Every family, it seems, has its black sheep. There’s the grouch, the boozer, the nay-sayer, the doper, the miser, the “me, me, me” and the just downright disagreeable.
But when you come down to it, they are with us in good times and in bad. They are our advocates, our defenders, our supporters when we’re up against the wall. They are family.
Mary Karr reminds us that “A dysfunctional family is any family with more than one person in it.” While it’s easy to agree with such cynicism, there are a multitude of reasons not to.
Country Living rounded up a plethora of quotes about family that remind us that family is, indeed, our rock.
“The memories we make with our family is everything,” said actress Candace Cameron Bure. Philanthropist Peter Buffett says “It didn’t matter how big our house was; it mattered that there was love in it.” Both of those quotes would be great to read to anyone in your family – especially on Thanksgiving Day.
Here are many more thoughts about family to ponder and cherish.
Lisa Weed — “Being a family means you are a part of something very wonderful. It means you will love and be loved for the rest of your life.”
Pope John XXIII — “The family is the first essential cell of human society.”
Wanda Hope Carter — “Family and friends are hidden treasures, seek them out and enjoy their riches.”
Marge Kennedy – The informality of family life is a blessed condition that allows us all to become our best while looking our worst.
Friedrich Nietzsche — “In family life, love is the oil that eases friction, the cement that binds closer together, and the music that brings harmony.”
Stitch, ‘Lilo and Stitch’ — “’Ohana’ means family and family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten.”
Walt Disney — “Life is beautiful. It’s about giving. It’s about family.”
Lee Iacocca — “The only rock I know that stays steady, the only institution I know that works, is the family.”
Jane Howard — “Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family: Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.”
‘Coco’ (2017) — “We may have our differences, but nothing’s more important than family.”
José Carreras — “I have a wonderful shelter, which is my family.”
Reba McEntire — “I don’t think quantity time is as special as quality time with your family.”
Trenton Lee Stewart — “Family members can be your best friends, you know. And best friends, whether or not they are related to you, can be your family.”
Kelly Clarkson — “My friends and family are my support system… Without them I have no idea where I would be.”
Barbara Bush — “At the end of your life, you will never regret not having passed one more test, not winning one more verdict or not closing one more deal. You will regret time not spent with a husband, a friend, a child, or a parent.”
Louis Zamperini — “The world, we’d discovered, doesn’t love you like your family loves you.”
Marjorie Pay Hinckley — “Home is where you are loved the most and act the worst.”
Marge Kennedy — “In truth, a family is what you make it. It is made strong, not by number of heads counted at the dinner table, but by the rituals you help family members create, by the memories you share, by the commitment of time, caring, and love…”
Leonard Cohen — “May you be surrounded by friends and family, and if this is not your lot, may the blessings find you in your solitude.”
Candace Cameron Bure — “The memories we make with our family is everything.”
Burmese Proverb — “In time of test, family is best.”
Michael Imperioli — “My family is my life, and everything else comes second as far as what’s important to me.”
Albert Einstein — “Rejoice with your family in the beautiful land of life.”
Peter Buffett — “It didn’t matter how big our house was; it mattered that there was love in it.”
Guy Lafleur — “When trouble comes, it’s your family that supports you.”
Maya Angelou — “I sustain myself with the love of family.”
Jodi Picoult — “My mother used to tell me that when push comes to shove, you always know who to turn to. That being a family isn’t a social construct but an instinct.”
Mother Teresa — “What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family.”
Elizabeth Berg — “You are born into your family and your family is born into you. No returns. No exchanges.”
Haniel Long — “So much of what is best in us is bound up in our love of family, that it remains the measure of our stability because it measures our sense of loyalty.”
Winston S. Churchill — “There is no doubt that it is around the family and the home that all the greatest virtues, the most dominating virtues of human, are created, strengthened, and maintained.”
Paul Pearsall — “Our most basic instinct is not for survival but for family.”
Barbara Bush — “When all the dust is settled and all the crowds are gone, the things that matter are faith, family, and friends.”
Anthony Liccione — “Everyone needs a house to live in, but a supportive family is what builds a home.”
Mario Puzo — “The strength of a family, like the strength of an army, is in its loyalty to each other.”
Richard Bach — “The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other’s life.”
J.K. Rowling — “Family is a life jacket in the stormy sea of life.”
George Bernard Shaw — “Family means no one gets left behind or forgotten.”
Barbara Bush — “To us, family means putting your arms around each other and being there.”
Alex Haley — “The family is link to our past, bridge to our future.”
Michael J. Fox — “Family is not an important thing. It’s everything.”
Brad Henry — “Families are the compass that guides us. They are the inspiration to reach great heights, and our comfort when we occasionally falter.”
Les Dawson — “Families are like fudge – mostly sweet with a few nuts.”
Desmond Tutu — “You don’t choose your family. They are God’s gift to you, as you are to them.”
Rod Stewart — “You go through life wondering what is it all about but at the end of the day it’s all about family.”
George Santayana — “The family is one of nature’s masterpieces.”
Anthony Brandt — “Other things may change us, but we start and end with the family.”
George Bernard Shaw — “A happy family is but an earlier heaven.”
John Wooden — “The most important thing in the world is family and love.”
Happy holidays to you and your family!
