The 45 Best Mother’s Day Quotes That Celebrate the Joys and Trials of Motherhood

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Published May 10, 2023

It’s safe to say we probably aren’t giving moms enough credit for all they do—which is a lot. They’re tantrum managers and expert negotiators. They always seem to know where to find the wayward homework assignment, orange peel, sock and lost stuffie. Mothers often run on little sleep, all while wondering if they might be the next Popcorn Mom. In short, they deserve to be celebrated, especially on Mother’s Day. (But really, every day.) So in addition to that fancy Mother’s Day brunch you’re whipping up, plus a cute gift from the kids, here are 45 of the best Mother’s Day quotes for the card. Featuring lines both silly and serious from celebrities, writers and other notables, these words encapsulate the joys and trials of motherhood. Thanks, Mom.

best mother's day quotes: “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

1. “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

best mother's day quotes: “Mother is the name for God in the lips and hearts of little children.” — William Makepeace Thackeray

2. “Mother is the name for God in the lips and hearts of little children.” — William Makepeace Thackeray

best mother's day quotes: “The influence of a mother in the lives of her children is beyond calculation.” — James E. Faust

3. “The influence of a mother in the lives of her children is beyond calculation.” — James E. Faust

best mother's day quotes: “Youth fades; love droops; the leaves of friendship fall; A mother’s secret hope outlives them all.” — Oliver Wendell Holmes

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

best mother's day quotes: “My mother was my role model before I even knew what that word was.” — Lisa Leslie

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

best mother's day quotes: “No one told me I would be coming home in diapers too.” — Chrissy Teigen

6. “No one told me I would be coming home in diapers too.” — Chrissy Teigen

best mother's day quotes: “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

7. “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

best mother's day quotes: “When my kids become wild and unruly, I use a nice, safe playpen. When they’re finished, I climb out.” — Erma Bombeck

8. “When my kids become wild and unruly, I use a nice, safe playpen. When they’re finished, I climb out.” — Erma Bombeck

best mother's day quotes: “I can’t tell the difference between Kidz Bop and the real songs. My brain is dead.”— Chrissy Teigen

9. “I can’t tell the difference between Kidz Bop and the real songs. My brain is dead.”— Chrissy Teigen

best mother's day quotes: “Most mothers are instinctive philosophers.” — Harriet Beecher Stowe

10. “Most mothers are instinctive philosophers.” — Harriet Beecher Stowe

best mother's day quotes: “Once you’re a mom, you’re always a mom. It’s like riding a bike, you never forget.” — Taraji P. Henson

11. “Once you’re a mom, you’re always a mom. It’s like riding a bike, you never forget.” — Taraji P. Henson

best mother's day quotes: “I don’t think empathy is something you can drill in someone’s head. You have to have faith that while your kids can seem to be selfish and concerned only about the word ‘mine’ sometimes, overall, they are watching you really carefully. And if you care about other people, they will too.” — Jennifer Garner

12. “I don’t think empathy is something you can drill in someone’s head. You have to have faith that while your kids can seem to be selfish and concerned only about the word ‘mine’ sometimes, overall, they are watching you really carefully. And if you care about other people, they will too.” — Jennifer Garner

best mother's day quotes: “Over the years I have learned that motherhood is much like an austere religious order, the joining of which obligates one to relinquish all claims to personal possessions.” — Nancy Stahl

13. “Over the years I have learned that motherhood is much like an austere religious order, the joining of which obligates one to relinquish all claims to personal possessions.” — Nancy Stahl

best mother's day quotes: “If your kids are giving you a headache, follow the directions on the aspirin bottle, especially the part that says, ‘keep away from children’.” — Susan Savannah

14. “If your kids are giving you a headache, follow the directions on the aspirin bottle, especially the part that says, ‘keep away from children’.” — Susan Savannah

best mother's day quotes: “I think every working mom probably feels the same thing: You go through big chunks of time where you’re just thinking, ‘This is impossible—oh, this is impossible.’ And then you just keep going and keep going and you sort of do the impossible.” — Tina Fey

15. “I think every working mom probably feels the same thing: You go through big chunks of time where you’re just thinking, ‘This is impossible—oh, this is impossible.’ And then you just keep going and keep going and you sort of do the impossible.” — Tina Fey

best mother's day quotes: “A mother’s arms are more comforting than anyone else’s.” — Princess Diana

16. “A mother’s arms are more comforting than anyone else’s.” — Princess Diana

best mother's day quotes: “I can be covered in spit-up on a conference call while I’m pumping and that's ok because this is my perfect. It may not be somebody else’s, but this is mine.” — Kerry Washington

17. “I can be covered in spit-up on a conference call while I’m pumping and that's ok because this is my perfect. It may not be somebody else’s, but this is mine.” — Kerry Washington

best mother's day quotes: “Maybe it’s just a daughter’s job to piss off her mother.” — Chuck Palahniuk, Diary

18. “Maybe it’s just a daughter’s job to piss off her mother.” — Chuck Palahniuk, Diary

19. “I always say if you aren’t yelling at your kids, you’re not spending enough time with them.” — Reese Witherspoon

20. “Mother: the most beautiful word on the lips of mankind.” — Kahil Gibran

best mother's day quotes: “Honey, I’m your mother. It’s my job to strong-arm people into seeing how amazing you are.” — Beverly Goldberg from The Goldberg

21. “Honey, I’m your mother. It’s my job to strong-arm people into seeing how amazing you are.” — Beverly Goldberg from The Goldbergs

best mother's day quotes: “I want my children to have all the things I couldn’t afford. Then I want to move in with them.” — Phyllis Diller

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

best mother's day quotes: “It may be possible to gild pure gold, but who can make his mother more beautiful?” — Mahatma Gandhi

23. “It may be possible to gild pure gold, but who can make his mother more beautiful?” — Mahatma Gandhi

best mother's day quotes: “Parenting is f**king hard.” — Adele

24. “Parenting is f**king hard.” — Adele

best mother's day quotes: “She taught me that fear is not an option.” — Diane Von Furstenberg

25. “She taught me that fear is not an option.” — Diane Von Furstenberg, on her mom

best mother's day quotes: “My mother has always been my emotional barometer and my guidance. I was lucky enough to get to have one woman who truly helped me through everything.” — Emma Stone

26. “My mother has always been my emotional barometer and my guidance. I was lucky enough to get to have one woman who truly helped me through everything.” — Emma Stone

best mother's day quotes: “Every day when you’re raising kids, you feel like you could cry or crack up and just scream ‘This is ridiculous!’ because there's so much nonsense, whether it’s what they’re saying to you or the fact that there's avocado or poop on every surface.” — Kristen Bell

27. “Every day when you’re raising kids, you feel like you could cry or crack up and just scream ‘This is ridiculous!’ because there's so much nonsense, whether it’s what they’re saying to you or the fact that there's avocado or poop on every surface.” — Kristen Bell

best mother's day quotes: “Becoming a mother has made me next-level confident. I’ve never felt more empowered.” — Kelly Clarkson

28. “Becoming a mother has made me next-level confident. I’ve never felt more empowered.” — Kelly Clarkson

best mother's day quotes: “Sleep at this point is just a concept. Something I’m looking forward to investigating in the future.” — Amy Poehler

29. “Sleep at this point is just a concept. Something I’m looking forward to investigating in the future.” — Amy Poehler

best mother's day quotes: “When I had my children and I felt that type of love, which I know you understand and every mom out there understands, it made me understand that there was a purity to love. That there is an unconditional love.” — Jennifer Lopez

30. “When I had my children and I felt that type of love, which I know you understand and every mom out there understands, it made me understand that there was a purity to love. That there is an unconditional love.” — Jennifer Lopez

best mother's day quotes: “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

31. “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

best mother's day quotes: “My mother is a walking miracle.” — Leonardo DiCaprio

32. “My mother is a walking miracle.” — Leonardo DiCaprio

best mother's day quotes: “It’s not easy being a mom. If it were easy, fathers would do it.” — Betty White

33. “It’s not easy being a mom. If it were easy, fathers would do it.” — Betty White

best mother's day quotes: “Having a baby is just living in the constant unexpected. You never know when you’re gonna get crapped on or when you’re gonna get a big smile or when that smile immediately turns into hysterics.” — Blake Lively

34. “Having a baby is just living in the constant unexpected. You never know when you’re gonna get crapped on or when you’re gonna get a big smile or when that smile immediately turns into hysterics.” — Blake Lively

best mother's day quotes: “To describe my mother would be to write about a hurricane in its perfect power.” —Maya Angelou

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

best mother's day quotes: “It just occurred to me that the majority of my diet is made up of the foods my kid did not finish.” — Carrie Underwood

36. “It just occurred to me that the majority of my diet is made up of the foods my kid did not finish.” — Carrie Underwood

best mother's day quotes: “There’s no way to be a perfect mother and a million ways to be a good one.” — Jill Churchill

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

best mother's day quotes: “Nothing can really prepare you for the sheer overwhelming experience of what it means to become a mother. It is full of complex emotions of joy, exhaustion, love and worry, all mixed together. Your fundamental identity changes overnight.” — Kate Middleton

38. “Nothing can really prepare you for the sheer overwhelming experience of what it means to become a mother. It is full of complex emotions of joy, exhaustion, love and worry, all mixed together. Your fundamental identity changes overnight.” — Kate Middleton

best mother's day quotes: “For me, motherhood is learning about the strengths I didn’t know I had, and dealing with the fears I didn’t know existed.” — Halle Berry

39. “For me, motherhood is learning about the strengths I didn’t know I had, and dealing with the fears I didn’t know existed.” — Halle Berry

best mother's day quotes: “Life began with waking up and loving my mother’s face.” —George Eliot

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

best mother's day quotes: “Motherhood is the most completely humbling experience I’ve ever had. It puts you in your place because it really forces you to address the issues that you claim to believe in—and if you can’t stand up to those principles when you're raising a child, forget it.” — Diane Keaton

41. “Motherhood is the most completely humbling experience I’ve ever had. It puts you in your place because it really forces you to address the issues that you claim to believe in—and if you can’t stand up to those principles when you're raising a child, forget it.” — Diane Keaton

best mother's day quotes: “We are born of love; love is our mother.” — Rumi

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

best mother's day quotes: “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

43. “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

best mother's day quotes: “Being a parent has made me more open, more connected to myself, more happy, and more creative. I’m more discerning in what I do and how I do it. It’s just made me a better person all the way around.” — Alicia Keys

44. “Being a parent has made me more open, more connected to myself, more happy, and more creative. I’m more discerning in what I do and how I do it. It’s just made me a better person all the way around.” — Alicia Keys

best mother's day quotes: “Why don’t kids understand that their nap is not for them, it’s for us?” — Alyson Hannigan

45. “Why don’t kids understand that their nap is not for them, it’s for us?” — Alyson Hannigan

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