100+ Celebration of Life & Funeral Quotes

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. 

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.

• Inspiring celebration of life quotes
• Celebration of life quotes to help with grief
• Uplifting celebration of life quotes
• Celebration of life quotes for Mom
• Celebration of life quotes for Dad
• Celebration of life quotes for a child
• Funny celebration of life quotes
• Religious 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

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

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

• 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

• 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

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

• 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

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

• 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

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

• 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

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

• 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
  
  

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

• 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

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.
  
  

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