Mother’s Day

Happy Mother’s Day to all of my friends and readers who are mothers. And especially to those of you whose mothers have passed on and left you with a feeling of “What do I do?” on Mother’s Day. That’s an empty, lonely feeling, isn’t it? I am brooding over it a bit myself.

So… I thought I’d pick some of my favorite quotes about motherhood and share them with you. I’ll start with my most favorite of all time. Happy reading, and enjoy the day – whether it’s to honor you or your mother!

“The debt of gratitude we owe our mother and father goes forward, not backward. What we owe our parents is the bill presented to us by our children.” Nancy Friday

"“I didn’t feel like I could stand out among those players. I tried to brush her off, saying, ‘I can’t do that right now. Maybe later.’ Then my mother said the words that changed everything for me. She said, ‘Later doesn’t always come to everybody.’” Shaquille O’Neal

“To mom, who was like a comfortable quilt: She kept us warm as kids, but never smothered us.” A toast

“The art of mothering is to teach the art of living to children.” Elaine Heffner

“The trait I admired most growing up was my mother’s unwavering loyalty to my father. To the world, they presented a consolidated whole: respectful of each other, always each other’s first priority. As a child, I wanted to be the center of my parents’ universe. But my parents were, and are, each other’s universe and we children remain merely sources of light that shine upon their special world. Only as an adult can I appreciate the fact that, although loved, we were not chosen in the way my parents chose each other.” Janice A. Burns, Sarah’s Song: A True Story of Love and Courage

“Parents rarely let go of their children, so children let go of them.  They move on.  They move away.  The moments that used to define them--a mother's approval, a father's nod--are covered by moments of their own accomplishments.  It is not until much later, as the skin sags and the heart weakens, that children understand; their stories, and all their accomplishments, sit atop the stories of their mothers and fathers, stones upon stones, beneath the waters of their lives.” Mitch Albom, The Five People You Meet in Heaven

“There are two races of people--men and women--no matter what women's libbers would have you pretend. The male is motivated by toys and science because men are born with no purpose in the universe except to procreate. There is lots of time to kill beyond that. Men have no inherent center to themselves beyond procreating. Women, however, are born with a center. They can create the universe, mother it, teach it, nurture it. Men read science fiction to build the future. Women don't need to read it. They are the future.” Ray Bradbury

“Sooner or later we all quote our mothers.” Bern Williams

“Everything that was my mother's - whatever wrongdoing, bad deeds or actions that she had - what was hers was hers and she took it with her and what was mine, whether justified or not, anything that I did that was potentially negative, out of anger, was mine. I didn't have this place that I could push it towards anymore. When they're gone, they're gone. And you will end up holding everything that you're holding on to. It's just that while they're alive, you're putting it over there, thinking it's not yours.” Demi Moore

“Motherhood at times like this - most times - was about the steel in your spine, not the bend.” Kristin Hannah, Firefly Lane

“All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That's his.” Oscar Wilde

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

“The best thing to give your enemy is forgiveness. To an opponent, tolerance. To a friend, your heart. To a child, a good example. To a father, deference. To your mother, conduct that will make her proud of you. To yourself, respect. To all men, charity.”

“Giving birth is little more than a set of muscular contractions granting passage of a child. Then the mother is born.” Erma Bombeck

“If the kids are still alive when my husband comes home, I've done my job.” Roseanne

And here’s one for my sister: “Often, in old age, they [the sisters] become each other's chosen and most happy companions. In addition to their shared memories of childhood and their relationship to each other's children, they…carry the echoes of their mother's voice.” Margaret Mead