlong

I have never met anyone who said that they have a normal family, but I will keep looking just in case.

29. “I was born into the most remarkable and eccentric family I could possibly have hoped for.” -Maureen O’Hara

Sometimes, crazy families make life a lot more fun.

30. “The family is the nucleus of civilization.” -Will Durant

Profound, and rather true!

31. “Spend some time this weekend on home improvement; improve your attitude toward your family.” -Bo Bennett

You may take your family for granted, but keep in mind that they will not always be there for you.

32. “Happy or unhappy, families are all mysterious. We have only to imagine how differently we would be described – and will be, after our deaths – by each of the family members who believe they know us.” -Gloria Steinem

Can you imagine what your family would say about your personality at your funeral?

33. “Without a family, man, alone in the world, trembles with the cold.” -Andre Maurois

Life is far more lonely when you do not have a family around you.

34. “A family is a place where principles are hammered and honed on the anvil of everyday living.” -Charles R. Swindoll

At school and at work, you can put on your best face. Your family will always know the real you, though.

35. “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

Or the scent of moth balls and perfume.

36. “The great danger for family life, in the midst of any society whose idols are pleasure, comfort and independence, lies in the fact that people close their hearts and become selfish.” -Pope John Paul II

If you cannot open your heart to your family and learn to be less selfish, you will have a far less fulfilling life.

37. “My family was my guide to my reality.” -Haywood Nelson

This is a rather poignant family saying.

38. “I love all my fam. I have quite possibly the best dad, mom, and sister in the world.” -Ryan Eggold

If you are lucky enough to get a good family, hold them close and never let them go.

39. “I am the baby in the family, and I always will be. I am actually very happy to have that position. But I still get teased. I don’t mind that.” -Janet Jackson

As the oldest child, I cannot sympathize with this at all.

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

Children and dogs are two of the only creatures that seem to love unconditionally—don’t abuse it.

41. “The only rock I know that stays steady, the only institution I know that works, is the family.” -Lee Iacocca

With a strong family, anything is possible.

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

At least, this is true in most circumstances.

43. “I believe the world is one big family, and we need to help each other.” -Jet Li

This is an ideal way to look at how you deal with or interact with the rest of the world.

44. “One of the things that binds us as a family is a shared sense of humor.” -Ralph Fiennes

What is it that binds you and your family members together?

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

In this manner, family is a lot like the military. 😉

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

Hopefully, you will be able to experience this heaven on earth.

47. “I love children and I get along with them great. It’s just that I believe if you’re going to be a parent, there has to be something inside you that says, ‘I want a family.’ I don’t feel that sense of urgency.” -George Clooney

It looks like, George Clooney is going to have children for the right reason. Nice!

48. “There is no such thing as fun for the whole family.” -Jerry Seinfeld

As a veteran of many family vacations, I concur wholeheartedly.

49. “Some of the most important conversations I’ve ever had occurred at my family’s dinner table.” -Bob Ehrlich

Eating dinner together has been shown to be one of the best things that family members can do for the mental and emotional health of their children.

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

For you to really be able to focus and do well in business, the other areas of your life must be taken care of as well.

From zany eccentricities to warm hugs, families come in all types and qualities. If we missed one of your favorite quotes about family, leave a comment at the bottom of the page.