From the moment a mother sees those two lines on a pregnancy test, she begins to dream... about who that growing embryo might be, what they may be like, and how they'll change the family dynamics. And though any parent-child relationship is undeniably deep, the connection between a mother and daughter is unlike any other.
Mother-Daughter relationships are complex. There's a tenderness born in the inherent similarities you share. And over the years, as your relationship unfolds and grows, there's a good chance you'll share the most intimate details of your lives with your built-in best friend—hopes, dreams, regrets, and fears. At least that's the idyllic version of a mother-daughter relationship.
The truth is, though, more often than not, mother-daughter relationships are complex. And even the best relationships can be fraught with conflict spurred by charged emotions.
No matter the season your relationship is in, you may be searching for the right words—for the right words to tell your family member how special they are (maybe for a Mother's Day card or Instagram caption) or even to help you through a particularly challenging hiccup in your journey together.
To help you find the right words to capture your unique bond, we gathered 60 mother-daughter quotes that will ring true to any mother-daughter pair.
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1
Maya Angelou
In her memoir Mom & Me & Mom the award-winning poet and civil rights activist wrote, "My mother shed her protective love down around me and without knowing why people sensed that I had value."
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2
Sheila Heti
"Maybe motherhood means honoring one's mother," the Canadian writer said in her book, Motherhood.
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3
Daphne Wilder In 'Because I Said So'
In the movie Because I Said So, Diane Keaton's character—Daphne Wilder—said, "God couldn't be everywhere so that is why he invented mothers."
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4
Kristin Hannah
In her novel Summer Island, the best-selling author writes, "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."
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5
J.K. Rowling
"Love as powerful as your mother’s for you leaves its own mark," the bestselling children's book author wrote in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.
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6
Kristin Cashore
"It is not the job of the child to protect her mother. It's the mother's job to protect the child," wrote the YA novelist in Bitterblue. "By allowing your mother to protect you, you gave her a gift."
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7
Michelle Obama
"I love our daughters more than anything in the world, more than life itself," said the former First Lady in a commencement speech at Tuskegee University. "So for me, being Mom-in-Chief is, and always will be, job number one."
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8
Ruta Sepetys
"Mother was comfort. Mother was home," the Lithuanian-American historical fiction writer said in her novel, Salt to the Sea.
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9
Anita Diamant
"The more a daughter knows the details of her mother’s life … the stronger the daughter," the best-selling author wrote in The Red Tent.
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10
Emily Dickinson
"A mother is one to whom you hurry when you are troubled," the prolific 19th century poet wrote in a letter.
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11
Margaret Dilloway
"Mothers were the only ones you could depend on to tell the whole, unvarnished truth," writes the author in How to be an American Housewife.
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12
Karen Kingsbury
"They both began to giggle and then...fell into a side-splitting round of laughter, the cleansing, complete sort of laughter only a mother and daughter can share," the New York Times bestselling author wrote in her novel Even Now.
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13
Nayyirah Waheed
“My mother was my first country, the first place I ever lived," wrote the Meghan Markle-approved author wrote in her poem "Lands."
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14
Jacquelyn Middleton
"She's my best friend—she's everything to me. It's always just been me and her against the world," wrote the award-winning romance novelist in her book, Until the Last Star Fades.
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15
Taylor Swift
"There were times, in middle school and junior high, I didn’t have a lot of friends," said the multiple Grammy award winning singer-songwriter in an interview with Great American Country. "But my mom was always my friend. Always."
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16
Joyce Carol Oates
In an interview with Harper Collins, the author of multiple national best-selling novels said, "The relationship between parents and children, but especially between mothers and daughters, is tremendously powerful, scarcely to be comprehended in any rational way."
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17
Serena Williams
“With the help of God, she's the best thing I have ever been a part of," wrote the iconic tennis champion on Twitter.
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18
Sandra Vischer
"The woman who is my best friend, my teacher, my everything: Mom," wrote the author in her novel, Unliving the Dream.
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19
Anna Quindlen
"When someone asks you where you come from, the answer is your mother," wrote the New York Times bestselling author in One True Thing. "It's so much more than love. Even when there's no love, it's so much more than anything else in your life."
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20
Sonya Teclai
"My mom taught me a woman's mind should be the most beautiful part of her," the musician-poet wrote on Twitter.
