Mother's Day Quotes

A mother's love is one of the most profound forces in human life. These quotes — from literature, history, and lived experience — capture the depth of that bond and the ways it shapes everything we become.

40 quotes in this collection

Celebrating the Love of Mothers

"A mother's arms are made of tenderness and children sleep soundly in them."

— Victor Hugo

"The influence of a mother in the lives of her children is beyond calculation."

— James E. Faust

"A mother is she who can take the place of all others but whose place no one else can take."

— Cardinal Mermillod

"To the world you are a mother, but to your family you are the world."

— Anonymous

"Life began with waking up and loving my mother's face."

— George Eliot

"A mother's love for her child is like nothing else in the world."

— Agatha Christie

"Biology is the least of what makes someone a mother."

— Oprah Winfrey

"When you are looking at your mother, you are looking at the purest love you will ever know."

— Charley Benetto

"The heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness."

— Honore de Balzac

"No language can express the power and beauty and heroism of a mother's love."

— Edwin Hubbell Chapin

"Mothers hold their children's hands for a short while, but their hearts forever."

— Anonymous

"God could not be everywhere, and therefore he made mothers."

— Rudyard Kipling

"My mother is my root, my foundation. She planted the seed that I base my life on."

— Michael Jordan

"A mother's love is patient and forgiving when all others are forsaking."

— Helen Rice

"Of all the titles I have been privileged to have, 'mom' has always been the best."

— Meryl Streep

"Being a full-time mother is one of the highest salaried jobs since the payment is pure love."

— Mildred B. Vermont

"An ounce of mother is worth a pound of clergy."

— Rudyard Kipling

"A mother's arms are more comforting than anyone else's."

— Princess Diana

"The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother."

— Theodore Hesburgh

"I remember my mother's prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life."

— Abraham Lincoln

"Motherhood: All love begins and ends there."

— Robert Browning

"A mother is your first friend, your best friend, your forever friend."

— Anonymous

"The natural state of motherhood is unselfishness."

— Jessica Lange

"The most beautiful word on the lips of mankind is the word Mother."

— Kahlil Gibran

"A mother understands what a child does not say."

— Jewish Proverb

"Mama was my greatest teacher, a teacher of compassion, love and fearlessness."

— Stevie Wonder

"Youth fades; love droops; the leaves of friendship fall; a mother's secret hope outlives them all."

— Oliver Wendell Holmes

"There's no way to be a perfect mother and a million ways to be a good one."

— Jill Churchill

"A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials, heavy and sudden, fall upon us."

— Washington Irving

"Children are the anchors that hold a mother to life."

— Sophocles

"All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother."

— Abraham Lincoln

"My mother was my role model before I even knew what that word was."

— Lisa Leslie

"Behind every great child is a mother who is pretty sure she is messing it up."

— Anonymous

"A mother's love is a beacon, lighting up the future but reflected also on the past in guise of fond memories."

— Honore de Balzac

"A mother holds her children's hands for a while, their hearts forever."

— Anonymous

"She is their earth. She is their food and their bed and the extra blanket when it grows cold in the night."

— Kristin Hunter

"The mother is everything — she is our consolation in sorrow, our hope in misery, and our strength in weakness."

— Kahlil Gibran

"What do girls do who haven't any mothers to help them through their troubles?"

— Louisa May Alcott

"A mother's love is patient and forgiving, always helping and always guiding."

— Anonymous

"Mothers are like glue. Even when you can't see them, they're still holding the family together."

— Susan Gale

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Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the most famous Mother's Day quote?

'God could not be everywhere, and therefore he made mothers' by Rudyard Kipling is one of the most widely shared Mother's Day quotes.

How do I write a heartfelt Mother's Day message?

Start with a specific memory or quality you love about your mother, then use a quote that mirrors that feeling to close your message.

Are there Mother's Day quotes from famous mothers?

Yes — Princess Diana, Meryl Streep, and Oprah Winfrey have all spoken beautifully about motherhood from the inside.

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