Family quotes, and other quotes, have been part of my life and personal growth since I was 16 years old.
For the first time, I had my own room. I took a sheet of thick paper that looked like an old scroll, burned its edges with a candle, wrote some quotes on it (by hand) and put on to my wall with sticky tape.
Recently, my sister helped clean up my parents’ house and found the quotes I left there 38 years ago. One of the family quotes was from the book Illusions by Richard Bach, which I had received as a gift.
This book has made a huge impression on my life and this quote changed the way I looked at family and life. Before reading the book, the definition of family was very simple for me. Family was a group of people related by blood.
It included Mom and Dad, the people who gave birth to you and raised you. And your siblings, the children born to the same parents. Back then, we hardly had blended families or adopted children, and I never questioned this definition.
Until I read Illusions. One quote in there changed my definition of Family.
The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other’s life. Rarely, do members of one family, grow up under the same roof
Richard Bach
This made me realize that blood had nothing to do with being a family. We were five children and the relationships we had were so different I knew blood had nothing to do with it. Much later, I also realized that although we had the same parents, we didn’t grow up in the same family, because they were different people for each of us.
As soon as my youngest sister was born, I had 3 sisters, but we became soul sisters only later, after building wonderful relationships. For one of my soul sisters’ birthdays, I wrote her, “I’m happy and honored to be your true sister, not just a biological one”, and I meant it with all my heart.
Over 25 years ago, I moved with my husband and daughter to the USA and had to be away from my family. Back then, we kept in touch by writing letters and having very short, expensive phone conversations once a week, either with Gal’s parents or with mine. That is when the definition of a family expanded. We met friends who became our family. Blood had nothing to do with it.
Family members can be your best friends, you know. And best friends, whether or not they are related to you, can be your family.
Trenton Lee Stewart
As a life coach, I see many families and help them through many family challenges. Some of them have a distorted definition of family that causes them pain.
Parents who feel their children should obey them have a dysfunctional family. A woman who was sexually abused by her father and can’t stop him from abusing her at the age of 35 has a distorted definition of family. A father who thinks his 13-year-old daughter needs to work for her food has a distorted definition of family.
Parents who tell their children that they can get their love if and only if they marry the person the parents approve of, or study what they approve of, have a distorted definition of family.
The list is huge, and I’d rather focus this post on a good definition of a family, so let’s move on.
What makes a good definition of Family?
The definition that will make you happy!
You see, I believed that family was a blood thing. When people I was related to by blood behaved in a way that didn’t match my definition of Family, I was very unhappy. When I was away from my blood family and decided that family did not have to be a blood relation and some of my friends became my family, I was happy. Circumstances were the same, my definition changed.
When our family is not around, friends are the best family there is
Ronit Baras
We all need to develop our own definition of a good, happy family. No one can give us that definition, because only we can decide what makes us happy.
In this post, I have collected family quotes that I like and some that I’ve written myself over the years. My suggestion is that you read the quotes, keep the ones that resonate with you and get rid of those you don’t like. Find the quotes that make you feel happy and good about yourself or that match your philosophy of what your family should be like.
Once you find the quotes you like, display them where you and your children can see until they become the foundations you build your family on.
The idea is not to instill beliefs in your children’s minds, but in yours! If you follow your definition, you will be a model for them too. It is not what you say, but how you live your life, that counts.
One quote changed my definition of Family to a better one and my life was no longer the same. I hope that with this post, you’ll be able to do the same for yourself. Pick the family quotes that will change your life.
My favorite family quotes
Families are the compass that guide us. They are the inspiration to reach great heights, and our comfort when we occasionally falter.
Brad Henry
There is no such thing as a broken family. Family is family, and is not determined by marriage certificates, divorce papers, and adoption documents.
Families are made in the heart. The only time family becomes null is when those ties in the heart are cut. If you cut those ties, those people are not your family. If you make those ties, those people are your family.
And if you hate those ties, those people will still be your family because whatever you hate will always be with you.
JoyBell C.
A family doesn’t need to be perfect; it just needs to be united
Unknown
Open Door
When you are happy, the door is open:
we are here to congratulate you on your success.
When you are sad, the door is open:
we are here to comfort you in your disappointment.
When you are lonely, the door is open:
we are here to keep you company.
When you are scared, the door is open:
we are here to spread our wings and shelter you.
When you feel you have failed, the door is open:
we are here to remind you of your great achievements.
When you are hungry, the door is open:
we are here to offer you the food on our table.
When you are in trouble, remember, the door is always open.
When you feel lost, we are here.
Come. No need to knock.
We’ll give you a compass to find your way
Ronit Baras
The family is the first essential cell of human society.
Pope John XXIII
I would rather start a family than finish one.
Don Marquis
Whatever happens, I will come! No matter what time, no matter where, no matter how angry I am or how angry you are, I will come for you to the other side of the world and I will find you!
Ronit Baras
No one’s family is normal. Normalcy is a lie invented by advertising agencies to make the rest of us feel inferior.
Claire LaZebnik
The family is one of nature’s masterpieces
George Santayana
Families are like fudge – mostly sweet with a few nuts.
Unknown
Every successful person in a family climbed the ladder of success when other family members held the ladder. Remember that every success requires supporters. Be kind and grateful to those holding your ladder when climbing
Ronit Baras
Some of my clients come from very dysfunctional families. Many times, we go over the fact that their parents didn’t have the right models or skills to change their life. But every family is a new civilization and we don’t have to keep doing the things our parents did.
I use the below family quote to help them understand that we may not control the family we came from, but we can always, always control what kind of a family we will build ourselves.
The family you come from isn’t as important as the family you’re going to have.
Ring Lardner
Your cell phone already replaced your watch, alarm clock and calendar, don’t let it replace your family.
Unknown
I think our job as parents is to give our kids roots to grow and wings to fly.
Deborah Norville
The people you spend time with determine who you will become. Choose them wisely and re-evaluate your choice from time to time, even if they are family
Ronit Baras
Everyone needs a house to live in, but a supportive family is what builds a home
Anthony Liccione
You don’t choose your family. They are God’s gift to you, as you are to them
Desmond Tutu
My children’s success is mine
Ronit Baras
Family is like music, some high notes, some low notes but always a beautiful song
Unknown
If you come from a solid family structure, it doesn’t matter what you go through in your life. You’re going to be okay.
Alyssa Milano
For children, fun is a currency. It is how they measure their relationships with their parents and with other people. First, you need to be fun. Then, you fit on a scale from a little fun to great fun.
So, as a parent, you need to get into your kids’ “fun club”. If you are in, they consider you as a partner for life, and you can instill many thoughts, beliefs and ideas in their mind.
If you are not at all in the club, you stand no chance
Ronit Baras
Families are the tie that reminds us of yesterday, provide strength and support today, and give us hope for tomorrow. No government, no matter how well-intentioned, or well-managed, can provide what our families provide.
Bill Owens
Think of your family today and every day thereafter, don’t let the busy world of today keep you from showing how much you love and appreciate your family.
Josiah
A strong family has members who love each other more than envy, care for each other more than compete, appreciate each other more than mock and encourages each other more the criticize. If the ratio is the other way, the family is weak
Ronit Baras
Families are like branches on a tree – we grow in different directions, yet our roots remain as one.
Unknown
Parenting is a management position. For the family operation to run properly, we need to manage time, manage our emotions and those of our family members, manage money, manage habits, manage education, manage health, manage work and manage time off. Be a good manager and your family will run smoothly
Ronit Baras
A family is a place where minds come in contact with one another
Buddha
I have found the best way to give advice to your children is to find out what they want and then advise them to do it.
Harry S. Truman
Happy parents raise happy kids
Ronit Baras
In every dispute between parent and child, both cannot be right, but they may be, and usually are, both wrong. It is this situation which gives family life its peculiar hysterical charm.
Isaac Rosenfeld
Family isn’t always blood. It’s the people in your life who want you in theirs. The ones you accept you for who you are. The ones who would do anything to see you smile, and who love you no matter what.
Maya Angelou
You can kiss your family and friends good-bye and put miles between you, but at the same time you carry them with you in your heart, your mind, your stomach, because you do not just live in a world but a world lives in you.
Frederick Buechner
Pride in our children is the award we give ourselves for good behavior
Ronit Baras
Unconditional love is loving your kids for who they are, not for what they do… it isn’t something you will achieve every minute of every day. But it is the thought we must hold in our hearts every day.
Stephanie Marston
The single most important factor in our long-term happiness is the relationships we have with our family and close friends.
Clayton Christensen
There are many similarities between parenting and leadership. In our family, we navigate life together. United we stand, divided we fall. Still, someone needs to be King Arthur
Ronit Baras
If you want to see mankind fully, look at a family. Within the family minds become organically one, and for this reason the family is total poetry.
Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel
When sitting around the dinner table, sharing the joys and troubles of the day in a respectful, compassionate and supportive way, every family member feels like a knight of the round table
Ronit Baras
The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother.
Henry Ward Beecher
Switch your parenting style from preaching to teaching and see how your children switch form Off to On
Ronit Baras
The family – that dear octopus from whose tentacles we never quite escape, nor, in our inmost hearts, ever quite wish to.
Dodie Smith
Human beings are the only creatures on earth that allow their children to come back home.
Bill Cosby
You can have a happy, healthy, loving family if you focus on happy, healthy, loving acts. Your mind has a flashlight that illuminates what you point it at.
If you point it at good things, they will grow. If you point it at bad things, they will grow too. Use your parenting flashlight wisely!
Ronit Baras
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
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
It didn’t matter how big our house was; it mattered that there was love in it.
Peter Buffett
We put labels on people, thinking it will be easier for us to help them or relate to them, when in fact, at some stage, we forget the person and only treat he label.
It is OK for kids to be scared. The will learn to protect themselves.
It is OK for kids to be confused. It will teach them critical thinking.
It is OK for kids to be sensitive. It will teach them kindness and caring.
It is OK for kids to be stubborn. It will teach them persistence, commitment and determination.
It is OK for kids to be highly active. It will bring them joy and make them happy.
So don’t be too quick to put labels on your kids, and make sure no one else does either.
Ronit Baras
What greater thing is there for human souls than to feel that they are joined for life – to be with each other in silent unspeakable memories.
George Eliot
To put the world right in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must first put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must first cultivate our personal life; we must first set our hearts right.
Confucius
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
Home is not a place, it’s a feeling.
Unknown
I was angry and frustrated until I started my own family and my first child was born. Until then I didn’t really appreciate life the way I should have, but fortunately I woke up.
Johnny Depp
Having somewhere to go is home. Having someone to love is family. Having both is a blessing.
Unknown
Home isn’t where you’re from, it’s where you find light when all grows dark.
Pierce Brown
A family is not a democracy, because the responsibly cannot be shared
Ronit Baras
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
Families are the compass that guide us. They are the inspiration to reach great heights, and our comfort when we occasionally falter.
Brad Henry
You are born into your family and your family is born into you. No returns. No exchanges.
Elizabeth Berg
I believe the world is one big family, and we need to help each other.
Jet Li
Family means no one gets left behind or forgotten.
David Ogden Stiers
Soup is a lot like a family. Each ingredient enhances the others; each batch has its own characteristics; and it needs time to simmer to reach full flavor.
Marge Kennedy
Remember that children, marriages, and flower gardens reflect the kind of care they get.
Jackson Brown Jr
If you as parents cut corners, your children will too. If you lie, they will too. If you spend all your money on yourselves and no portion of it for charities, colleges, churches, synagogues, and civic causes, your children won’t either.
And if parents snicker at racial and gender jokes, another generation will pass on the poison adults still have not had the courage to snuff out.
Marian Wright Edelman
I think people that have a brother or sister don’t realize how lucky they are. Sure, they fight a lot, but to know that there’s always somebody there, somebody that’s family.
Trey Parker
Home is not the bricks that surround the space we live in. Home is where people who love you are with their arms open to hug you, comfort you in times of pain and share your times of joy
Ronit Baras
A house is built by hands, but a home is built by heart.
Unknown
What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family.
Mother Theresa
Children are educated by what the grown-up is and not by his talk.
Carl Jung
A man travels the world over in search of what he needs, and returns home to find it.
George Moore
Running a family is like sailing a ship. Parents are the captains and they set the direction.
From time to time, it is OK to give your kids the wheel, for fun and to help understand the magnitude of the ship and the troubled water, but the responsibility stays yours
Ronit Baras
In family life, love is the oil that eases friction, the cement that binds closer together, and the music that brings harmony.
Friedrich Nietzsche
A baby is born with a need to be loved – and never outgrows it.
Frank A. Clark
Mothers are the people who love us for no good reason. And those of us who are mothers know it’s the most exquisite love of all.
Maggie Gallagher
Family faces are magic mirrors looking at people who belong to us, we see the past, present, and future.
Gail Lumet Buckley
Always kiss your children goodnight – even if they’re already asleep.
Jackson Brown, Jr.
Parents are the ultimate role models for children. Every word, movement and action has an effect. No other person or outside force has a greater influence on a child than the parent.
Bob Keeshan
You will never look back on life and think, I spent too much time with my kids.
Unknown
Spend some time this weekend on home improvement; improve your attitude toward your family.
Bo Bennett
There is no doubt that it is around the family and the home that all the greatest virtues, the most dominating virtues of humans, are created, strengthened and maintained.
Winston Churchill
While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about.
Angela Schwindt
Positive feelings come from being honest about yourself and accepting your personality, and physical characteristics, warts and all; and, from belonging to a family that accepts you without question.
Willard Scott
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?
Elbert Hubbard
He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
I’m very fortunate to have been raised in my family. I learned early about the importance of giving back.
Patrick Schwarzenegger
He that raises a large family does, indeed, while he lives to observe them, stand a broader mark for sorrow; but then he stands a broader mark for pleasure too.
Benjamin Franklin
My advice: Take a second out of the day today and be thankful for your family.
Jenna Morasca
I believe that the greatest gift you can give your family and the world is a healthy you.
Joyce Meyer
Every family’s journey is like hiking in company. If the goal is to reach the end together, there is no point rushing, pushing and shoving, because the speed of the hike depends on the slowest person
Ronit Baras
The song below was written about healing the world. When I hear it, I always think of a family as the small world we have created to make a difference. Think of your children when reading the song. They want to know you care and they want to know you will be there for them, not when things are easy but when things are tough.
We are the world
There comes a time
When we heed a certain call
When the world must come together as one
There are people dying
Oh, and it’s time to lend a hand to life
The greatest gift of allWe can’t go on
Pretending day-by-day
That someone, somewhere soon make a change
We’re all a part of God’s great big family
And the truth, you know, love is all we needWe are the world
We are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day, so let’s start giving
There’s a choice we’re making
We’re saving our own lives
It’s true we’ll make a better day, just you and meOh, send them your heart
So they know that someone cares
And their lives will be stronger and free
As God has shown us by turning stones to bread
And so we all must lend a helping handMichael Jackson and Lionel Richie
Family and friendships are two of the greatest facilitators of happiness.
John C. Maxwell
The love of the family, the love of one person can heal. It heals the scars left by a larger society. A massive, powerful society.
Maya Angelou
All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
Leo Tolstoy
Respect and unconditional love are the foundation of every family. Without them, even royal blood will not prevent a family from collapsing
Ronit Baras
A happy family is but an earlier heaven.
John Bowring
When everything goes to hell, the people who stand by you without flinching — they are your family.
Jim Butcher
Then I discovered that being related is no guarantee of love!
Stieg Larsso
To understand your parents’ love, you must raise children yourself.
Unknown
I hope you’ve found some family quotes that you can use as the foundation of your parenting philosophy and match your idea of the best family you can have. Remember the definition is important and can determine how you and your family will travel through life.
Family matters!
Ronit
P.S. If you love quotes, check out my best parenting quotes post.
