100+ Celebration of Life & Funeral Quotes

Saying goodbye is often difficult, and it can be hard to find the words to express how you feel about a loved one who has passed. When you don’t have adequate words of your own to help honor a loved one’s life, you may choose to incorporate celebration of life quotes into different parts of the event to add a personalized touch.



Quotes chosen for a celebration of life are often different from those chosen for traditional funerals. Funeral quotes tend to focus on the emotional and spiritual needs of those in attendance. By offering comfort and hope to friends and family of the loved one, quotes for a funeral may help people through the grieving process. 

Plan every detail

Let Imagine: A Memorial Inspiration Guide inspire your perfect service.

DOWNLOAD NOW 

On the other hand, celebrations of life focus on finding meaning in a life well lived, and quotes for a celebration of life can help set a more uplifting tone. Many families choose a quote from a famous author, excerpt from a beloved book, stanza from a favorite poem or lyric from a favorite song, in addition to a selection from the Bible or other religious work. These quotes or nonreligious readings can be printed on the cover of a funeral program, engraved on mementos or used to open a eulogy or close a service.

Here are 100 quotes to consider for your loved one's celebration of life, including:

Inspiring celebration of life quotes

Inspiring celebration of life quotes touch on how to live life to the fullest and remind us to love each day.

  • People living deeply have no fear of death. —ANAIS NIN
  • To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die. —THOMAS CAMPBELL
  • No one is actually dead until the ripples they cause in the world die away. —TERRY PRATCHETT
  • It’s so much darker when a light goes out than it would have been if it had never shone. —JOHN STEINBECK
  • The boundaries between life and death are at best shadowy and vague. Who shall say where one ends and where the other begins? —EDGAR ALLAN POE

 

“Life is a song—sing it. Life is a game—play it. Life is a challenge—meet it. Life is a dream—realize it. Life is a sacrifice—offer it. Life is love—enjoy it.”

—Sai Baba

 

  • Life is for the living. Death is for the dead. Let life be like music. And death a note unsaid. —LANGSTON HUGHES
  • How can the dead be truly dead when they still live in the souls of those who are left behind? —CARSON MCCULLERS
  • A great soul serves everyone all the time. A great soul never dies. It brings us together again and again. —MAYA ANGELOU
  • In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years. —ABRAHAM LINCOLN
  • What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments but what is woven into the lives of others. —THUCYDIDES

Lives are like rivers: eventually they go where they must. Not where we want them to.

—Richard Russo

There is only one happiness in this life: to love and be loved.

—GEORGE SAND


  • As is a tale, so is a life. Not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters. —SENECA
  • For life and death are one, even as the river and the sea are one. —KAHLIL GIBRAN
  • The journey doesn’t end here. Death is just another path, one that we all must take. —J.R.R. TOLKIEN
  • Life has to end. Love doesn’t. —MITCH ALBOM
  • Death leaves a heartache no one can heal. Love leaves a memory no one can steal. —IRISH PROVERB

 

“Life is eternal, and love is immortal, and death is only a horizon; and a horizon is nothing save the limit of our sight.”

—Rossiter Worthington Raymond 



  • Every man’s life ends the same way. It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another. —ERNEST HEMINGWAY
  • Let no one weep for me or celebrate my funeral with mourning; for I still live, as I pass to and fro through the mouths of men. —QUINTUS ENNIUS
  • In the blink of an eye, everything can change. So forgive often and love with all your heart. You may never not have that chance again —UNKNOWN

RETURN TO TOP

Celebration of life quotes to help with grief

You may be struggling with how exactly to manage the deep sadness that comes with losing a loved one. And that’s understandable. These quotes about life and death may help you—and family and friends—work through the sorrow.

  • Say not in grief that he is no more but live in thankfulness that he was. —HEBREW PROVERB
  • Those we love never truly leave us. There are things that death cannot touch. —JACK THORNE
  • Grief is the price we pay for love. —QUEEN ELIZABETH
  • If the people we love are stolen from us, the way to have them live on is to never stop loving them. —JAMES O’BARR
  • Sometimes, when one person is absent, the whole world seems depopulated. —ALPHONSE DE LAMARTINE

Remembering is an act of resurrection, each repetition a vital layer of mourning, in memory of those we are sure to meet again.

—NANCY COBB

To die completely, a person must not only forget but be forgotten, and he who is not forgotten is not dead.

—SAMUEL BUTLER


  • If there ever comes a day when we can’t be together, keep me in your heart, I’ll stay there forever. —A.A. MILNE
  • If you ever lose someone dear to you, never say the words they’re gone. They’ll come back. —PRINCE
  • The darker the night, the brighter the stars. The deeper the grief, the closer to God. —FYODOR DOSTOYEVSKY
  • Grief is like the ocean; it comes on waves ebbing and flowing. Sometimes the water is calm, and sometimes it is overwhelming. All we can do is learn to swim. —VICKI HARRISON
  • Grief is a most peculiar thing; we’re so helpless in the face of it. It’s like a window that will simply open of its own accord. The room grows cold, and we can do nothing but shiver. But it opens a little less each time, and a little less; and one day we wonder what has become of it. —ARTHUR GOLDEN

 

“There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness but of power. They speak more eloquently than 10,000 tongues. They are messengers of overwhelming grief and unspeakable love.”

—Washington Irving



RETURN TO TOP

Uplifting celebration of life quotes

A memorial service doesn’t have to be a somber occasion. For a bright spot, look to these quotes from artists, historical figures, poets and advocates.

  • Those we love and lose are always connected by heartstrings into infinity. —TERRI GUILLEMETS
  • Like a bird singing in the rain, let grateful memories survive in time of sorrow. —ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON
  • As a well-spent day brings happy sleep, so a life well-used brings happy death. —LEONARDO DA VINCI
  • Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only true friends leave footprints in your heart. —ELEANOR ROOSEVELT
  • The connections we make in the course of life—maybe that’s what heaven is. —FRED ROGERS

I can’t think of a more wonderful thanksgiving for the life I have had than that everyone should be jolly at my funeral.

—ADMIRAL LORD MOUNTBATTEN

Goodbyes are only for those who love with their eyes. Because for those who love with heart and soul there is no such thing as separation.

—RUMI


  • The song is ended, but the melody lingers on … —IRVING BERLIN
  • What we once enjoyed and deeply loved we can never lose, for all that we love deeply becomes part of us. —HELEN KELLER
  • How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard. —A.A. MILNE
  • Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened. —DR. SEUSS
  • They that love beyond the world cannot be separated by it. Death cannot kill what never dies. —WILLIAM PENN

 

“Perhaps they are not the stars, but rather openings in heaven where the love of our lost ones pours through and shines down upon us to let us know they are happy.”

—Anonymous

 

  • Every life is noted and is cherished, and nothing loved is ever lost or perished. —MADELEINE L’ENGLE
  • The comfort of having a friend may be taken away but not that of having had one. —SENECA
  • Wherever a beautiful soul has been, there is a trail of beautiful memories. —RONALD REAGAN

 

RETURN TO TOP

Celebration of life quotes for Mom

She packed your lunches and sewed your costumes—and she was always the first person you called with good news. Here are some quotes that may capture her sweet spirit and everlasting impression.

  • You are gone, but thank you for all these soft, sweet things you left behind. In my home, in my head, in my heart. —NIKITA GILL
  • The world changes from year to year, our lives from day to day, but the love and memory of you shall never pass away. —UNKNOWN
  • She made broken look beautiful and strong look invincible. She walked with the universe on her shoulders and made it look like a pair of wings. —ARIANA DANCU
  • Her absence is like the sky, spread over everything. —C.S. LEWIS
  • If I had a flower for every time I thought of you, I could walk in my own garden forever. —ALFRED JENNYON

Love as powerful as your mother’s for you leaves its own mark. To have been loved so deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, will give us some protection forever.

—J.K. ROWLING

Remember me with smiles and laughter, for that is how I will remember you all. If you can only remember me with tears, then don’t remember me at all.

—LAURA INGALLS WILDER


  • All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel mother. —ABRAHAM LINCOLN
  • Only a moment you stayed but what an imprint your footprints have left on our hearts. —DOROTHY FERGUSON
  • There is something about losing a mother that is permanent and inexpressible—a wound that will never quite heal. —SUSAN WIGGS
  • A mom’s hug lasts long after she lets go. —UNKNOWN
  • Unable are the loved to die. For love is immortality. —EMILY DICKINSON

 

“Say not in grief that she is no more, but say in thankfulness that she was. A death is not the extinguishing of a light but the putting out of the lamp because the dawn has come.”

—Rabindranath Tagore



RETURN TO TOP

Celebration of life quotes for Dad

He was your protector, your cheerleader and a guy you could always depend on. Look to some of these quotes and ideas to perfectly describe the man you miss so much.

  • Unless a man undertakes more than he possibly can do, he will never do all that he can. —HENRY DRUMMOND
  • A person’s true wealth is the good he or she does in the world. —NAZR MOHAMMED
  • My father didn’t tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it. —CLARENCE BUDINGTON KELLAND
  • To her, the name of father was another name for love. —FANNY FERN
  • My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me. —JIM VALVANO

Dad, your guiding hand on my shoulder will remain with me forever.

—UNKNOWN

There is no expiration date on the love between a father and his child.

—JENNIFER WILLIAMSON


  • A father is the one friend upon whom we can always rely. In the hour of need, when all else fails, we remember him upon whose knees we sat when children. —ÉMILE GABORIAU
  • This is the price you pay for having a great father. You get the wonder, the joy, the tender moments—and you get the tears at the end, too. —HARLAN COBEN
  • When a great man dies, for years the light he leaves behind him lies on the paths of men. —HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW
  • A father is neither an anchor to hold us back, nor a sail to take us there, but a guiding light whose love shows us the way. —UNKNOWN
  • That man is a success—who has lived well, laughed often and loved much; who has gained the respect of intelligent men and the love of children; who has filled his niche and accomplished his task; who leaves the world better than he found it; who has never lacked appreciation of earth’s beauty or failed to express it; who looked for the best in others and gave the best he had. —UNKNOWN

 

“When he shall die take him and cut him out in little stars, and he will make the face of heaven so fine that all the world will be in love with night and pay no worship to the garish sun.”

—William Shakespeare



RETURN TO TOP

Celebration of life quotes for a child 

The loss of a child is profoundly difficult. Nothing can take away the pain. Likewise, the enduring memory of a little one’s spirit and the unbreakable bond of love will forever remain. If planning a heartfelt celebration for a child, consider these poignant quotes.

  • Children are the hands by which we take hold of heaven. —HENRY WARD BEECHER
  • In my life, you are the sun that never fades and the moon that never wanes. Shine on, my child. —UNKNOWN
  • There is no foot too small that it cannot leave an imprint on this world. —UNKNOWN
  • To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world. —DR. SEUSS 
  • There are no goodbyes for us. Wherever you are, you will always be in my heart. —GANDHI

This is a brief life, but in its brevity it offers us some splendid moments, some meaningful adventures.

—RUDYARD KIPLING

If you love a flower that lives on a star, it is sweet to look at the sky at night. All the stars are abloom with flowers ...

—ANTOINE DE SAINT-EXUPÉRY


  • I love you right up to the moon and back. —SAM McBRATNEY
  • Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in your heart. —A.A. MILNE
  • Our fingerprints don’t fade from the lives we touch. —JUDY BLUME
  • God gave us memory so that we might have roses in December. —J.M. BARRIE
 

RETURN TO TOP

Funny celebration of life quotes

Don’t be afraid to inject a little humor into the celebration of life. For some, that’s the most familiar way of dealing with a hard time.

  • I shall not die of a cold. I shall die of having lived. —WILLA CATHER
  • Immortality … a fate worse than death. —EDGAR A. SHOAFF
  • I’m always relieved when someone is delivering a eulogy and I realize that I’m listening to it. —GEORGE CARLIN
  • Dying is a very dull, dreary affair. And my advice to you is to have nothing whatever to do with it. —W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM
  • I am ready to meet my maker. Whether my maker is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter. —WINSTON CHURCHILL

“I do not fear death. I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it.”

—Mark Twain


  • Life is stressful, dear. That’s why they say ‘rest in peace.’ —DAVID MAZZUCCHELLI
  • The idea is to die young as late as possible. —ASHLEY MONTAGU
  • Death is nature’s way of saying, ‘Your table is ready.’ —ROBIN WILLIAMS
  • Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It’s the transition that’s troublesome. —ISAAC ASIMOV
  • Life does not cease to be funny when people die any more than it ceases to be serious when people live. —GEORGE BERNARD SHAW

RETURN TO TOP

Religious celebration of life quotes

These verses from the Bible and words written by famous poets and writers look to a higher power to bring peace. Here are a few favorites that are used often in more traditional memorial services.

  • For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. —ROMANS 6:23
  • For this God is our God forever and ever; He will be our guide even to the end. —PSALM 48:14
  • For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God. —JOB 19:25-26
  • The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want. He has me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside the still waters. He revives my soul; He guides me on paths of righteousness for His glory. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no harm, For you are with me ... Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, And I shall abide in the house of the Lord forever. —PSALM 23
  • So you have pain now; but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. —JOHN 16:22

Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.

—MATTHEW 25:21

They will come back, come back again, as long as the red earth rolls. He never wasted a leaf or a tree. Do you think He would squander souls?

—RUDYARD KIPLING


  • It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived. —GEORGE S. PATTON JR.
  • This is my comfort in my affliction; that your promise gives me life. —PSALM 119:50
  • If we have been pleased with life, we should not be displeased with death, since it comes from the hand of the same master. —MICHELANGELO
  • If God hath made this world so fair; Where sin and death abound; How beautiful beyond compare; Will paradise be found! —JAMES MONTGOMERY
  • God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. —REVELATION 21:4

RETURN TO TOP

Plan with us

We believe a celebration of life should be as special as the person it honors. We also believe that every family who chooses to plan with us deserves the opportunity to create a personalized service. Every family who entrusts a Dignity Memorial® provider with their loved one’s celebration receives a meaningful, personalized service where family and friends can come together to share stories, comfort and even a few laughs.

As part of every event, when a family wishes, we include:

  • Music meaningful to the family that highlights the uniqueness of the loved one being honored.
  • Personal items and photos that speak to a loved one’s life, passions and special moments to tell a unique story.
  • A well-crafted message presented by a celebrant, clergy or officiant that reflects the family’s traditions, faith and needs.

Find a provider


Related Content

Tags