There is no bond like that of mothers and daughters — and there's science to back that statement up. According to a 2016 study published in the Journal of Neuroscience, the part of the brain that regulates emotion, is more similar between mothers and daughters than any other intergenerational pairing.
In 2023, TODAY co-anchor gushed Savannah Guthrie opened up about how she found comfort in her mom, Nancy, during a period of self-doubt.
“When I was in my 30s, I really wished to be married and to be a mom, and things just did not happen that fast for me,” Savannah shared on TODAY. “And my mom’s confidence that I would be a mom — even as the years ticked by and ticked by and ticked by — meant so much to me.
“She said, ‘Of course you’ll be a mom, and you’re going to be a wonderful mom,’” Savannah continued. “And for her to have that confidence and faith was so meaningful to me. It got me through some really hard times.”
Savannah would go on to marry Michael Feldman and welcome two children: Vale and Charley.
Jennifer Garner was brought to tears talking about the relationship with her mom during a 2015 TODAY appearance, and Angelina Jolie called her mother "extraordinary" in an interview with Anderson Cooper, adding, "I could never be as good of a mother or person (as her)."
Kate Hudson once said she was "damn proud" of being her mother's daughter.
“I really look at that as a real blessing because the relationship between mother and daughter is very complex and to be able to talk about the importance of the relationship is something that I look forward to," Hudson told the Associated Press about Goldie Hawn in 2013. "It really informed such a huge part of who I am and the confidence that I have as a woman. It really does come from the closeness that I have with mommy.”
But these celebrities aren’t the only grateful daughters to comment on the love they have for their mothers. The mother-daughter bond has been a source of thoughtful inspiration for decades.
33 Mother Daughter Quotes
Whether you’re looking for mother-daughter quotes for a card, an Instagram post or simply to show mom how much she is loved, here are some of the most notable and memorable mother-daughter quotes to share:
- “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
- “My mother wanted me to be her wings, to fly as she never quite had the courage to do. I love her for that. I love the fact that she wanted to give birth to her own wings.” ― Erica Jong
- “The relationship between parents and children, but especially between mothers and daughters, is tremendously powerful, scarcely to be comprehended in any rational way.” ― Joyce Carol Oates
- "Some women pray for their daughters to marry good husbands. I pray that my girls will find girlfriends half as loyal and true as the Ya-Yas." ― Rebecca Wells, "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood"
- "You are my sun, my moon, and all of my stars." — e.e. cummings
- “I tell my daughter every morning, ‘Now, what are the two most important parts of you?’ And she says, ‘My head and my heart.’” Viola Davis
- "My daughter is my biggest achievement. She is a little star and my life has changed so much for the better since she came along." — Denise Van Outen
- "Mothers of daughters are daughters of mothers and have remained so, in circles joined to circles, since time began." — Signe Hammer
- "The more a daughter knows the details of her mother’s life ... the stronger the daughter." ― Anita Diamant, "The Red Tent"
- "Mothers are the most dynamic and influential force on the development of a young woman’s journey to being herself." — Hillary L. McBride, "Mothers, Daughters, and Body Image"
- "A daughter is a mother’s gender partner, her closest ally in the family confederacy, an extension of her self. And mothers are their daughters’ role model, their biological and emotional road map, the arbiter of all their relationships." ― Victoria Secunda
- “Having a little girl has been like following an old treasure map with the important paths torn away.” ― Heather Gudenkauf, "The Weight of Silence"
- “When someone asks you where you come from, the answer is your mother. ... When your mother’s gone, you’ve lost your past. It’s so much more than love. Even when there’s no love, it’s so much more than anything else in your life. I did love my mother, but I didn’t know how much until she was gone.” ― Anna Quindlen, "One True Thing"
- “A mother’s treasure is her daughter.” — Catherine Pulsifer
- "Mothers and daughters are part of each other’s consciousness, in different degrees and in a different way, but still with the mutual sense of something which has always been there." ― Edith Wharton, "The Mother’s Recompense"
- "To describe my mother would be to write about a hurricane in its perfect power. Or the climbing, falling colors of a rainbow." ― Maya Angelou
- "It’s one of those things where you think you’ve done it all, you think you’ve felt it all. But I just didn’t know that this kind of love existed.” — Hoda Kotb
- “Sometimes the strength of motherhood is greater than natural laws.” — Barbara Kingsolver
- “My Mother: She is beautiful, softened at the edges and tempered with a spine of steel. I want to grow old and be like her. ” — Jodi Picoult
- “Would all the drops of an ocean be enough to describe the love of a mother?” ― Shah Asad Rizvi
- "Sometimes even grown women need their mother’s comfort so they can take a break from all that being strong." ― Colleen Hoover, "It Ends with Us"
- “Mums are plants which spread their scent to love, heal and lead.” ― Qamar Rafiq
- "Maybe I stepped into the skin my mother left behind and became the girl my mother had been, the one she still wanted to be." — Laura Kasischke, "White Bird in a Blizzard"
- “At the end of the day my most important job is still mom-in-chief.” —Michelle Obama
- “We mothers are learning to mark our mothering success by our daughters’ lengthening flight.” — Letty Cottin Pogrebin, "Family Politics"
- “My mom taught me a woman’s mind should be the most beautiful part of her.” — Sonya Teclai
- "My mother told me two things constantly. One was to be a lady, and the other was to be independent." — Ruth Bader Ginsburg
- "Mothers and daughters together are a powerful force to be reckoned with." — Melia Keeton-Digby, "The Heroines Club: A Mother-Daughter Empowerment Circle"
- “One of the most important relationships we’ll have is the relationship we have with our mothers.” — Iyanla Vanzant
- "By the time you realize your mother was right, you have a daughter who thinks that you’re wrong." — Sada Malhotra
- "As for my girls, I’ll raise them to think they breathe fire." — Jessica Kirkland
- "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. She is the beating of my heart. I cannot now imagine a life without her.” — Kristin Hannah, "Summer Island"
- "There’s no way to be a perfect mother and a million ways to be a good one." — Jill Churchill
