Celebrations honoring mothers and motherhood can be traced back to the ancient Greeks and Romans — and there’s a good reason why. Mothers are responsible for the creation of life, but the love and support they give goes well beyond just that. To honor our beloved matriarchs, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson declared Mother’s Day a national holiday in 1904. We still celebrate it on the second Sunday in May to show our appreciation of moms everywhere.

In fact, the idea for Mother’s Day was inspired by a grateful daughter: a West Virginia woman named Anna Jarvis. After her mother’s death in 1905, she wanted a way to honor the many sacrifices that mothers make for their children. In May 1908, Jarvis organized the first official Mother’s Day celebration at a Methodist church in Grafton, West Virginia, where she handed out white carnations to mothers and children. Today, the essence of the holiday remains: Whether it’s expressed with a simple flower or an extravagant gift, the day is a chance to share our love and gratitude, and honor that special bond that only exists between a mother and child.

To honor the matriarchs in our lives, we’ve compiled several quotes that speak to the absolute love and sacrifices that moms give every day. Read on for these heartfelt sentiments — and better yet, share these quotes with the beloved mother figures in your life!


When you are looking at your mother, you are looking at the purest love you will ever know.
– Charley Benetto

To describe my mother would be to write about a hurricane in its perfect power.
– Maya Angelou

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

If love is as sweet as a flower, then my mother is that sweet flower of love.
– Stevie Wonder

I believe the choice to become a mother is the choice to become one of the greatest spiritual teachers there is.
– Oprah Winfrey

A mother’s love is everything. It is what brings a child into this world. It is what molds their entire being. When a mother sees her child in danger, she is literally capable of anything. Mothers have lifted cars off of their children and destroyed entire dynasties. A mother’s love is the strongest energy known to man.
– Jamie McGuire

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

God could not be everywhere, and therefore he made mothers.
– Rudyard Kipling

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

A mother is not a person to lean on, but a person to make leaning unnecessary.
– Dorothy Canfield Fisher

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

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 the fuel that enables a normal human being to do the impossible.
– Marion C. Garretty

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