April 22, 2022
125 Perfect Mother’s Day Quotes
While we should be thankful for our mothers every day, Mother’s Day is the perfect opportunity to show our moms how much we love and appreciate them. Whether the mommy you want to celebrate is your own or someone else’s, a new mom or a grandmother, a mom who appreciates a good joke or a mom to a fur baby – let’s make sure to wish all of them a Happy Mother’s Day this year!
Sometimes it can be difficult to find the right words to show gratitude. Why struggle? Someone else has probably already said exactly what you want to say. We have curated a list of 125 Mother’s Day Quotes for all kinds of mothers and are sure you’ll find the perfect quote for the woman you want to celebrate. All you’ll have to do is add a personal touch.
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A hand-written note, her favorite chocolates or even a lavish bouquet of Mother’s Day flowers are all ways to show your gratitude and make sure the mother you are thinking of has an amazing day!
If you’ve tried penning a sweet note to mom, but are having trouble finding the right words to express your sentiments, take a look below. There are quotes by comedians, celebrities, religious luminaries, cherished poets, novelists, and just about everyone one in between. Find the quote that speaks to your heart, and pair it with a thoughtful gift like chocolate-covered strawberries, or one of her favorite blooming plants.
Whether you show mom your love and gratitude by hosting a celebratory meal, or sending a vase of colorful flowers, she is sure to appreciate one of these poignant Mother’s Day quotes.
Short Mother’s Day Quotes
Sometimes it’s best to keep it short and sweet. Any of these quotes are short enough to fit into a text message or Instagram caption!
“Sooner or later we all quote our mothers.” — Bern Williams
“A mother’s love endures through all.” — Washington Irving
“Life doesn’t come with a manual. It comes with a mother.” — unknown
“Life began with waking up and loving my mother’s face.” — George Eliot
“Mothers are like buttons. They hold everything together.” — unknown
“Mother: the most beautiful word on the lips of mankind.” — Kahil Gibran
“Mothers hold their children’s hands for a short while, but their hearts forever.” — unknown
“If love is as sweet as a flower, then my mother is that sweet flower of love.” — Stevie Wonder
“Motherhood: All love begins and ends there.” — Robert Browning
“A mother understands what a child does not say.” — Jewish Proverb
“Don’t poets know it better than others? God can’t always be everywhere: and, so, invented mothers.” — Sir Edwin Arnold
“Mother’s love is peace. It need not be acquired, it need not be deserved.” — Erich Fromm
“I can imagine no heroism greater than motherhood.” — Lance Conrad
“A mother is the one who fills your heart in the first place.” — Amy Tan
“All I am I owe to my mother.” — George Washington
“A mother’s hug lasts long after she lets go.” — unknown
“The natural state of motherhood is unselfishness.” — Jessica Lange
“We are born of love; Love is our mother.” — Rumi
For First Time Moms
New parents deserve all the appreciation and recognition in the world. Show a first time mom that you care about her with one of these quotes and maybe a pretty bouquet to celebrate her newborn!
“Mothers and their children are in a category all their own. There’s no bond so strong in the entire world. No love so instantaneous and forgiving.” — Gail Tsukiyama
“There’s no way to be a perfect mother and a million ways to be a good one.” — Jill Churchill
“Being a mother is learning about strengths you didn’t know you had.” — Linda Wooten
“When you are a mother you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother thinks twice, once for herself and once for her child.” — Sophia Loren
“The days are long, but the years are short.” — Gretchen Rubin
“A mother’s love for her child is like nothing else in the world. It knows no law, no pity, it dates all things and crushes down remorselessly all that stands in its path.” — Agatha Christie
“My mother was my role model before I even knew what that word was.” — Lisa Leslie
“Once you’re a mom, you’re always a mom. It’s like riding a bike, you never forget.” — Taraji P. Henson
“A mother’s love is more beautiful than any fresh flower.” — Debasish Mridha
“There is such a special sweetness in being able to participate in creation.” — Pamela S. Nadav
“You never understand life until it grows inside of you.” — Sandra C. Kassis
“The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new.” — Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh
For Moms of Many
Many kids equal a lot of joy – and chaos. Give a mom a break with one of these quotes that will make her feel appreciated for all the stress she is putting herself through to be a great mother to her children.
“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
“There’s nothing like your mother’s sympathetic voice to make you want to burst into tears.” — Sophie Kinsella
“Mothers are like glue. Even when you can’t see them, they’re still holding the family together.” — Susan Gale
“The best way to make children good is to make them happy.” — Oscar Wilde
“A mother is she who can take the place of all others but whose place no one else can take.” — Cardinal Meymillod
“If at first you don’t succeed, try doing it the way mom told you to in the beginning.” — unknown
“To describe my mother would be to write about a hurricane in its perfect power.” — Maya Angelou
“The soul is healed by being with children.” — Fyodor Dostoevsky
For Working Moms
Even the busiest moms will be grateful for an opportunity to sit down and read a thoughtful Mother’s Day card. Let one of the following quotes speak to her.
“If evolution really works, how come mothers only have two hands?” — Milton Berle
“The phrase ‘working mother’ is redundant.” — Jane Sellman
“That’s the wonderful thing about mothers: you can because you must, and you just do.” — Kate Winslet
“Sometimes the strength of motherhood is greater than natural laws.” — Barbara Kingsolver
“If you’ve never been hated by your child, you’ve never been a parent.” — Bette Davis
“A mom is like a teabag. You can’t tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water.” — Eleanor Roosevelt
“Behind every great kid is a mom who is pretty sure she is screwing it up.” — unknown
For Stay at Home Moms
Stay at home mothers are usually thankful for any kind of interaction with an adult. Give her a hand on Mother’s Day and maybe a card with a quote that is a little more sophisticated than the love letters her six-year-old writes for her.
“There is no role in life that is more essential than that of motherhood.” — Elder M. Russel Ballard
“Mother is a verb. It’s something you do. Not just who you are.” — Dorothy Canfield Fisher
“The mother’s heart is the child’s schoolroom.” — Henry Ward Beecher
“Being a full-time mother is one of the highest salaried jobs, since the payment is pure love.” — Mildred Vermont
“Motherhood is the exquisite inconvenience of being another person’s everything.” — unknown
“What greater aspiration and challenge are there for a mother than the hope of raising a great son or daughter?” — Rose Kennedy
“Kids don’t stay with you if you do it right. It’s the one job where, the better you are, the more surely you won’t be needed in the long run.” — Barbara Kingsolver
For Moms of Daughters
The bonds between mothers and daughters are often mysterious. As much as they may fight and disagree on things, they will always have a special connection few outsiders can understand.
“A mother is a daughter’s first best friend.” — unknown
“As my mother always said: ‘You’d rather have my smile lines that frown lines’” — Cindy Crawford
“Teach your daughter to worry less about fitting into the glass slippers and more about shattering the glass ceilings.” — unknown
“By the time a woman realizes her mother was right, she has a daughter who thinks she’s wrong.” — unknown
“Mother is one to whom you hurry when you are troubled.” — Emily Dickinson
For Moms of Sons
He may deny it in front of others but a son will always be his mother’s little boy. These quotes perfectly reflect the beautiful and sometimes difficult relationship between mothers and sons.
“My mother has a great deal of trouble with me, but I think she enjoyed it.” — Mark Twain
“All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That’s his.” — Oscar Wilde
“Mother — that was the bank where we deposited all our hurts and worries.” — T. Dewitt Talmage
“A man loves his sweetheart the most, his wife the best, but his mother the longest.” — Irish Proverb
“A mother’s love doesn’t make her son more dependent and timid; it actually makes him stronger and more independent.” — Cheri Fuller
For Moms of Moms
What do you call your grandmother? Grandma, Nana, Nonna, Grammy? Regardless of how you address her, she will certainly appreciate a thoughtful Mother’s Day quote.
“I realized when you look at your mother, you are looking at the purest love you will ever know.” — Mitch Albom
“The influence of a mother in the lives of her children is beyond calculation.” — James E. Faust
“Youth fades; love droops; the leaves of friendship fall; A mother’s secret hope outlives them all.” — Oliver Wendell Holmes
“The older you get, the more you need people who knew you when you were young.” — Mary Schmich
“Only an aunt can give hugs like a mother, keep secrets like a sister and share love like a friend.” — unknown
“An aunt is a safe haven for a child. Someone who will keep your secrets and is always on your side.” — Sara Sheridan
“We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude.” — Cynthia Ozick
“The best aunts aren’t substitute parents, they’re co-conspirators.” — Daryl Gregory
“Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.” — Marcel Proust
“An aunt is someone special to remember with warmth, think of with pride, and cherish with love.” — unknown
“Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation of all abundance.” — Eckhart Tolle
A mom does not have to be your biological mother. Mother figures come in all shapes and sizes. Whether they be your aunt, your godmother or your stepmom, even your mother-in-law can become someone special in your life that you want to show your gratitude to on this special day.
For Honorary Moms
“I think in a lot of ways unconditional love is a myth. My mom’s the only reason I know it’s a real thing.” — Conor Oberst
“I can only hope to be 10% of the mom mine was to me.” — Charlize Theron
“It may be possible to gild pure gold, but who can make his mother more beautiful?” — Mahatma Gandhi
“My mother: She is beautiful, softened at the edges and tempered with a spine of steel. I want to grow old and be like her.” — Jodi Picoult
“I look back on my childhood and thank the stars above. For everything you gave me, but mostly for your love.” — Wayne F. Winters
“Aunt — a double blessing. You love like a parent and act like a friend.” — unknown
“It’s not where you are in life, it’s who you have by your side that matters.” — unknown
“An aunt is very special. She’s considerate and kind. She’s thoughtful of others and loved a lot each day throughout the year.” — unknown
“What seems insignificant when you have it is important when you need it.” — Franz Grillparzer
For Pet Moms
Just because someone’s child has four legs and a furry coat, doesn’t mean this person is any less of a mom! Caring for a dog or a cat can be its very own kind of motherhood, with rewarding, stressful, annoying and precious moments throughout. Like all other mothers, pet moms too deserve a thoughtful Mother’s Day card with a quote that fits them and their baby. And if you really want to spoil the pet mom you so love, send her a gift box of gourmet Mother’s Day chocolate or a Pet Friendly Plant.
“Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.” — Roger Caras
“Time spent with cats is never wasted.” — Sigmund Freud
“A dog is like a person — he needs a job and a family to be what he’s meant to be.” — Andrew Vachss
“Are cats strange animals or do they so resemble us that we find them curious as we do monkeys?” — John Steinbeck
“Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.” — Anatole France
“Dogs do speak but only to those who know how to listen.” — Orhan Pamuk
“It is amazing how much love and laughter they bring into our lives and even how much closer we become with each other because of them.” — John Grogan
“A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself.” — Josh Billings
“What greater gift than the love of a cat.” — Charles Dickens
“I love cats because I enjoy my home; and little by little, they become its visible soul.” — Jean Cocteau
“Dogs are like that, I guess — they know how to fix you without ever saying a word.” — Caroline George
“Dogs have a way of finding the people who need them, and filling the emptiness we didn’t even know we had.” — Thom Jones
“There are few things in life more heartwarming than to be welcomed by a cat.” — Tay Hohoff
“Everyone thinks they have the best dog and none of them are wrong.” — W.R. Purche
Funny Mother’s Day Quotes
We’ve all heard our fair share of dad jokes but who’s to say that moms aren’t funny? After all, they are the ones that put on the fake laugh when your father tells another one of his silly puns. For all the hilarious moms out there, these are the perfect Mother’s Day quotes!
“Nothing is really lost until your mom can’t find it.” — unknown
“My mother’s menu consisted of two choices: Take it or leave it.” — Buddy Hackett
“Children are great comfort in your old age — and they help you reach it faster, too.” — Lionel Kauffman
“It is never easy being a mother. If it were easy, fathers would do it.” — Betty White
“I want my children to have all the things I couldn’t afford. Then, I want to move in with them.” — Phyllis Diller
“Mothers don’t sleep. They just worry with their eyes closed.” — unknown
“A mom forgives us all our faults, not to mention one or two we don’t even have.” — Robert Brault
“There is only one pretty child in the world, and every mother has it.” — Chinese Proverb
“I always say if you aren’t yelling at your kids, you’re not spending enough time with them.” — Reese Witherspoon
“A mother is the person you can always call to see how long chicken lasts in the fridge” — unknown
“Insantiy is hereditary; you get it from your children!” — Sam Levenson
“Setting a good example for your children takes all the fun out of middle age.” — William Feather
“Motherhood: Feeding them as a baby and then throughout most of their twenties.” — unknown
“The one thing children wear out faster than shoes is parents.” — John J. Plomp
“Ma-ma does everything for the baby, who responds by saying Da-da first.” — Mignon McLaughlin
“Mothers of teens know why some animals eat their young.” — unknown
“The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found.” — Calvin Trillin
“Sweater, n.: garment worn by child when its mother is feeling chilly.” — Ambrose Bierce
Inspirational Mother’s Day Quotes
If all else fails, consider a classic. Inspirational quotes will touch the heart of the woman you’re addressing and make her feel special on Mother’s Day.
“There is nothing as sincere as a mother’s kiss.” — Saleem Sharma
“Motherhood is the biggest gamble in the world. It is the glorious life force. It’s huge and scary — it’s an act of infinite optimism.” — Gilda Radner
“Everything I am, you helped me to be.” — unknown
“All that I am, or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.” — Abraham Lincoln
“The heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness.” — Honoré de Balzac
“Acceptance, tolerance, bravery, compassion. These are the things my mom taught me.” — Lady Gaga
“Mother love is the fuel that enables a normal human being to do the impossible.” — Marion C. Garretty
“No language can express the power and beauty and heroism of a mother’s love.” — Edwin Chapin
“A mother’s arms are more comforting than anyone else’s.” — Princess Diana
“The art of mothering is to teach the art of living to children.” — Elaine Heffner
“My mother taught me about the power of inspiration and courage, and she did it with a strength and a passion that I wish could be bottled.” — Carly Fiorina
Finding the right words doesn’t have to be a struggle. As long as you know where to find inspiration, you’ll be just fine. Write the quote on a greeting card, or try some beautiful calligraphy on a canvas to immortalize your favorite quote on your mom’s nightstand. If you want to go all out, maybe write down or recite a Mother’s Day poem that shows your mom how much you love her. However you choose to show the mother your love, never underestimate the language of flowers – a beautiful bouquet of Mother’s Day roses will say it all.
Celebrate Mother’s Day 2025
Here in the U.S., Mother's Day is always celebrated the second Sunday of May. This year, the holiday falls on Sunday, May 11th. That is just a few short weeks away! Haven’t put much thought yet into Mother’s Day gifts? We are here to help! At Proflowers, you will find the best selection of gift ideas for the mother figure in your life. From gorgeous Mother’s Day plants to spring-fresh arrangements of Mother’s Day tulips, you will be spoiled for choice.
Mother’s Day traditions run deep in many households, whether it’s taking mom out to a fancy restaurant for dinner, or planning a special in-person visit for children who don’t live nearby. Those who are able to visit their moms typically bring a card and flowers, such as Mother’s Day lilies or red carnations.
A lot of families will celebrate this national holiday by cooking mom her favorite breakfast, and then serving it to her in bed. The goal is to pamper mom and take care of all the household chores that she unfailingly performs. On the second Sunday of May, mothers around the country are given a much-needed break from their day-to-day activities. It is a day for mom to relax, spend quality time with her family, and have the luxury of indulging in what they love most. For some mothers, that means planting wildflowers in the garden, while others would appreciate a soothing massage at their local spa. For the busy mom whose always on the run, treat her to some alone time to catch up on her favorite TV series or novels.
Celebrate a mother’s love with the perfect gift. Shop all flowers today!