Mother’s Day Quotes to Make Your Mama Smile

Mother’s Day can feel a little overwhelming. How do you sum up your feelings for one of the most important people in your life with one thought, in one card, on one day? The answer is, you can’t. If you try, you’re likely to find yourself Monday morning having missed the Mother’s Day boat.

So instead of hemming and hawing, take action! We’ve got a whole bunch of gorgeous templates to get you started, along with some inspiring, moving, and clever Mother’s Day quotes that’ll make your mom psyched that she decided to have you.

Short and sweet

The Classy Lassy template turns the traditional bouquet of pink roses on its head by showing withering flowers scattered about, their petals turning brown, suggesting a mother’s love will endure no matter what. There’s just enough room at the bottom to insert one of these pithy, profound Mother’s Day quotes by unknown authors that sum up the essence of motherhood in a few choice words.

A mom’s hug lasts long after she lets go.A mother understands what a child does not say.Life doesn’t come with a manual, it comes with a mother.A mother is your first friend, your best friend, your forever friend.An ounce of mother is worth a ton of priest.God could not be everywhere, and therefore he made mothers.Mother, the ribbons of your love are woven around my heart.

Endless love

The Floral Splatter template combines the wisdom of the world’s great thinkers with a personal photo of your beloved mom. It’s easy to switch out the photo and text. And you can even change the color of the bursts to match your photo with our handy eyedropper tool. Here are some timeless quotes that describe the uniqueness of a mother’s love.

Mother love is the fuel that enables a normal human being to do the impossible.__— Marion C. GarrettyWhatever else is unsure in this stinking dunghill of a world a mother’s love is not.— James JoyceThe heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness. — Honore De BalzacMother’s love is peace. It need not be acquired, it need not be deserved. — Erich FrommMotherhood: All love begins and ends there. — Robert Browning

A mother’s work

What is the job of a mother? What makes her a success? Here are some quotes that address that elusive idea of what makes a mother great. Our Following the Lines template can be used as is, without changing a thing, or you can insert your own photo and quote. Either way, this is a lovely, stylish card that’s sure to make your mom feel warm, snuggly, and loved.

A mother is not a person to lean on, but a person to make leaning unnecessary.— Dorothy Canfield FisherAll mothers are working mothers. — UnknownThere’s no way to be a perfect mother and a million ways to be a good one.— Jill ChurchillKids don’t stay with you if you do it right. It’s the one job where, the better you are, the more surely you won’t be needed in the long run. — Barbara KingsolverThe art of mothering is to teach the art of living to children. — Elaine Heffner

Dual thoughts

Here’s a unique take on a Mother’s Day card: No flowers, no photos, and no pink. The Swiss Miss template uses the contrasting colors of orange and blue to fantastic effect, and we love the way the M-O-M graphic plays with layering and transparencies. This template is perfect to use with longer, multi-sentence quotes that can be divided into two thoughts, like the ones below.

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

Because even if the whole world was throwing rocks at you, if you had your mother at your back, you’d be okay.Some deep-rooted part of you would know you were loved. That you deserved to be loved. __― Jojo Moyes, One Plus One

The human heart was not designed to beat outside the human body and yet, each child represented just that —a parent’s heart bared, beating forever outside its chest. __— Debra Ginsberg

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

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

Mama’s boy

If you want to add a touch of masculinity to your Mother’s Day card but also want to keep that lovin’ feeling, try the Words on the Edge template. These quotes address the special mother-son relationship and go well with this hirsute template.

A boy’s best friend is his mother. — Joseph StefanoHappy is the son whose faith in his mother remains unchallenged. — Louisa May AlcottThere has never been, nor will there ever be, anything quite so special as the love between the mother and a son. — UnknownWhen a man treats his woman like a princess, it is proof that he has been raised in the arms of a queen. — UnknownThere is an endearing tenderness in the love of a mother to a son that transcends all other affections of the heart. — Washington IrvingA man loves his sweetheart the most, his wife the best, but his mother the longest.— Irish Proverb

Light but hearty

Looking for a funny quote to share with your mom? Here are a few good ones from the likes of Milton Berle, P.J. O’Rourke, and an anonymous Chinese philosopher. Stick it in the 80s Blocks template and your card will have a funky vibe (think perms, culottes, and lucite).

There is only one pretty child in the world, and every mother has it. — Chinese ProverbEverybody wants to save the Earth; nobody wants to help Mom do the dishes.— P.J. O’RourkeIf evolution really works, how come mothers only have two hands? — Milton BerleNothing is really lost until your mom can’t find it. — UnknownSweater, n.: garment worn by child when its mother is feeling chilly. — Ambrose Bierce

Punny mummy

Maybe your mum prefers a good pun? We’ve got templates that can wordplay with the best of them. The Highlight and Middle Focus templates are optimized for sharing on social media apps like Instagram and Facebook, so you can wish your mom a happy Mother’s Day while also giving your friends a good chuckle.

Mommy minimalism

Sometimes less is more, and that’s definitely the case with these social sharing templates. Mirror Words illustrates that the mirror image of MOM is WOW, which sums up our feelings about matriarchs. Multiples offers six different ways of saying “mother,” but feel free to add your own favorites: Mama, Mummy, Mère, Moeder, Hooyo, Ina, Anya…