A Trusted Friend in a Complicated World

100 Mom Quotes That Will Make You Want to Call Your Mother

These touching motherhood quotes will warm your heart and make you want to thank your mom for everything she's done for you

Quote On Mom
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Mom quotes that perfectly capture her essence

No matter how old we get, our mother’s love is always going to be meaningful and powerful to us. We know how much we love our moms, but sometimes, Mother’s Day quotes, uplifting quotes or even Mom jokes say how we feel better than our own words can. This year, Mother’s Day falls on Sunday, May 14, and whether you’re lucky enough to still have your mom or you have treasured memories of her, these mom quotes will remind you how much she means.

And to celebrate your specific relationship, check out these great mother-daughter quotes, mother-son quotes and even grandma quotes. You may even be able to use some of these mom quotes as Mother’s Day wishes in this year’s card.

"A mother is not a person to lean on, but a person to make leaning unnecessary."—Dorothy Canfield Fisher
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Inspirational mom quotes

1. “A mother is not a person to lean on, but a person to make leaning unnecessary.” —Dorothy Canfield Fisher

2. “The heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness.” —Honore de Balzac

3. “Youth fades, love droops, the leaves of friendship fall. A mother’s secret hope outlives them all.” —Oliver Wendell Holmes

4. “A mother’s arms are made of tenderness, and children sleep soundly in them.” —Victor Hugo

5. “A mother understands what a child does not say.” —Jewish proverb

6. “There is nothing in the world of art like the songs mother used to sing.” —Billy Sunday

7. “Each day of our lives we make deposits in the memory banks of our children.” —Charles R. Swindoll

8. “The best medicine in the world is a mother’s kiss.” —Anonymous

9. “I realized when you look at your mother, you are looking at the purest love you will ever know.” —Mitch Albom

10. “Having children just puts the whole world into perspective. Everything else just disappears.” —Kate Winslet

11. “The best place to cry is on a mother’s arms.” —Jodi Picoult

12. “I remember my mother’s prayers, and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life.” —Abraham Lincoln

13. “I am sure that if the mothers of various nations could meet, there would be no more wars.” —E.M. Forster

14. “A mother is she who can take the place of all others but whose place no one else can take.” —Cardinal Meymillod

15. “Only mothers can think of the future because they give birth to it in their children.” —Maxim Gorky

16. “Mother is one to whom you hurry when you are troubled.” —Emily Dickinson

17. “I can imagine no heroism greater than motherhood.” —Lance Conrad

18. “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

19. “A mother is the truest friend we have when trials, heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity.” —Washington Irving

20. “The mother’s heart is the child’s schoolroom.” —Henry Ward Beecher

Use one of these quotes as a meaningful addition to your printable Mother’s Day card.

"The natural state of motherhood is unselfishness. When you become a mother, you are no longer the center of your own universe. You relinquish that position to your children."—Jessica Lange
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Strong mom quotes

21. “The natural state of motherhood is unselfishness. When you become a mother, you are no longer the center of your own universe. You relinquish that position to your children.” —Jessica Lange

22. “Mother love is the fuel that enables a normal human being to do the impossible.” —Marion C. Garretty

23. “My favorite thing about being a mom is just what a better person it makes you on a daily basis.” —Drew Barrymore

24. “My mother was my role model before I even knew what that word was.” —Lisa Leslie

25. “I believe the choice to become a mother is the choice to become one of the greatest spiritual teachers there is.” —Oprah

26. “If you’re a mom, you’re a superhero. Period.” —Rosie Pope

27. “There is no influence so powerful as that of the mother.” —Sara Josepha Hale

28. “When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child.” —Sophia Loren

29. “My mother’s love has always been a sustaining force for our family, and one of my greatest joys is seeing her integrity, her compassion, her intelligence reflected in my daughters.” —Michelle Obama

30. “Being a full-time mother is one of the highest-salaried jobs, since the payment is pure love.” Mildred B. Vermont

31. “At the end of the day, my most important job is still mom-in-chief.” —Michelle Obama

32. “The world needs our mothers.” —Liya Kebede

33. “The phrase ’working mother’ is redundant.” —Jane Sellman

34. “No language can express the power and beauty and heroism of a mother’s love.” —Edwin Hubbel Chapin

35. “Mother is a verb, not a noun.” —Shonda Rhimes

36. “Sometimes the strength of motherhood is greater than natural laws.” —Barbara Kingsolver

If you’re looking for more mom quotes, check out these inspiring quotes for women that perfectly describe her.

"Mother, the ribbons of your love are woven around my heart."—Anonymous
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Mother’s Day quotes

37. “Mother, the ribbons of your love are woven around my heart.” —Anonymous

38. “We are born of love; love is our mother.” —Rumi

39. “A mother is your first friend, your best friend, your forever friend.” —Unknown

40. “To describe my mother would be to write about a hurricane in its perfect power.” —Maya Angelou 

41. “A mother is the one who fills your heart in the first place.” Amy Tan

42. “If love is as sweet as a flower, then my mother is that sweet flower of love.” Stevie Wonder

43. “God could not be everywhere, and therefore he made mothers.” —Rudyard Kipling

44. “There is no role in life that is more essential than that of motherhood.” —Elder M. Russell Ballard

45. “Mother is a verb. It’s something you do, not just who you are.” —Dorothy Canfield Fisher

46. “Mothers possess a power beyond that of a king on his throne.” —Mabel Hale

47. “Mothers are like glue. Even when you can’t see them, they’re still holding the family together.” Susan Gale

48. “A mother’s love is more beautiful than any fresh flower.” —Debasish Mridha

49. “Mother—that was the bank where we deposited all our hurts and worries.” —T. Dewitt Talmage

If you haven’t picked up the phone to call your mom yet, these Mother’s Day stories may make you want to do that.

"I want my children to have all the things I couldn't afford. Then I want to move in with them."—Phyllis Diller
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Funny mom quotes

50. “I want my children to have all the things I couldn’t afford. Then I want to move in with them.”—Phyllis Diller

51. “It’s a funny thing about mothers and fathers. Even when their own child is the most disgusting little blister you could ever imagine, they still think that he or she is wonderful.” —Roald Dahl

52. “May your coffee be stronger than your toddler.” —Unknown

53. “In the end, mothers are always right. No one else tells the truth.” —Randy Susan Meyers

54. “Any mother could perform the jobs of several air-traffic controllers with ease.” —Lisa Alther

55. “Everybody wants to save the Earth; nobody wants to help Mom do the dishes.” —P.J. O’Rourke

56. “It just occurred to me that the majority of my diet is made up of food that my kid didn’t finish …” —Carrie Underwood

57. “Life doesn’t come with a manual, it comes with a mother.” —Unknown

58. “Insanity is hereditary; you get it from your children.” —Sam Levenson

59. “My sister said once: ‘Anything I don’t want Mother to know, I don’t even think of if she’s in the room.'” —Agatha Christie

60. “If evolution really works, how come mothers only have two hands?” —Milton Berle

61. “A mother is a person who, seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie.” —Tenneva Jordan

62. “When your mother asks, ‘Do you want a piece of advice?’ it’s a mere formality. It doesn’t matter if you answer yes or no. You’re going to get it anyway.” —Erma Bombeck

63. “Ah, babies! They’re more than just adorable little creatures on whom you can blame your farts.” —Tina Fey

64. “Silence is golden. Unless you have kids. Then silence is just suspicious.” —Unknown

65. “The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for 30 years she served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found.” —Calvin Trillin

66. “Having children is like living in a frat house. Nobody sleeps, everything’s broken and there’s a lot of throwing up.” —Ray Romano

67. “Now, as always, the most automated appliance in a household is the mother.” —Beverley Jones

68. “The best way to keep children at home is to make the home atmosphere pleasant, and let the air out of the tires.” —Dorothy Parker

69. “Ma-ma does everything for the baby, who responds by saying Da-da first.” —Mignon McLaughlin

If you’re trying to brainstorm some Mother’s Day ideas for this year, try making her laugh.

"Life began with waking up and loving my mother's face."—George Eliot
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New mom quotes

70. “Life began with waking up and loving my mother’s face.” —George Eliot

71. “Motherhood is the greatest thing and the hardest thing.” —Ricki Lake

72. “Motherhood has a very humanizing effect. Everything gets reduced to essentials.” —Meryl Streep

73. “Motherhood changes everything.” —Adriana Trigiani

74. “My daughter introduced me to myself.” —Beyoncé Knowles

75. “A baby fills a place in your heart that you never knew was empty.” —Unknown

76. “Why don’t kids understand that their nap is not for them but for us?” —Alyson Hannigan

77. “You don’t take a class; you’re thrown into motherhood and learn from experience.” —Jennie Finch

78. “Sleep at this point is just a concept, something I’m looking forward to investigating in the future.” —Amy Schumer

79. “You’re always going to wonder if you’re doing things wrong, but that’s what it means to be a mom, to care so much about someone else that you just want to be perfect as possible.” —Naya Rivera

80. “There are places in the heart you don’t even know exist until you love a child.” —Anne Lamott

If these mom quotes are making you emotional, these Mother’s Day poems will make your heart melt.

Quote on single mothers
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Single mom quotes

81. “Being a mama can be tough, but always remember, in the eyes of your child, no one does it better than you.” —Unknown

82. “Being a single parent is twice the work, twice the stress and twice the tears but also twice the hugs, twice the love and twice the pride.” —Unknown

83. “I value so many people who have to work full-time, definitely single mothers. Their work is the hardest work. I applaud it so much.” —Molly Sims

84. “There’s no way to be a perfect mother and a million ways to be a good one.” —Jill Churchill

85. “Being a mother is learning about strengths you didn’t know you had.” —Linda Wooten

86. “I think it’s really important for every mother to find their own way.” —Solange Knowles

87. “I want to show the example that you can be a single mother and work and handle a lot of other things at the same time.” —Christina Milian

88. “Being raised by a single mother, I learned to appreciate and value independent women.” —Kenny Conley

If you’re looking for something to do this Mother’s Day, these mom movies will make for a sweet marathon.

Quote On Missing Mom
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Missing mom quotes

89. “I love you every day. And now, I will miss you every day.” —Mitch Albom

90. “If I had a single flower for every time I think of you, I could walk forever in my garden.” —Claudia Gandhi

91. “There are no goodbyes, wherever you are, you will always be in my heart.” —Mahatma Gandhi

92. “No daughter and mother should ever live apart, no matter what the distance between them.” —Christie Watson

93. “No matter what age … I’ll always need you, mom.­” —Unknown

94. “My mother is a never-ending song in my heart of comfort, happiness and being. I may sometimes forget the words, but I always remember the tune.” —Graycie Harmon

95. “Those we love and lose are always connected by heartstrings into infinity.” —Terri Guillemets

96. “Mothers hold their children’s hands for a while, but their hearts forever.” —Unknown 

97. “A mom’s hug lasts long after she lets go.” —Unknown

98. “Those we love don’t go away, they sit beside us every day.” —Liane Moriarty

99. “There is no death, daughter. People die only when we forget them.” —Isabel Allende

100. “Death ends a life, not a relationship.” —Jack Lemmon

Now that you know all the best mom quotes, pair them with one of these Mother’s Day gifts to show your appreciation.