60 Beautiful Mother-Daughter Quotes That Will Stay with You
Updated: May 10, 2023
Sometimes, it's difficult to explain the relationship you have with your mom—but these mother-daughter quotes sum it up perfectly
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Share these mother-daughter quotes with the most important woman in your life
The connection between mother and daughter is one of the most complex—but rewarding—relationships in the universe. Mother-daughter relationships aren’t always easy, and, of course, some are more complicated than others. Hopefully, she is the shelter in any emotional storm, the one who lifts you up and makes you laugh, and the one who will always be there for you. As Mother’s Day approaches, you may worry about what Mother’s Day gifts to get, or which Mother’s Day quotes to put in a card. To help you tell Mom how you feel, try these brilliant mother-daughter quotes that capture the beautiful bond you two share.
These quotes about moms, daughters and the relationships they share are inspiring, beautiful and hilarious. Feel free to use them as meaningful Mother’s Day wishes; after all, writing sweet words about your bond is one of the simplest, but best, gifts you can give your mom. If you’re looking for Mother’s Day ideas, these quotes are a good start.
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Funny mother-daughter quotes
1. “Of all the haunting moments of motherhood, few rank with hearing your own words come out of your daughter’s mouth.” —Victoria Secunda
2. “Mother-daughter disagreements were, in hindsight, basically mother stating the truth and daughter taking her own sweet time coming around.” —Barbara Delinsky
3. “Yes, it’s quite amazing how I continue to shock my mother, even after all these years together.” —Eloisa James
4. “My mom is literally a part of me. You can’t say that about many people except relatives and organ donors.” —Carrie Latet
5. “By the time you realize your mother was right, you have a daughter who thinks that you’re wrong.” —
6. “When your mother asks, ‘Do you want a piece of advice?’ it is a mere formality. It doesn’t matter if you answer yes or no. You’re going to get it anyway.” —Erma Bombeck
7. “A daughter is a treasure and a cause of sleeplessness.” —Ben Sirach
8. “Just do everything we didn’t do and you will be perfectly safe.” —F. Scott Fitzgerald
9. “I keep seeing myself in my daughter, and I see my mother in me and in her. Bloody hell.” —Julie Walters
10. “I’m going to see my mom. She’s a big mucky-muck in the county school system. She’s my hero. How do I explain her? She is as respected as Mother Theresa, as powerful as Stalin and as beautiful as Margaret Thatcher.” —Leslie Knope, Parks and Recreation
11. “My mother had a great deal of trouble with me, but I think she enjoyed it.” —Mark Twain
12. “As long as a woman can look 10 years younger than her own daughter, she is perfectly satisfied.” —Oscar Wilde
13. “When we weren’t scratching each other’s eyes out, we were making each other laugh harder than anyone else could.” —Lucie Arnaz
14. “Raising kids is part joy and part guerrilla warfare.” —Ed Asner
15. “The child supplies the power but the parents have to do the steering.” —Benjamin Spock
If you’re looking for more laughs, these funny quotes and mom jokes are guaranteed to get a chuckle.
Inspiring mother-daughter quotes
16. “My mother shed her protective love down around me, and without knowing why, people sensed that I had value.” —Maya Angelou, Mom & Me & Mom
17. “My mother told me two things constantly. One was to be a lady, and the other was to be independent.” —Ruth Bader Ginsburg
18. “I tell my daughter every morning, ‘Now, what are the two most important parts of you?’ And she says, ‘My head and my heart.'” —Viola Davis
19. “Maybe I stepped into the skin my mother left behind and became the girl my mother had been, the one she still wanted to be.” —Laura Kasischke, White Bird in a Blizzard
20. “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
21. “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
22. “If you want to understand any woman, you must first ask about her mother and then listen carefully.” —Anita Diamant, The Red Tent
23. “My mom is a strong-willed lady. She taught me to believe in myself no matter what anybody else said.” —Tracey Edmonds
24. “My mom taught me a woman’s mind should be the most beautiful part of her.” —Sonya Teclai
25. “Children are the anchors that hold a mother to life.” —Sophocles
26. “In search of my mother’s garden, I found my own.” —Alice Walker
27. “My doctor told me I would never walk again. My mother told me I would. I believed my mother.” —Wilma Rudolph
28. “The older I get, the more I see the power of that young woman, my mother.” —Sharon Olds
29. “Maybe mom is my alter ego and the woman I’m able to be when I’m working.” —Mary Tyler Moore
30. “Youth fades, love droops, the leaves of friendship fall; A mother’s secret hope outlives them all.” —Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.
Need more inspiration? These strong women quotes will do just the trick.
Sweet mother-daughter quotes
31. “Mother was comfort. Mother was home.” —Ruta Sepetys, Salt to the Sea
32. “When I had my children and I felt that type of love, which I know you understand and every mom out there understands … that there is an unconditional love.” —Jennifer Lopez
33. “God couldn’t be everywhere, so that is why he invented mothers.” —Diane Keaton, Because I Said So
34. “My mother was my first country, the first place I ever lived.” —Nayyirah Waheed
35. “A mother is one to whom you hurry when you are troubled.” —Emily Dickinson
36. “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
37. “It is so nice to come home and have solitude with me and my daughter.” —Mindy Kaling
38. “A mother understands what a child does not say.” —Jewish proverb
39. “A mother’s arms are more comforting than anyone else’s.” —Princess Diana
40. “The heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness.” —Honore de Balzac
41. “The mother’s heart is the child’s schoolroom.” —Henry Ward Beecher
42. “You are your child’s keeper until she’s mature enough to keep herself.” —Laura Ramirez
43. “Mother’s love is peace. It need not be acquired, it need not be deserved.” —Erich FrommÂ
44. “Once, I was my mother’s daughter. Now I am my daughter’s mother.” —L
45. “In the wild, an elephant mother and daughter stay in close proximity their whole lives; I hope I am that lucky.” —
For more sweetness, read these heartwarming Mother’s Day stories and Mother’s Day poems.
Mother-daughter quotes about their relationship
46. “One of the most important relationships we’ll have is the relationship we have with our mothers.” —Iyanla Vanzant
47. “A mom is a daughter’s first friend. And through life, becomes her best friend.” —Vicki Reece
48. “As mothers and daughters, we are connected with one another. My mother is the bones of my spine, keeping me straight and true. She is my blood, making sure it runs rich and strong. She is the beating of my heart. I cannot now imagine a life without her.” —Kristin Hannah
49. “The bond between a mother and her child is the only real and purest bond in the world, the only true love we can ever find in our lifetime.” —Ama H. Vanniarachchy
50. “Even as a small child, I understood that women had secrets, and that some of these were only to be told to daughters. In this way we were bound together for eternity.” —Alice Hoffman, The Dovekeepers
51. “There were times, in middle school and junior high, I didn’t have a lot of friends. But my mom was always my friend. Always.” —Taylor Swift
52. “Your arms were always open when I needed a hug. Your heart understood when I needed a friend. Your gentle eyes were stern when I needed a lesson. Your strength and love have guided me and given me wings to fly.” —Sarah Malin
53. “Our daughters are the most precious of our treasures, the dearest possessions of our homes, and the objects of our most watchful love.” —Margaret Elizabeth Sangster
54. “A daughter became a clearer reflection of her mother with time.” —
55. “You make me merry, dear daughter.” —The Life List
56. “I grew up in a makeup chair. And to see the women around me getting ready was so aspirational. It’s about mothers and daughters, a girl watching her mom at a vanity table.” —Drew Barrymore
57. “I love our daughters more than anything in the world—more than life itself. And while that may not be the first thing that some folks want to hear from an Ivy-league-educated lawyer, it is truly who I am.” —Michelle Obama
58. “The more a daughter knows the details of her mother’s life … the stronger the daughter.” —Anita Diamant, The Red Tent
59. “From the time she was born, until she was 15, I didn’t know where I left off and she began. We were joined at the hip or the heart or the brain.” —Lee Grant
60. “The mother-daughter relationship is the most complex.” —Wynonna Judd
Additional research by Kelly Kuehn.
