By Maxime Lagacé
Maxime is the founder of WisdomQuotes. He has been collecting quotes since 2004. His goal? To help you develop a calm and peaceful mind. Learn more about him on his about page.
What’s the key to a happy life?
Having great relationships.
According to a 75-year-old Harvard study, people with close connections:
- are happier
- are healthier
- live longer
Inspired by this, I have compiled 139 of the best relationship quotes I’ve collected over the years.
I hope it will help you connect even more with your loved ones and your friends.
After all, what would your life be without them?
You’ll discover quotes by Osho, Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa, and many more.
Enjoy!
A relationship where you can be weird together is your best choice. Paulo Coelho
Life appears to me too short to be spent in nursing animosity or registering wrongs. Charlotte Brontë
Treat everyone as if they were a guest in your own house, because in reality, they are a guest in your own world. B. D. Schiers
Never ask, “Who is my real friend?” Ask, “Am I a real friend to somebody?” That is the right question. Osho
Be a loving person rather than in a love relationship. Osho
When your heart has room for everybody then your heart is full of love. Fred Rogers
Love is at the root of everything. All learning. All parenting. All relationships. Love, or the lack of it. Fred Rogers
There’s only one thing more precious than our time and that’s who we spend it on. Leo Christopher
In a sense, people are our proper occupation. Our job is to do them good and put up with them. Marcus Aurelius
Stay away from people who makes you feel like you are wasting their time. Paulo Coelho
If you love yourself you love others, if you hate yourself you hate others, because in relationship with others it is only you mirrored. Osho
If we would build on a sure foundation in friendship, we must love friends for their sake rather than for our own. Charlotte Brontë
My experience is that the teachers we need most are the people we’re living with right now. Byron Katie
The most amazing friends – the ones who make life worth living – tend to be the ones who defy convention. Shane Parrish
People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered. Love them anyway. Mother Teresa
Related
- 110 Family Quotes To Inspire Closeness With Your Relatives
- 100 Sister Quotes That You Will Instantly Relate To
- 155 Brother Quotes That Will Make You Feel Lucky
The Best Relationship Quotes
Never close your lips to those whom you have already opened your heart. Charles Dickens
My friends are my estate. Emily Dickinson
We get so wrapped up in numbers in our society. The most important thing is that we are able to be one-to-one, you and I with each other at the moment. If we can be present to the moment with the person that we happen to be with, that’s what’s important. Fred Rogers
I’ve come to understand that listening is one of the most important things we can do for one another… if we care, we can listen. Fred Rogers
When our friends are present, we ought to treat them well; and when they are absent, to speak of them well. Epictetus (Enchiridion)
When humans are ranked instead of linked, everyone loses. Gloria Steinem (My Life on the Road)
You’ll have to drop this desire for attention, this desire for getting sympathy from people. In fact, it is very ugly to desire sympathy from people – it makes you a beggar. Osho
The more you judge, the more you separate yourself. Naval Ravikant
Politeness and consideration for others is like investing pennies and getting dollars back. Thomas Sowell
Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud. Maya Angelou
There are many times when it is better to be kind than clever. Thibaut
Remember to stay away from people who have a problem for every solution. Paulo Coelho
Friendship isn’t a big thing – it’s a million little things. Paulo Coelho
When you lose a possession, you realize that you valued it too much. When you lose a person, you realize that you didn’t value them enough. Neil Strauss
Quit wanting them to be the way you want them to be. Just love them. Kamal Ravikant
Eliminate time spent with people who would rather drone on about their misery than hear about your successes. Taylor Burrowes
Associate with people who are likely to improve you. Welcome those who you are capable of improving. The process is a mutual one: men learn as they teach. Seneca
You should never be afraid of people… such fear can destroy us completely. You’ve simply got to get rid of it, if you want to turn into someone decent. You understand that, don’t you? Hermann Hesse (Demian)
Hold onto people who feel like home. Unknown
We’re human beings; we’re not robots. And face-to-face contact is something totally different than typing a text message and then forgetting about it. Noam Chomsky
Everyone is normal until you get to know them. Brent Beshore
Never look up to anybody, never look down on anybody. You look them eye to eye. Unknown
We’re often afraid of being vulnerable, but vulnerability creates genuine connection. Gabby Bernstein
We humans definitely need other people to keep us human. Terry Pratchett
So much of life is being present with the people you love. Shane Parrish
Related: 100 Respect Quotes That Will Make Your Life Better
Part 2. Relationship Quotes That Are…
The Most Famous Relationship Quotes
Seeking for a famous relationship quote or author? Check out these by Nietzsche, Dalai Lama, Goethe, etc.
Seek first to understand, then to be understood. Stephen R. Covey
When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time. Maya Angelou
We are like chameleons. We take our hue and the color of our moral character, from those who are around us. John Locke
Tell me with whom you consort and I will tell you who you are; if I know how you spend your time, then I know what might become of you. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
We must bear up against them and make the best of mankind as they are, since we cannot make them as we wish. George Washington
Genuine friendship is not based on money and power, but on trust, which in turn develops as a result of showing concern for other people’s well-being. In other words, friendship is founded on warm-heartedness. 14th Dalai Lama
I’m Tibetan, I’m Buddhist and I’m the Dalai Lama, but if I emphasize these differences it sets me apart and raises barriers with other people. What we need to do is to pay more attention to the ways in which we are the same as other people. 14th Dalai Lama
It’s better to hang out with people better than you. Warren Buffett
The aim of spiritual practice is to become the friend of all beings, concerned and ready and able to help them. 14th Dalai Lama
Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them? Abraham Lincoln
The man of knowledge must be able not only to love his enemies but also to hate his friends. Friedrich Nietzsche
Do not cling to any one person, not even your most beloved: every person is a prison and also a hiding place. Friedrich Nietzsche
To be capable of steady friendship or lasting love, are the two greatest proofs, not only of goodness of heart, but of strength of mind. William Hazlitt
We are so different, yet so much the same. Gloria Steinem (My Life on the Road)
Do not waste time bothering whether you ‘love’ your neighbor; act as if you did. As soon as we do this we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him. C. S. Lewis
The deepest principle of human nature is the craving to be appreciated. William James
Charity begins at home, and justice begins next door. Charles Dickens
Short Relationship Quotes
One-liners, short relationship quotes, sayings, thoughts, and captions for your bio, social status, self-talk, motto, mantra, signs, posters, wallpapers, and backgrounds.
Avoid boring people. Josh Wolfe
People aren’t projects. Bob Goff
Compliment people behind their back. Sahil Lavingia
#1 relationship rule: over communicate. Carlos Del Valle
Without relationships, we have nothing. Esther Wojcicki
Assumptions are the termites of relationships. Henry Winkler
Every man I meet wants to protect me. I can’t figure out what from. Mae West
Give without a sense of superiority or charity. Unknown
Trust yourself, you will start to trust others. Santosh Kalwar
Nobody raises his reputation by lowering others. Tim Fargo
You don’t know yourself – how can you know others. Osho
Stop networking, start making friends. Sahil Lavingia
Never chase a person running away from themselves. Thibaut
Take a lover who looks at you like maybe you are magic. Frida Kahlo
Of each other, we should be kind while there is still time. Philip Larkin
When you love someone you want to take care of that person as you would take care of yourself. Thich Nhat Hanh
Inspirational Relationship Quotes
Nobody is superior, nobody is inferior but nobody is equal either. People are simply unique, incomparable. You are you, I am I. Osho
Become what you want to see in the world and it will be so. If you want an amazing relationship with your partner, be an amazing partner. If you want people to be thoughtful and kind, be thoughtful and kind. Small changes in your actions change your entire world. Shane Parrish
We must each adopt as much responsibility as possible for individual life, society and the world. We must each tell the truth and repair what is in disrepair and break down and recreate what is old and outdated. It is in this manner that we can and must reduce the suffering that poisons the world. It’s asking a lot. It’s asking for everything. Jordan Peterson (12 Rules for Life)
What I really would like said about me is that I dared to love. By love, I mean that condition in the human spirit so profound it encourages us to develop courage and build bridges, and then to trust those bridges and cross the bridges in attempts to reach other human beings. Maya Angelou
Be kind. Right now, right here, in your own life, in whatever way you can. Just be kind. There’s so much going on that we cannot solve. So many people we cannot help. So much cruelty we can do nothing about. But we can be kind to one another. That’s a step we can all take today. Jason Garner
As you improve, you’ll find yourself more disappointed with those around you. To avoid this, be hard on yourself but understanding of others. Ed Latimore (edlatimore.com)
Find someone who makes reality better than dreams and do your best to deserve them. Shane Parrish
The greatest achievement is selflessness. The greatest worth is self-mastery. The greatest quality is seeking to serve others. Atiśa Dīpaṃkara Śrījñāna
If you think something positive about someone, you should tell them. It is the easiest and cheapest way to create value that exists in the world. Justin Kan
Find joy in everything you choose to do. Every job, relationship, home… it’s your responsibility to love it, or change it. Chuck Palahniuk
Whenever we see something which would benefit others, no matter how small, then we should do it. Tai Situ Rinpoche
Related: 100 Love Quotes For Her (+Beautiful Images)
Wise Relationship Sayings
Be human: accept the other person’s humanity with all the frailty humanity is prone to. Osho
Watch people like a hawk, and when they do something good, tell them. Jordan Peterson
Don’t return it, give it away. Don’t keep fixing it, create something new. Don’t force the relationship, find someone else. Naval Ravikant
Become more loving and more silent. It is a difficult task! Be loving to others, and when you are alone be silent. Osho
When love is a relationship, it creates misery. When love is a state of being, it creates bliss. Osho
The only way a relationship will last is if you see your relationship as a place that you go to give, and not a place that you go to take. Tony Robbins (Source)
We are interested in others, when they are interested in us. Publilius Syrus
If your relationship isn’t right, have the courage and respect to tell your partner what you’re feeling. You really have three options: fix it, leave, or accept the status quo. Shane Parrish
We don’t need to be constantly reasonable in order to have good relationships; all we need to have mastered is the occasional capacity to acknowledge with good grace that we may, in one or two areas, be somewhat insane. Alain de Botton (The Course of Love: A Novel)
Successful relationships start by giving up control, giving up the need to be loved or wanted or right all the time. Mark Manson
One can no more approach people without love than one can approach bees without care. Such is the quality of bees. Leo Tolstoy
Forget trying to change people. Either change yourself or change your environment. Or both. Ed Latimore
No one changes unless they want to. Not if you beg them. Not if you shame them. Not if you use reason, emotion, or tough love. There’s only one thing that makes someone change: their own realization that they need to do it. And there’s only one time it will happen: when they decide they’re ready. Lori Deschesne (tinybuddha.com)
The secret to a happy relationship is two happy people. Naval Ravikant
All top level relationships require radical honesty. Pat Stedman
In relationship there must be affection, consideration, adjustment, self-denial, yielding; not to conquer but to live happily. Jiddu Krishnamurti
To understand you, I must have no preconceived formulations about you, no prejudice; I must be open, without judgment, without comparison. Jiddu Krishnamurti
When you can love all people for who they are, not for what they can give you, you are a wealthy being. Iyanla Vanzant
Don’t create expectations around things you don’t control. One of those things: other people’s actions. Justin Kan
You are as good as how nice you are to people you don’t have to be nice to. Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Related: Tips for Building a Healthy Relationship (helpguide.org)
Conclusion
If you want people to listen to you, you have to listen to them. If you hope people will change how they live, you have to know how they live. If you want people to see you, you have to sit down with them eye-to-eye. Gloria Steinem (My Life on the Road)
Mutually caring relationships require kindness and patience, tolerance, optimism, joy in the other’s achievements, confidence in oneself, and the ability to give without undue thought of gain. We need to accept the fact that it’s not in the power of any human being to provide all these things all the time. For any of us, mutually caring relationships will also always include some measure of unkindness and impatience, intolerance, pessimism, envy, self-doubt, and disappointment. Fred Rogers
Further Readings
- 110 Love Quotes To Bring More Vitality To Your Life
- 100 Lovely Children Quotes To Inspire You
- 100 Parenting Quotes To Encourage And Inspire You
- How to Be a Good Friend (YouTube video by The School of Life)
- All Successful Relationships Need Work And Here’s Why (thriveglobal.com)
- 71 Generosity Quotes To Make Your World Better
- 100 Peace Quotes To Inspire A Better World
- 71 Toxic People Quotes To Take Back Your Power
- The Best 70 Fake Friends And Fake People Quotes
Hope you enjoyed these beautiful relationship quotes.
And remember: the relationship you have with people is everything. They make up your world.
However, the most important relationship you have is with yourself.
Now, if you did enjoy the quotes, please share them with a friend today!
Do you have good relationships? What’s your favorite relationship quote? And remember: words can transform your life, if you find the right ones.
Table Of Contents
Part 1
Top 15 Images
Best Quotes
Part 2
Relationships Quotes That ARE
Famous
Short
Inspirational
Wise
Part 3
Conclusion