48 mother-son quotes to celebrate the bond of boy moms

The special bond between sons and mothers is special — there is nothing in the world quite like the love a mother has for her son.

TODAY's Craig Melvin adores his mother, Betty-Jo Melvin, and has described her as the "glue" that holds his family together.

"I'm not me without her and neither is my brother, her siblings, or grand," Craig gushed in an Instagram post in December 2023. "She’s sacrificed her entire life so those around her can live better. The love that endures is beyond social media expression."

Justin Timberlake called his mom his “superhero,” who makes “the best cinnamon sugar toast on the planet.”

Patrick Mahomes sweetly announced that his was “the best mom in the game" and Leonardo DiCaprio says his mom is "the only reason I'm able to do what I do."

But these modern sons aren't the first to comment on the love they have for their mothers. The mother-son bond has long been a source of thoughtful inspiration.

If you're looking for mother-son quotes for a card, an Instagram post or simply to show mom how much she is loved, you can't go wrong with this collection of sweet quotes.

48 Mother-Son Quotes That Embody Love

Here are some of the most notable and memorable things famous sons — whether they're writers, presidents or athletes — have said about their moms:

• “They used to say, ‘Oh, he’s just his mother’s son,’ as a way of dismissing me. And every time I’d say, ‘Oh, yes, thank you! I’m so proud of that.’” — Justin Trudeau

• “She always told us, ‘Don’t you walk into a place like you want to buy it, walk in like you own it.’” Matthew McConaughey

• “To be a mother of a son is one of the most important things you can do to change the world. Raise them to respect women, raise them to stand up for others, raise them to be kind.” — Shannon L. Alder

• “I still feel the love she gave us and that is testament to her massive heart and her amazing ability to be a great mother.” Prince William

• "There is an endearing tenderness in the love of a mother to a son that transcends all other affections of the heart." — Washington Irving

• "A mother’s arms are made of tenderness and children sleep soundly in them." — Victor Hugo

• “No man succeeds without a good woman behind him. Wife or mother, if it is both, he is twice blessed indeed.” — Godfrey Winn

• “She loved a boy very, very much — even more than she loved herself.” — Shel Silverstein

• "Happy the boy whose mother is tired of talking nonsense to him before he is old enough to know the sense of it." — Augustus Hare

• “She’s the only reason I’m able to do what I do.” — Leonardo DiCaprio

• “I remember my mother’s prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life.” — Abraham Lincoln

• “My mother was the making of me. She was so true, so sure of me; and I felt I had something to live for, someone I must not disappoint.” — Thomas Edison

• “If love is as sweet as a flower, then my mother is that sweet flower of love.” — Stevie Wonder

• "You don’t raise heroes, you raise sons. And if you treat them like sons, they’ll turn out to be heroes, even if it’s just in your own eyes." — Walter M. Schirra Sr.

• "My mom was tiny, and for most of my childhood she weighed almost nothing and looking back on it, I realize why — because she never sat down to actually eat. She was always getting up and getting food and getting seconds for people. She was never sitting, eating. She was a wonderful loving person." — Al Roker

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

• "My mother is an incredibly beautiful woman who has laughed at every single thing my father’s ever said. At a young age, my brother and I understood that if you can make girls laugh, you can punch well above your weight class.” — Seth Meyers

• "A boy’s best friend is his mother." — Joseph Stefano

• “Mom, I’ll never stop trying to make you laugh. I love you.” — Jimmy Fallon

• “Without you none of this is possible. You are the kindest, gentlest, most loving mother a son could ever ask for. You have taught us what strength really means. Family is everything. We all love you so much.” — Tom Brady

• "Mother’s love is bliss, is peace, it need not be acquired, it need not be deserved." — Eric Fromm

• “Twenty years on I still feel the love she gave us and that is testament to her massive heart and her amazing ability to be a great mother.” — Prince William

• "We are born of love; love is our mother." — Rumi

• “Mothers are inscrutable beings to their sons, always.” — A.E. Coppard

• “Mother is her son’s first god. She must teach him the most important lesson of all — how to love.” — T. F. Hodge

• “She was my mother, my father, my everything. She put me first. I knew that no matter what happened, nothing and nobody was more important to her than I was. I went without a lot of things, but never for one second did I feel unimportant or unloved.” — Lebron James

• “No family looks exactly the same. So proud to call both of these ladies ‘Mom.’” — Rob McElhenney

• “I want to thank you for always being there as a positive force in my life. You are the definition of a perfect woman: the giver, nurturer, caretaker, who exudes grace at all times no matter what obstacles life throws at you.” — Russell Wilson

• “Thanks mom.” — Nathan Chen

• “My mother carried me for 10 months. I asked her ‘Mother, you had an extra month, why you didn’t make me a beautiful face?’ And mother told me, ‘My son, I was busy making your beautiful hands and heart.’” — Mstislav Rostropovich

• “She was the strongest person I ever met.” — Anderson Cooper

• “Men are what their mothers made them.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

• “A mother is a son’s first true love. A son, especially that first son, is a mother’s last true love.” — Denzel Washington

• “As a son I would say this, she was the best mum in the world. She smothered us with love, that’s for sure.” — Prince Harry

• “Youth fades; love droops; the leaves of friendship fall; a mother’s secret hope outlives them all.” — Oliver Wendell Holmes

• “Her love for her family and her faith in God somehow gave her the strength, not only to go on but to love life without bitterness and instill in all of us a gratitude for every day we have together.” — Stephen Colbert

• “Everything I am and continue to strive to be is because of you.” — Justin Timberlake

• “My mother was the one constant in my life. When I think about my mom raising me alone when she was 20, and working and paying the bills, and, you know, trying to pursue your own dreams, I think is a feat that is unmatched.” — Barack Obama

• "Whatever else is unsure in this stinking dunghill of a world a mother’s love is not." — James Joyce

• ​​“It’s a funny thing about mothers ... Even when their own child is the most disgusting little blister you could ever imagine, they still think that he or she is wonderful.” — Roald Dahl

• “All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.” — Abraham Lincoln

• “When you look into your mother’s eyes, you know that is the purest love you can find on this earth.” — Mitch Albom

• “God could not be everywhere, and therefore he made mothers.” — Rudyard Kipling

• “If I have done anything in life worth attention, I feel sure that I inherited the disposition from my mother.” — Booker T. Washington

• “My mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. All I am I owe to my mother. I attribute my success in life to the moral, intellectual and physical education I received from her.” — George Washington

• “My mother had a slender, small body, but a large heart — a heart so large that everybody’s joys found welcome in it, and hospitable accommodation.” — Mark Twain

• “My mother is my root, my foundation. She planted the seed that I base my life on, and that is the belief that the ability to achieve starts in your mind.” — Michael Jordan

• "Moms are as relentless as the tides. They don’t just drive us to practice; they drive us to greatness." — Steve Rushin

This article was originally published on TODAY.com