Once the children grow up and leave home, parents often find it hard to cope with an empty nest.
No matter how ready they think they are for this new phase of life, it catches them totally unprepared.
Here are the best empty nest quotes I found on the web to offer the newly empty nesters some words of comfort and wisdom from those who have been in the same situation.
Top 20 Empty Nest Quotes
1. “There are two lasting bequests we can give our children. One is roots. The other is wings.” — Hodding Carter, Jr.
2. “It is not what you do for your children, but what you have taught them to do for themselves that will make them successful human beings.” — Ann Landers
3. “Give the ones you love wings to fly, roots to come back, reasons to stay.” — Dalai Lama
4. “A wise parent humors the desire for independent action, so as to become the friend and advisor when his absolute rule shall cease.” — Elizabeth Gaskel, North and South
5. “People make a lot of jokes about the empty nest. Let me tell you, it is no laughing matter. It is really hard.” — Michelle Pfeiffer
6. “The art of mothering is to teach the art of living.” — Elaine Hefner
7. “I wish I could freeze time or go back in time and watch my kids grow up all over again because it is just going by too fast.” — Robert Rodriquez
8. “The best way to keep children at home is to make the home atmosphere pleasant and let the air out of the tires.” — Dorothy Parker
9. “You see much more of your children after they leave home.” — Lucille Ball
10. “Raising your child well is hard. But learning to let them go out into the world and prove that you did your job right is even tougher.” — J. Craine
11. “Empty nest is not just about the loud quiet. It’s about being at the center of your own life where your kids used to be. You’ll be encouraged to embrace your freedom, go back to school, volunteer, but come first again is not as easy as it sounds. It feels like wearing shoes on the wrong feet.” — Susan Bonifant
12. “Home is where somebody notices when you are no longer there.” — Aleksandar Hemon
13. “To be the mother of a grown-up child means that you don’t have a child anymore, and that is sad. When the grown-up child leaves home, that is sadder.” — Wendell Berry
14. “The afternoon of life is just as full of meaning as the morning; only, its meaning and purpose are different.” — Carl Jung
15. “As a parent, you quickly realize that life is one long series of letting go: watching your kid crawl, then walk, then run, and then drive away.” — Deborah Mitchell
16. “Our job as parents is to teach our kids not to need us. And it hurts, but when you see them as accomplished, confident, kind, thoughtful, responsible people, then you know you’ve done your job.” — Barack Obama
17. “The empty nest is underrated.” — Nora Ephron
18. “I used to wish for each day to go by so fast. For you to be older, more independent, and able to take care of yourself. Now that moment has come and all I want is to go back and start over.” — Lauren Tingley
19. “The fingerprints on the wall appear higher and higher. Then suddenly they disappear.” — Dorothy
20. “There are two times when parenting is the most difficult. When the baby first arrives at home, and when the adult first leaves home.” — Jennifer Quinn
See also: 60 Best Parenting Quotes For Hard Times To Inspire You
Empty Nester Quotes
1. “When my children left home, I thought my efforts at building a home had been a failure. Now, my grandchildren have shown me just what a success I really am.” — Unknown
2. “When she left home, innocence whispered goodbye as she walked away.” — Unknown
3. “…it’s hard — looking ahead, seeing their mistakes coming, and then, unless they are in actual mortal danger, holding their hands as they make them anyway.” — Kelly Harms, The Overdue Life of Amy Byler
4. “In letting your child go, you are letting them grow.” — Unknown
5. “Being a good parent requires knowing when to push and when to back off, when to help and when to let them make mistakes and then being strong enough to watch them go.” — Unknown
6. “Contrary to all we hear about women and their empty-nest problem, it may be fathers more often than mothers who are pained by the children’s imminent or actual departure–fathers who want to hold back the clock, to keep the children in the home for just a little longer. Repeatedly women compare their own relief to their husband’s distress.” — Lillian B. Rubin
7. “In my daughter’s eyes, I am a hero. I am strong and wise, and I know no fear, but the truth is plain to see she was sent to rescue me.” — Martina McBride
8. “I diagnosed my loneliness as premature empty nest syndrome.” — Kristen Schaal
9. “I was learning to map my own course and determine my own destination now that my children were no longer at home. A fire burned within my soul, igniting possibilities I had previously only dreamed of for myself. I was choosing to feather my empty nest with leather and chrome, not a second-hand lover.” — Debi Tolbert Duggar
10. “She was both sad and happy for her children to leave home. Part of what she had always wanted to do seemed now to be already done, but now she could sit back and see the fruits of her labor.” — Unknown
Mom Empty Nest Quotes
1. “To all mothers in every circumstance, including those who struggle, I say, ‘Be peaceful. Believe in God and yourself. You are doing better than you think you are.” — Jeffrey R. Holland
2. “The biggest change for me as a mom was realizing I needed to put someone else before me. Now the hardest part about the empty nest is learning to put myself first. I know that I have raised my sons to be big, strong, independent men who love God, themselves and care for others. I have to learn to let them have space and learn without me.” — Kim Alexis
See also: 120 Cool Boy Mom Quotes For All The Proud Moms Raising Boys
3. “It doesn’t matter how old you are or what you do in your life. You never stop needing your mom.” — Kate Winslet
4. “You are a Miracle. And I have to love you this fiercely: So that you can feel it even after you leave for school, or even while you are asleep, or even after your childhood becomes a memory. You’ll forget all this when you grow up. But it’s okay. Being a mother means having your heart broken. And it means loving and losing and falling apart and coming back together.” — Katherine Center
5. “A mother’s job is to teach her children not to need her anymore. The hardest part of that job is accepting success.” — Unknown
6. “I think the hardest thing for a mother is to make it possible for a child to be independent and at the same time let the child know how much you love her, how much you want to take care of her, and yet how truly essential it is for her to fly on her own.” — Madeleine Albright
7. “Grown don’t mean nothing to a mother. A child is a child. They get bigger, older, but grown? What’s that supposed to mean? In my heart, it don’t mean a thing.” — Toni Morrison
8. “And despite everything I know now, I still believe, as I did when I was little, that there is an entire universe of things that my mother knows that I don’t. I still believe that nothing truly bad can ever happen if my mother is around. I know it’s not true. But still. It is true.” — Katherine Center
9. “Clarity and focus don’t always come from God or inspirational quotes. Usually, it takes your mother to slap the reality back into you.” — Hannon Alder
10. “The mother-child relationship is paradoxical and, in a sense, tragic. It requires the most intense love on the mother’s side, yet this very love must help the child grow away from the mother and to become fully independent.” — Erich Fromm
See also: 140 Bond Between Mother And Child Quotes To Warm Your Heart
Empty Nest Quotes About Letting Go
1. “Letting go does not mean abandoning your child. It means allowing your child to learn responsibility and to feel capable.” — Unknown
2. “Letting go helps us to live in a more peaceful state of mind and helps restore our balance. It allows others to be responsible for themselves and for us to take our hands off situations that do not belong to us. This frees us from unnecessary stress.” — Melody Beattie
3. “Sometimes love means letting go when you want to hold on tighter.” — Unknown
4. “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
5. “There comes a time in a parent’s life when you need to let go of your child’s hands and hope to God they have learned the lessons we as parents have taught them!” — Unknown
6. “To raise a child who is comfortable enough to leave you means you’ve done your job. They are not ours to keep, but to teach how to soar on their own.” — Anonymous
7. “She stopped herself. He wasn’t a boy. A time comes in the life of a mother and son when that kind of mothering crosses the line into critical behavior. At age thirty, he could eat and talk in any way he saw fit.” — Catherine Ryan Hyde, Heaven Adjacent
8. “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” — Albert Einstein
9. “It takes a lot more courage to let something go than it does to hang on to it, trying to make it better. Letting go doesn’t mean ignoring a situation. Letting go means accepting what is, exactly as it is, without fear, resistance, or a struggle for control.” – Iyanla Vanzant
10. “To think about letting my children go is like an arrow to the soul. I know it must happen, but the pain makes it hard to breathe.” — Unknown
See also: 130 Deep Goodbye Letting Go Of Someone You Love Quotes
Empty Nest Inspirational Quotes
1. “Your child’s life will be filled with fresh experiences. It’s good if yours is as well.” — Dr. Margaret Rutherford
2. “Our children’s independence is a reminder of how much we had to give and all that we have accomplished. It is a pleasure to remember that it is not a form of abandonment but an expression of a job well done.” — Madeline Levine
3. “I think that the best thing we can do for our children is to allow them to do things for themselves, allow them to be strong, allow them to experience life on their own terms.” — C. Joybell C.
4. “I have found the best way to give advice to your children is to find out what they want and then advise them to do it.” — Harry Truman
5. “It’s not only children who grow. Parents do too. As much as we watch to see what our children do with their lives, they are watching us to see what we do with ours. I can’t tell my children to reach for the sun. All I can do is reach for it myself.” — Joyce Maynard
6. “Be open to what comes next for you. You may be heading in one direction, and then life brings you another that might be a good thing.” — Natalie Cane
7. “Every time you think that letting go of your children once they grow up is hard, look at the trees…. They have been letting go of their leaves for ages. Leaves which once were part of them, but will neither be that from then on nor will get back to being a part of them like before. Ever again….” — Diti Swain
8. “Live so that when your children think of fairness, caring, and integrity, they think of you.” — H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
9. “My mom and dad gave their kids the greatest gift of all – the gift of unconditional love. They cared deeply about who we would be and much less about what we would do.” — Mitt Romney
10. “The ‘empty nest’ comes quickly. Do not squander your most precious privilege of participating in the lives of your children.” — Unknown
See also: 100 Most Emotional Missing Out On Your Child’s Life Quotes
Funny Empty Nest Quotes
1. “SING OUT LOUD IN THE CAR, even, or especially, if it embarrasses your children.” — Marilyn Penland
2. “Leaving home was scary. It taught me many lessons, such as everyone’s in a hurry, everything costs money, and not everyone has manners…that’s the last time I go to the corner store.” — Unknown
3. “Empty nest syndrome? There’s a nap for that.” — Unknown
4. “When mothers talk about the depression of the empty nest, they’re not mourning the passing of all those wet towels on the floor, or the music that numbs your teeth, or even the bottle of capless shampoo dribbling down the shower drain. They’re upset because they’ve gone from supervisor of a child’s life to a spectator. It’s like being the vice president of the United States.” — Erma Bombeck
5. “Hey, empty nest parents, if you want your kid to call you, just change your Netflix password.” — Unknown
6. “EMPTY NESTER: When the kids move out, and the whole house is my naked room.” — Unknown
7. “If only I had more laundry to do,’ said no empty nester mother ever.” — Unknown
8. “If the nest is truly empty, who owns all this junk?” — Erma Bombeck
9. “It’s not an empty nest until they get their stuff out of the basement.” — Unknown
10. “Adolescence is perhaps nature’s way of preparing parents to welcome the empty nest.” — Karen Savage and Patricia Adams
Wrapping It Up
I believe my collection of empty nest quotes helped you come to terms with your transition to a new phase in parenting.
Don’t worry, you’re going to make it through this!
