The 62 Best Phrases About Family
Phrases about family are small reflection exercises on that emotional and social fabric that sustains us as human beings. Doctor and pediatrician Salvador Minuchin, one of the most prominent “architects” in rebuilding family structures, stated that nothing determines a person so much as that environment where destiny, biology, and chance drop us as soon as we come to this world.
For many, it can be a traumatic scenario. Others, on the other hand, are nurtured, develop, and evolve in plentitude and happiness thanks to those parents, grandparents, uncles, brothers and sisters, and cousins who become part of who one is.
Family can be that daily support that always feels close despite the distance. It’s the home to which you always want to return and where you’re welcome at any time.
Phrases about family that you’ll love to discover
These phrases about family are dedicated to those who find in their family a refuge from day-to-day life, a daily hug, a table that’s always prepared, and unconditional love and complicity.
1. I sustain myself with the love of family. (Maya Angelou)
Families are like those invisible hands that push, hold, encourage, and caress us at every moment. It doesn’t matter if our people are miles away, because we always feel them very close to the heart.
2. We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children. (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
That should be the goal of every parent, to know that we are only brief tenants in this world and that our purpose is none other than to leave our children a healthier, more beautiful, and sustainable planet.
3. What greater thing is there for two human souls than to feel that they are joined for life–to strengthen each other in all labor, to rest on each other in all sorrow, to minister to each other in all pain, to be one with each other in silent unspeakable memories… (George Eliot)
Among the phrases about family that you can’t miss is this one by George Eliot. To be a family is to be tied to a legacy, to a set of figures that precede us and that are also part of who we are.
4. I have learned that when a newborn first squeezes his father’s finger in his tiny fist, he has caught him forever. (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
Few gestures remain as strongly in the minds of a father and mother as that first contact with their newborn child.
5. A family will be strong and unbreakable when it is held up by four columns: A brave father, A prudent mother, an obedient child, and a complacent sibling (Confucius)
A mother and father who would do everything for their children guarantees their happiness.
6. My family is my strength and my weakness. (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan)
Our children, partners, parents, grandparents, uncles, siblings… They’re our weakness and, in turn, that impulse that gives us courage in good days and bad.
7. Sisters are probably the most competitive relationship within the family, but once the sisters are grown, they become the strongest relationship. (Margaret Mead)
Margaret Mead, the famous American anthropologist and poet, told us about the cornerstone of sisterhood. In childhood, we always walk with our differences, but in maturity, they’re our support.
8. What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family. (Mother Teresa of Calcutta)
Great revolutions start from simple, basic scenarios. Loving our own is the first step to remembering what’s most important in this world, such as love and peace.
9. The happiest moments of my life have been the few which I have passed at home in the bosom of my family (Thomas Jefferson)
We all treasure moments with our family members that are like enclaves in our memory, like islands of peace to which we always return to feel those same emotions, those same smells, and those feelings of childhood or youth.
10. Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. (Leo Tolstoy)
This is one of the phrases about family that leads us to deep reflection. Most of us have probably come across these lines that Tolstoy left us in Anna Karenina.
11. A man should never neglect his family for business. (Walt Disney)
Travel, jobs, obligations, environmental pressures, personal goals, aspirations, business… As much as possible, it’s crucial that family remains the main priority in the journey of life.
12. When I was fourteen, my father was so ignorant that he could not bear him. But when I turned twenty-one, it was amazing how much my father had learned in seven years. (Mark Twain)
There always comes a time when we discover how great our fathers and mothers are.
13. Happiness begins at home. Members of your family are people. Motivate them to be happy just like a good salesman motivates his prospects to buy. (Napoleon Hill)
What is loved must be cared for, otherwise, it withers or is lost. Let’s not forget one of the most important phrases about family.
14. With the family, it happens as with beautiful things, that they have more shine when they are imperfect than when they are finished. (Duke of la Rochefoucauld)
There are no perfect families. All of them have notches, broken edges, loose fragments… But this is how the most beautiful jewels shine, because they’re real and authentic.
15. It is not flesh and blood, but heart which makes us fathers and sons. (Friedrich Schiller)
How many times have we said it? It’s not blood that makes the family, it’s the affection.
16. It’s beautiful that parents become their children’s friends, dispelling all fear, but inspiring great respect in them. (José Ingenieros)
The father and mother who know how to build authentic complicity and trust with their children will have them close by all their lives.
17. You don’t choose your family. They are God’s gift to you, as you are to them. (Desmond Tutu)
It’s true, no one can choose who they have as mother, father or brother… They’re given to us, and sometimes, providence works great miracles.
18. The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other’s life. (Richard Bach)
If it’s reciprocal, it’s authentic. If they care about you and always seek your well-being and your happiness, you have the best family in the world.
19. The more you understand and accept your roots, the more beautiful you will become. (Maxime Lagacé)
Another one of the phrases about family that you shouldn’t forget. Knowing where we come from gives us wisdom, and wisdom is beauty.
20. Family is like the dawn that always gives us hope. (JRR Tolkien)
In the most difficult moments, our family can be our best ally.
21. The sun looks down on nothing half so good as a household laughing together over a meal. (CS Lewis)
Family gatherings, when there’s harmony, are the best astronomical event.
22. 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)
Choosing whom to love and with whom to form a family is an example of freedom.
23. Govern a family as you would cook a small fish—very gently. (Chinese proverb)
Authoritarianism, aggressiveness, and oppression only generate fear and submission. No happy family should use these guidelines.
24. I don’t know who my grandfather was; I am much more concerned to know who his grandson will be. (Abraham Lincoln)
Caring about being good people is a way of honoring our ancestors.
25. There is no doubt that it is around the family and the home that all the greatest virtues are created, strengthened, and maintained. (Winston Churchill)
This is another great family phrase that we shouldn’t forget. Home is the place where all human virtues are born.
26. If we are peaceful, if we are happy, we can smile, and everyone in our family, our entire society, will benefit from our peace. (Thich Nhat Hanh)
Being good with yourself is the key to making others happy.
27. Poverty is having no relatives or friends. (Italian proverb)
Real poverty is lacking meaningful bonds in your life.
28. Rejoice with your family in the beautiful land of life. (Albert Einstein)
Having a good family is the best gift life can offer us.
29. After a good dinner, one can forgive anybody, even one’s own relations. (Oscar Wilde)
Let’s face it, sometimes we have our little differences with parents, grandparents, siblings, cousins, etc… However, one meal is enough to solve everything.
30. Children are the anchors that hold a mother to life. (Sophocles)
This quote from Sophocles about maternal love is a great truth. Little ones are everything to them, and the same can be said of fathers.
31. There is little less trouble in governing a private family than a whole kingdom. (Michel de Montaigne)
Chaotic, noisy, and even unpredictable… The members of a family can be very different, but when there’s harmony, there’s happiness.
32. When I was little, my parents moved from home about ten times. But I always managed to find them. (Woody Allen)
Woody Allen’s humor always makes us laugh and reflect.
33. An elderly person at home is like a living golden treasure. (Chinese proverb)
This is one of those family phrases that always excites us. Having our elders at home is a privilege.
34. A happy family is a long conversation that always seems too short. (Andrè Maurois)
With our loved ones, we always want more, and that’s true.
35. The family is a great institution. Of course, counting that you like living in an institution. (Groucho Marx)
The humor of Groucho Marx is essential in any list of phrases.
36. People who haven’t got any children miss a lot of pleasures, but they also avoid a lot of suffering. (Honoré de Balzac)
Among the best phrases about family, it’s good to note this one by Balzac. In our homes and within our families, we’ll always find comfort and support.
37. Family is a defect from which we do not easily recover. (Herman Hesse)
Yes, in some cases, the family bond may not be enriching. Recovering from this type of experience is always difficult.
38. For the nonviolent person, the whole world is one family. (Gandhi)
When you live with respect and affection, everyone can be a family.
39. Love your parent, if he is just: if not, bear with him. (Publilius Syrus)
The Latin writer Publilius Syrus recommended us in his day to respect our family in any circumstance.
40. The only portion of fortune is family happiness. (Hermann Vierordt)
When our loved ones are well, and there’s harmony, that’s true happiness.
41. A mother’s love for her child is like nothing else in the world. It knows no law, no pity, it dares all things and crushes down remorselessly all that stands in its path. (Agatha Christie)
The love of a mother or father knows no limits or obstacles.
42. If someone were to harm my family or a friend or somebody I love, I would eat them. I might end up in jail for 500 years, but I would eat them. (Johnny Depp)
We don’t know what toppings Johnny Depp would use to devour those who dare to harm his loved ones, but we believe his words.
43. A family is a place where minds come in contact with one another. (Buddha)
Among the best phrases about family, this one from Buddha is inspiring: Family is a set of minds that are connected.
44. Without a family, man, alone in the world, trembles with the cold. (Andre Maurois)
Family is our best shelter.
45. In family life, love is the oil that eases friction, the cement that binds closer together, and the music that brings harmony. (Friedrich Nietzsche)
Family is everything in this life. It soothes, comforts, warms, and heals.
46. The best inheritance a parent can give to his children is a few minutes of their time each day. (M. Grundler)
Time spent with our people is never wasted time; it’s an investment that remains in the heart.
47. Family life contributes greatly to a person’s happiness. Only in a happy home life can total satisfaction be found. (Dorothea S. Koppliln)
Once again, the idea is that your partner, children, parents, siblings, etc. are that enriching fabric that offers satisfaction.
48. Spending time with your loved ones is like being in a dream. (Takura Tsukuba)
When there’s harmony and happiness, sharing life with your loved ones is a dream come true.
49. The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved — loved for ourselves, or rather, loved despite ourselves. ( Victor Hugo)
Among the most important phrases about family, you can’t miss this one. Feeling loved and validated is what gives us true satisfaction.
50. What great fortune, even among men, to be the son of a good father. (Juan Luis Vives)
Nothing could be so true: When we are loved by good parents, we feel happy.
51. There is only one beautiful child in the world and every mother has it. (Jose Marti)
Every father and every mother knows that they have the most beautiful child in the world.
52. A good father is worth a hundred teachers. (Jean-Jacques Rousseau)
The lessons our parents offer us are the best legacy of wisdom.
53. People will not look forward to posterity, and never look backward to their ancestors. (Edmund Burke)
Knowing where we come from allows us to know where we’re going. This is another of the most interesting phrases about family.
54. Family is the homeland of the heart. (Giuseppe Mazzini)
That’s right, our family is a refuge and the home to which it will always be worth returning.
55. A family without a black sheep is not a typical family. (Heinrich Böll)
It’s undeniable. No family is complete without its black sheep.
56. The man to whom God gives no children, the devil gives nieces and nephews. (Venezuelan proverb)
We love family phrases with a touch of humor. Let’s face it, what would become of us without our nieces and nephews?
57. There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort (Jane Austen)
Comfort is love. Where we’re loved, we’ll always feel at home.
58. I know why families were created with all their imperfections. They humanize you. They are made to make you forget yourself occasionally so that the beautiful balance of life is not destroyed. (Anais Nin)
We pointed out at the beginning that no family is perfect, and that makes them more enriching, authentic, and beautiful at the same time.
59. Even if you have a large family, give yourself a personal territory where no one can enter without your permission. (Alejandro Jodorowsky)
Among our favorite phrases about family, this one by Jodorowsky is important: Having your own space in the family environment will contribute to your psychological well-being.
60. There are two things in life you cannot choose. The first is your enemies; the second, is your family. Sometimes the difference between them is hard to see, but in the end, time will show you that the cards you have been dealt could always have been worse. (Carlos Ruiz Zafon)
For better or for worse, family is something that is given to us.
61. We are nothing without our roots, they help us keep our feet firm on the ground. It must be terrible not to know who you are, and of course, we can know that only if we know who our ancestors were. (Julia Navarro)
Our family gives us roots, meaning, origin, and also a place in history.
62. Family is a life jacket in the stormy sea of life. (JK Rowling)
We conclude our list of phrases about family one from J. K Rowling. Remember all those situations in which your family has been that lifeguard in the ocean and also that beacon that reminds you where you’re loved and where your home resides.
