145 Inspirational Mother’s Day Quotes to Help You Express Your Love and Gratitude

It’s Mother’s Day.

A day to celebrate the wonderful women who have brought us up, shaped us and given us so much time, love and care.

And to help you with that I’d like to share 145 of the most powerful, heartwarming, funny and inspirational Mother’s Day quotes.

Send one or a few of them to your mom, help your kids use one of them for a card or special message to their mother or use them to help celebrate friends who are mothers.

I hope you’ll find something here to help you express your gratitude and deep appreciation for all the positive things mothers in your life have done.

Inspirational Mother’s Day Quotes

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

“Acceptance, tolerance, bravery, compassion. These are the things my mom taught me.”
– Lady Gaga

“My mother is my root, my foundation. She planted the seed that I base my life on, and that is the belief that the ability to achieve starts in your mind.”
– Michael Jordan

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

“Live so that when your children think of fairness, caring and integrity, they think of you.”
– H. Jackson Brown Jr.

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

“A mother teaches us that there is no end at all to what love can do.”
– Keely Chace

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

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

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

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

“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

“Mothers can look through a child’s eyes and see tomorrow.”
– Reed Markham

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

“Of all the rights of women, the greatest is to be a mother.”
– Lin Yutang

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

“For every dream that has taken flight, there’s a mother who believed.”
– Jennifer Fujita

“They go beyond. They go above. Mothers have mastered how to love.”
– Keion Jackson

“Biology is the least of what makes someone a mother.”
– Oprah Winfrey

“A mother is clothed with strength and dignity, laughs without fear of the future. When she speaks her words are wise and she gives instructions with kindness.”
– Proverbs

“There will be many times you will feel like you have failed. But in the eyes, heart and mind of your child, you are supermom.”
– Stephanie Precourt

“Clarity and focus doesn’t always come from God or inspirational quotes. Usually, it takes your mother to slap the reality back into you.”
– Shannon Alder

“Most mothers are instinctive philosophers.”
– Harriet Beecher Stowe

“The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world.”
– William Ross Wallace

“We can never have too many people who care about us and love to see us smile. That’s why a great stepmom means so much.”
– Keely Chace

Mothers Day Quotes from Kids (Messages from a Daughter or Son)

“To describe my mother would be to write about a hurricane in its perfect power. Or the climbing, falling colors of a rainbow.”
– Maya Angelou

“So much of who I am is because of who you are.”
– Mary Miro

“When I grow up, I want to be just like my mom… beautiful.”
– Amy Trowbridge Yates

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

“I can only hope to be 10% of the mom mine was to me.”
– Charlize Theron

“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

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

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

“My mom is my hero. She inspired me to dream when I was a kid, so anytime anyone inspires you to dream, that’s gotta be your hero.”
– Tim McGraw

“Men are what their mothers made them.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

“My mother had a slender, small body, but a large heart – a heart so large that everybody’s joys found welcome in it, and hospitable accommodation.”
– Mark Twain

“Throughout my life, my mom has been the person that I’ve always looked up to.”
– Mike Krzyzewski

“I would say that my mother is the single biggest role model in my life, but that term doesn’t seem to encompass enough when I use it about her. She was the love of my life.”
– Mindy Kaling

“If I know what love is, it is because of you.”
– Hermann Hesse

“My children are the reason I laugh, smile and want to get up every morning.”
– Gena Lee Nolin

“I really learned it all from mothers.”
– Benjamin Spock

“My mother was the one constant in my life.”
– Barack Obama

“My mother always said I was beautiful, and I finally believed her at some point.”
– Lupita Nyong’o

“No man succeeds without a good woman behind him. Wife or mother, if it is both, he is twice blessed indeed.”
– Godfrey Winn

“My mom smiled at me. Her smile kind of hugged me.”
– R.J. Palacio

“My mother sacrificed her dreams so I could dream.”
– Rupi Kaur

“That’s the wonderful thing about mothers: You can because you must, and you just do.”
– Kate Winslet

“But behind all your stories is always your mother’s story, because hers is where yours begins.”
– Mitch Albom

Beautiful Mother’s Day Quotes and Sayings

“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

“Mama was my greatest teacher, a teacher of compassion, love and fearlessness. If love is sweet as a flower, then my mother is that sweet flower of love.”
– Stevie Wonder

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

“Mother’s love is peace. It need not be acquired, it need not be deserved.”
– Erich Fromm

“Motherhood: All love begins and ends there.”
– Robert Browning

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

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

“Mother is the heartbeat in the home; and without her, there seems to be no heartthrob.”
– Leroy Brownlow

“Mothers were meant to love us unconditionally, to understand our moments of stupidity, to reprimand us for lame excuses while yet acknowledging our point of view, to weep over our pain and failures as well as cry at our joy and successes and to cheer us on despite countless start-overs. Heaven knows, no one else will.”
– Richelle Goodrich

“There is no velvet so soft as a mother’s lap, no rose as lovely as her smile, no path so flowery as that imprinted with her footsteps.”
– Archibald Thompson

“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

“A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts.”
– Washington Irving

“A mother understands what a child does not say.”
– Jewish Proverb

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

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

“Blessed is a mother that would give up part of her soul for her children’s happiness.”
– Shannon Alder

“There are no perfect parents, and there are no perfect children, but there are plenty of perfect moments along the way.”
– Dave Willis

“Mothers are the people who love us for no good reason. And those of us who are mothers know it’s the most exquisite love of all.”
– Maggie Gallagher

“Motherhood is the exquisite inconvenience of being another person’s everything.”
– Unknown

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

“An ounce of mother is worth a ton of priest.”
– Spanish Proverb

“The loveliest masterpiece of the heart of God is the heart of a mother.”
– St. Therese of Lisieux

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

“Some are kissing mothers and some are scolding mothers, but it is love just the same, and most mothers kiss and scold together.”
– Pearl S. Buck

Funny Mother’s Day Quotes

“You can learn many things from children. How much patience you have, for instance.”
– Franklin P. Adams

“I can cook, but not well. I figure I have six years until my children discover what their friends’ mothers make for dinner.”
– Jane Pauley

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

“If at first you don’t succeed, try doing it the way your mom told you to do it from the start.”
– Unknown

“When you feel neglected, think of the female salmon, who lays 3,000,000 eggs but no one remembers her on Mother’s Day.”
– Sam Ewing

“Children should have enough freedom to be themselves – once they’ve learned the rules.”
– Anna Quindlen

“It’s not easy being a mother. If it were, fathers would do it.”
– The Golden Girls

“The phrase ‘working mother’ is redundant.”
– Jane Sellman

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

“There is only one pretty child in the world, and every mother has it.”
– Chinese Proverb

“Mom, I love you, even though I’ll never accept your friend request.”
– Unknown

“Being a mom has made me so tired. And so happy.”
– Tina Fey

“Our mothers always remain the strangest, craziest people we’ve ever met.”
– Marguerite Duras

“My mother’s menu consists of two choices: Take it or leave it.”
– Buddy Hackett

“I do what I want, when I want, where I want … if my mom says it’s OK.”
– Unknown

“My mother always said ‘Don’t bother other people.’ I think that’s good advice.”
– Amy Sedaris

“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

“When your children are teenagers, it’s important to have a dog so that someone in the house is happy to see you.”
– Nora Ephron

“Mothers are all slightly insane.”
– J.D. Salinger

“A mother takes 20 years to make a man of her boy, and another woman makes a fool of him in 20 minutes.”
– Robert Frost

“Don’t forget Mother’s Day. Or as they call it in Beverly Hills, Dad’s Third Wife Day.”
– Jay Leno

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

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

“Sweater, n.: garment worn by child when its mother is feeling chilly.”
– Ambrose Bierce

“I’m amazed when I see mothers wearing high heels. If your kids run off, you can’t run after them.”
– Claudia Schiffer

“A suburban mother’s role is to deliver children obstetrically once, and by car forever after.”
– Peter De Vries

“If you’ve never been hated by your child, you’ve never been a parent.”
– Bette Davis

Cute and Heartfelt Happy Mother’s Day Quotes for Friends

“You are a gift from God, a friend that I can count on and a wonderful model of a mother.”
– Unknown

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

“It’s not that diamonds are a girl’s best friend, but it’s your best friends who are your diamonds.”
– Gina Barreca

“It’s not what we have in life, but who we have in our life that matters.”
– Unknown

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

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

“A mother’s love doesn’t make her son more dependent and timid; it actually makes him stronger and more independent.”
– Cheri Fuller

“A friend is one who overlooks your broken fence and admires the flowers in your garden.”
– Unknown

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

“To a child’s ear, ‘mother’ is magic in any language.”
– Arlene Benedict

“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

“Only an aunt can give hugs like a mother, can keep secrets like a sister and share love like a friend.”
– Unknown

“Aunt: A cherished friend and personal cheerleader who will always see you through rose-colored glasses.”
– Unknown

“To have a loving relationship with a sister is not simply to have a buddy or a confidant – it is to have a soulmate for life.”
– Victoria Secunda

“An aunt is always there for all the times when you need a second mom.”
– Unknown

“Time passes quickly but one thing always lasts – the love and support found in you.”
– Catherine Pulsifer

“Great sisters get promoted to aunt.”
– Unknown

“Hugs can do great amounts of good – especially for children.”
– Princess Diana

“The best aunts aren’t substitute parents, they’re co-conspirators.”
– Daryl Gregory

“A sister is a gift to the heart, a friend to the spirit, a golden thread to the meaning of life.”
– Isadora James

“There are friends, there is family, and then there are friends that become family.”
– Unknown

“The love and compassion you’ve always carried in your heart makes you a wonderful mother and a beloved friend.”
– Unknown

“Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart.”
– Eleanor Roosevelt

“Aunt – a double blessing. You love like a parent and act like a friend.”
– Unknown

“When the world says ‘Give up,’ Hope whispers ‘Try one more time.’”
– Unknown

Short Mothers Day Quotes

“M-O-M is just another way of spelling LOVE.”
– Keely Chace

“Amazing women make amazing moms.”
– Diana Manning

“Good moms grow great kids.”
– Dean Walley

“There is nothing as sincere as a mother’s kiss.”
– Saleem Sharma

“A mother’s love liberates.”
– Maya Angelou

“My mother is a walking miracle.”
– Leonardo DiCaprio

“The world needs our mothers.”
– Liya Kebede

“A mother’s hug lasts long after she lets go.”
– Unknown

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

“Sons are the anchors of a mother’s life.”
– Sophocles

“A mom’s love is the sun for growing, the moon for dreaming, the stars for guiding the way.”
– Barbara Loots

“All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.”
– Abraham Lincoln

“As is the mother, so is her daughter.”
– Ezekiel 16:4

“Moms are as relentless as the tides. They just don’t drive us to practice; they drive us to greatness.”
– Steve Rushin

“Mama’s love is the light that guides.”
– Jeannie Hund

“Love grows wherever she goes.”
– Hallmark Staff

“Women who lead with love live on in our hearts.”
– Allyson Cook

“Every beetle is a gazelle in the eyes of its mother.”
– Moroccan Proverb

“Love is a mighty thing. So are mamas.”
– Keion Jackson

“Mother like no other.”
– Unknown

“A mom’s love teaches love by living it.”
– R. Tankersley

“A mom loves you first. Then forever.”
– Katherine Stano

“It takes a lifetime to truly appreciate all the ways a good mom makes all the difference.”
– Ellen Brenneman

“She never quite leaves her children at home, even when she doesn’t take them along.”
– Margaret Culkin Banning

“A mother is a mother still, the holiest thing alive.”
– Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Want more uplifting spring inspiration? Then have a look at these short May quotes, the uplifting May quotes here, the beautiful May quotes in this post and also this one with positive spring quotes and this one with short spring quotes.