Friends come and go, but family? As we get older, we realize they’re ours for the long haul. Here are 11 inspiring quotes from our partners at Grandparents.com that remind us how terrific, crazy and kind our families can be. Do you have your own favorite truism? Share it in the comments section below.

“Family is not an important thing. It’s everything.”

– Michael J. Fox

“A happy family is but an earlier heaven.”

– George Bernard Shaw

“Family: where life begins and love never ends.”

– Unknown

“I want my children to have all the things I couldn’t afford. Then I want to move in with them.”

– Phyllis Diller

“What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family.”

– Mother Teresa

“In the family, happiness is in the ratio in which each is serving the others, seeking one another’s good, and bearing one another’s burdens.”

– Henry Ward Beecher

“A family is a risky venture, because the greater the love, the greater the loss… That’s the trade-off. But I’ll take it all.”

– Brad Pitt

“This is part of what a family is about, not just love. It’s knowing that your family will be there watching out for you. Nothing else will give you that. Not money. Not fame. Not work.”

– Mitch Albom

“The other night I ate at a real nice family restaurant. Every table had an argument going.”

– George Carlin

“Families are like fudge – mostly sweet with a few nuts.”

– Unknown

“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

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