104 Caregiver Quotes for Inspiration, Encouragement, & Growth

When You Need Inspiration

This list of inspirational quotes for caregivers offers that needed boost to keep you going. It provides a source of comfort, love, and support when needed. Caregiving is an honorable role filled with memories and growth. These quotes about caring for the elderly highlight the courage and importance of caregiving.

6. "I follow three rules: do the right thing, do your best, and always show people you care." – Lou Holtz
   
   "To care for those who once cared for us is one of the highest honors." – Tia Walker
   
   "All the beautiful sentiments in the world weigh less than a single lovely action." – James Russell Lowell
   
   "Give yourself entirely to those around you. Be generous with your blessings. A kind gesture can reach a wound that only compassion can heal." – Steve Maraboli
   
   "The phrase ‘Love one another’ is so wise. By loving one another, we invest in each other and ourselves. Perhaps someday, when we need someone to care for us, it may not come from the person we expect, but from the person we least expect. It may be our sons or daughter-in-laws, our neighbors, friends, cousins, stepchildren, or stepparents whose love for us has assigned them to the honorable, yet the dangerous position of caregiver.” ― Peggi Speers
   
   "If you shift your focus from yourself to others, extend your concern to others, and cultivate the thought of caring for the well being of others, then this will have the immediate effect of opening up your life and helping you to reach out.” ― Dalai Lama XIV
   
   "No one cares until someone cares; be that one!" ― Ken Poirot
   
   "We can all make a difference in the lives of others in need because it is the most simple of gestures that make the most significant of differences." ― Miya Yamanouchi
   
   "Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around." – Leo Buscaglia
   
   "One person caring about another represents life’s most significant value." – Jim Rohn
   
   "The closest thing to being cared for is to care for someone else." – Carson McCullers
   
   "The simple act of caring is heroic." – Edward Albert 
   

"Nurturing is not complex. It’s merely being tuned in to the thing or person before you and offering small gestures toward what it needs at that time." – Mary Anne Radmacher

"Caring about others, running the risk of feeling, and leaving an impact on people, brings happiness." – Harold Kushner

"KINDESS can transform someone's dark moment with a blaze of light. You'll never know how much your caring matters. MAKE A DIFFERENCE for another today." - Amy Leigh Mercree

"Caregiving often calls us to lean into love we didn't know possible." - Tia Walker

"Caring about others, running the risk of feeling, and leaving an impact on people, brings happiness.” - Harold Kushner

“Nurturing is not complex. It's simply being tuned in to the thing or person before you and offering small gestures toward what it needs at that time.” - Mary Anne Radmacher

“Without a sense of caring, there can be no sense of community.” - Anthony J. D'Angelo

“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.” - Leo Buscaglia

“You really can change the world if you care enough.” - Marian Wright Edelman
“From caring comes courage.” - Lao Tzu

“The simple act of caring is heroic.” - Edward Albert
“When people cared about each other, they always found a way to make it work.” - Nicholas Sparks

“One person caring about another represents life's greatest value.” - Jim Rohn 

When You Need a Good Laugh

Sometimes, laughter is the best medicine. Yet, because of the seriousness caregiving can require, we tend to forget this. These funny caregiver quotes serve as a reminder that it's okay to let your hair down and seek laughter. Finding humor in things will make your role more manageable, more fun and allow you to see the lighter side of life.

"Laugh as much as possible, always laugh. It's the sweetest thing one can do for oneself & one's fellow human beings." –Maya Angelou

"A good laugh makes any interview, or any conversation, so much better." –Barbara Walters

"He who laughs, lasts." –Mary Pettibone Poole

"A good laugh overcomes more difficulties and dissipates more dark clouds than any other one thing." –Laura Ingalls Wilder

"There is nothing like a gleam of humor to reassure you that a fellow human being is ticking inside a strange face." –Eva Hoffman

"Through humor, you can soften some of the worst blows that life delivers. And once you find laughter, no matter how painful your situation might be, you can survive it." –Bill Cosby

"A person without a sense of humor is like a wagon without springs. It's jolted by every pebble on the road." –Henry Ward Beecher

"It is a curious fact that people are never so trivial as when they take themselves seriously." –Oscar Wilde

"When humor goes, there goes civilization." –Erma Bombeck

"A sense of humor... is needed armor. Joy in one's heart and some laughter on one's lips is a sign that the person down deep has a pretty good grasp of life." –Hugh Sidey

"A sense of humor is part of the art of leadership, of getting along with people, of getting things done" –Dwight D. Eisenhower

"I think the next best thing to solving a problem is finding some humor in it." –Frank A. Clark 

"No mind is thoroughly well organized that is deficient in a sense of humor." –Samuel Taylor Coleridge

"Comedy is acting out optimism." –Robin Williams

"A well-developed sense of humor is the pole that adds balance to your steps as you walk the tightrope of life." –William Arthur Ward

"Humor can alter any situation and help us cope at the very instant we are laughing." –Allen Klein

"Humor is just another defense against the universe." –Mel Brooks

"Humor is laughing at what you haven't got when you ought to have it." –Langston Hughes

"Humor is perhaps a sense of intellectual perspective: an awareness that some things are really important, others not; and that the two kinds are most oddly jumbled in everyday affairs." –Christopher Morley

"If you could choose one characteristic that would get you through life, choose a sense of humor." –Jennifer Jones

"Humor is something that thrives between man's aspirations and his limitations. There is more logic in humor than in anything else. Because, you see, humor is truth." –Victor Borge

"Humor is the affectionate communication of insight." –Leo Rosten

"Like a welcome summer rain, humor may suddenly cleanse and cool the earth, the air and you." –Langston Hughes

"Next to power without honor, the most dangerous thing in the world is power without humor." –Eric Sevareid

"The more I live, the more I think that humor is the saving sense." –Jacob August Riis 

When You Feel Overwhelmed

It's perfectly normal to feel overwhelmed as a caregiver. Your role can create a lot of pressure that, at times, is paralyzing. These overwhelmed caregiver quotes serve as a reminder that it's okay to feel this way and you are not alone. Positive caregiver quotes can help give you the state of mind and clarity needed to push through and carry on.

"And it is still true, no matter how old you are, when you go out into the world it is best to HOLD HANDS and STICK TOGETHER." - Robert Fulghum

"A SMILE is the light in your window that tells others that there is a CARING, SHARING person inside." - Denis Waitley

"Care is a state in which something does matter; it is the source of human tenderness." - Rollo May

You can’t calm the storm, so stop trying. What you can do is calm yourself. The storm will pass.” —Timber Hawkeye

“Learning to ignore things is one of the great paths to inner peace.” —Robert J. Sawyer 

“Sometimes you just need to be selfish and take care of you. If they love you, they’ll understand.” —Robert Tew

“I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had absolutely no other place to go.” —Abraham Lincoln

“Some people believe holding on and hanging in there are signs of great strength. However, there are times when it takes much more strength to know when to let go and then do it.” —Ann Landers

“The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret to getting started is breaking your overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.” —Mark Twain

“Life can be magnificent and overwhelming—that is the whole tragedy. Without beauty, love, or danger it would almost be easy to live.” —Albert Camus 

When You Feel Burnt Out

Caregiver burnout is by far the largest obstacle the role faces. 46% of caregivers state they have too many things to handle. All this responsibility creates stress, which causes caregiver burnout. We've collected these caregiver burnout quotes to offer relief for some of that stress. They highlight that it's okay to get knocked down as long as you get back up. When you feel as if caregiving pressures are weighing you down, turn to these quotes for strength.

“Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.” - Arnold Schwarzenegger

“True strength is keeping everything together when everyone expects you to fall apart.” – Unknown

“Anyone can give up, it’s the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that’s true strength.” – Unknown

“You never know how strong you are… until being strong is the only choice you have.” ― Cayla Mills

“Fall down seven times, get up eight.” – Japanese Proverb 

“Nothing is impossible, the word itself says ‘I’m possible’!” – Audrey Hepburn

“Anyone can hide. Facing up to things, working through them, that’s what makes you strong.” – Sarah Dessen

“Talents are best nurtured in solitude, but character is best formed in the stormy billows of the world.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved.” – Helen Keller

“I have no regrets in my life. I think that everything happens to you for a reason. The hard times that you go through build character, making you a much stronger person.” – Rita Mero 

On the Importance of Family

Family isn't just blood. It's those you're closest to. Family is the people in your life that mean everything to you, give you the support you need, and offer the love you deserve. These family caregiver quotes show the importance of family, the bonds we make, and the support given when it's needed most.

“Family is not an important thing. It’s everything." —Michael J. Fox

"FAMILY is the most important thing in the world." - Princess Diana

“To us, family means putting your arms around each other and being there.” –Barbara Bush

“In family life, love is the oil that eases friction, the cement that binds closer together, and the music that brings harmony.” –Friedrich Nietzsche

“Other things may change us, but we start and end with the family.” –Anthony Brandt

“The family is one of nature’s masterpieces.” –George Santayana

“In time of test, family is best.” –Burmese Proverb 

“Stick to the basics, hold on to your family and friends – they will never go out of fashion.” –Niki Taylor

“My family is my life, and everything else comes second as far as what’s important to me.” –Michael Imperioli

“There is no doubt that it is around the family and the home that all the greatest virtues… are created, strengthened and maintained.” –Winston Churchill

“The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other’s life.” –Richard Bach

“Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family: Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.” –Jane Howard

“Families are the compass that guides us. They are the inspiration to reach great heights, and our comfort when we occasionally falter.” –Brad Henry

“When trouble comes, it’s your family that supports you.” –Guy Lafleur 

When All You Need is Encouragement

Family isn't just blood. It's those you're closest to. Family is the people in your life that mean everything to you, give you the support you need, and offer the love you deserve. These family caregiver quotes show the importance of family, the bonds we make, and the support given when it's needed most.

"It is not how much you do, but how much love you put in the doing." - Mother Teresa

"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage." - Laozi

"Love seeks one thing only: the good of the one loved. It leaves all the other secondary effects to take care of themselves. Love, therefore, is its own reward." - Thomas Merton

“Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.” – Harriet Beecher Stowe

“We must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey.” – Kenji Miyazawa
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do, so throw off the bowlines, sail away from safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, Dream, Discover.” – Mark Twain

“Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success.” – Dale Carnegie

“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” – Anne Frank

“Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.” – John Wooden

“Be thankful for what you have and you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.” – Oprah Winfrey

“A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him.” – David Brinkley 

“A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him.” – David Brinkley

“Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it.” – Greg Anderson

“When we stop opposing reality, action becomes simple, fluid, kind, and fearless.” – Byron Katie

“Each morning when I open my eyes I say to myself: I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn’t arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I’m going to be happy.” – Groucho Marx

“If there is no struggle, there is no progress.“ – Frederick Douglass
“A ship is always safe at the shore – but that is NOT what it is built for.” – Albert Einstein

“The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up.” – Mark Twain

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.” – Albert Einstein

“Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” – Will Rogers

“Your destiny is to fulfill those things upon which you focus most intently. So choose to keep your focus on that which is truly magnificent, beautiful, uplifting and joyful. Your life is always moving toward something.” – Ralph Marston