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157 Best Single Mom Quotes To Inspire And Show Your Strength

157 Best Single Mom Quotes To Inspire And Show Your Strength

Being a single mom can be a really difficult and demanding job, but it’s one that deserves respect, as some of these single mom quotes prove!

​No matter how much ​people perceive you to be a strong woman, we all have an emotional side and the challenges of parenthood can wear you down regardless of how strong you are!

Believe it or not, single mom quotes help keep that confidence level high and are a great pick-me-up for when you really need one.​​​

The short ones are perfect to put on a Mother’s Day “Thank you” card if you were raised by a single parent, while the longer single mother quotes do a great job of putting into words what it really means to be a single parent.

I’ve searched the internet for some of the best ones and compiled this list for you to look back at when you need some inspiration, especially when motherhood feels hard.

Being A Single Mom Quotes

Single motherhood quotes

Motherhood is an experience that needs to be celebrated in every sense of the word.

Here are some single mom quotes that help describe the ups and downs of this vital role and what they all mean.

1. “Motherhood: All love begins and ends there.” – Robert Browning

2. “Single motherhood is an amazing thing; it’s a blessing.” – Kelly Cutrone

3. “The emotions, responsibilities – and the pain – of motherhood are unique to each of us with children. Ask any woman, and she will have her own story to tell.” – Fiona Barton

4. “There’s no doubt that motherhood is the best thing in my life. It’s all that really matters.” – Courtney Cox

5. “Even though it leaves me sleep-deprived, I love every bit of motherhood.” – Neha Dhupia

6. “For me, motherhood is learning about the strengths I didn’t know I had, and dealing with the fears I didn’t know existed.” – Halle Berry

7. “Motherhood is the most challenging as well as the utmost satisfying vocation in this world.” – Nita Ambani

8. “Motherhood has a very humanizing effect. Everything gets reduced to essentials.” – Meryl Streep

Single motherhood quote

9. “Motherhood is the strangest thing, it can be like being one’s own Trojan horse.” – Rebecca West

10. “You don’t take a class; you’re thrown into motherhood and learn from experience.” – Jennie Finch

11. “That’s what motherhood is: you’re working; you’re doing 25 different jobs, and you’re not getting paid.” – Melissa Peterman

12. “Motherhood is… difficult and… rewarding.” – Gloria Estefan

13. “Motherhood is the ultimate call to sacrifice.” – Wangechi Mutu

14. “There is no role in life that is more essential than that of motherhood.” – Elder M. Russell Ballard

15. “Motherhood was the first instance in my life where I was asked to sacrifice anything for anyone.” – Kim Brooks

16. “Motherhood informs my work 100 percent.” – Jessica Marais

17. “Motherhood is nitty and gritty and brutal and wonderful. Sometimes, you’re really in the trenches!” – Constance Marie

18. “Motherhood was the great equalizer for me; I started to identify with everybody.” – Annie Lennox

19. “Motherhood is the exquisite inconvenience of being another person’s everything.” – Unknown

20. “Motherhood is the only thing in my life that I’ve really known for sure is something I wanted to do.” – Cynthia Nixon

21. “With what price we pay for the glory of motherhood.” – Isadora Duncan

22. “One thing I know for sure – this motherhood thing is not for sissies.” – Jennifer Nettles

23. “There’s a feeling sometimes in motherhood that you’re alone in what you’re going through, and none of us are alone. We’re all going through the same thing.” – Nia Vardalos

24. “Motherhood is a beautiful, wonderful gift… except when it’s not.” – Rachel Hollis

25. “Each child is biologically required to have a mother. Fatherhood is a well-regarded theory, but motherhood is a fact.” – PJ O’Rourke

26. “Sometimes the strength of motherhood is greater than natural laws.” – Barbara Kingsolver

27. “We may not want to say it out loud, but motherhood is hard.” – Stephanie Ruhle

28. “Motherhood is the greatest thing and the hardest thing.” – Ricki Lake

29. “Motherhood changes everything.” – Adriana Trigiani

30. “Mothers are the people who love us for no good reason. And those of us who are mothers know it’s the most exquisite love of all.” – Maggie Gallagher

31. “Passion has always been important to me. That won’t change. What changes is a woman’s perspective. I mean, I have two kids now. I’m a single parent balancing motherhood and my career. That changes the equation.” – Jody Watley

RELATED: 70+ Inspirational Motherhood Quotes To Empower You

Single mother life quotes

Having to go through life as the only parent can be both physically and emotionally exhausting at times. These single mom quotes cover it all perfectly.

1. “There will be so many times you feel like you failed. But in the eyes, ears, and mind of your child, you are a SUPER MOM.” – Stephanie Precourt

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

3. “The best place to cry is on a mother’s arms.” – Jodi Picoult

4. “Some days she has no idea how she’ll do it. But every single day it still gets done.” – Anonymous

Single mother life quote

5. “I think it’s really important for every mother to find their own way.” – Solange Knowles

6. “Mother is the name for God in the lips and hearts of little children.” – William Makepeace Thackeray

7. “A single mother has a backbone made of steel and a heart full of gold.” – Anonymous

8. “The most precious jewels you’ll ever have around your neck are the arms of your children.” – Cardinal Mermillod

9. “It may be tough at times, but I can honestly say, at least from my experience, it’s not nearly as hard as I thought it would be.” – Stella Aluxum

10. “Heavy is the head, forced to wear two crowns.” – R. P. Falconer

11. “The truth is, every son raised by a single mom is pretty much born married.” – Chuck Palahniuk

12. “We don’t get to choose who we fall in love with. If we did, the world would have fewer single mothers.” – Margaret A. Belt

13. “Being a single mum is twice the work, twice the stress and twice the tears but also twice the hugs, twice the love and twice the pride.” – Anonymous

14. “The loves of my life are my children and my mother. I don’t feel as if I need a man.” – Diane Keaton

15. “You can be a mess and still be a good mom. You are allowed to be both.” – Anonymous

16. “She has to have four arms, four legs, four eyes, two hearts, and double the love. There is nothing single about a single mom.” – Mandy Hale

17. “You have to carry on as a mother, no matter what, and that’s what I’ve always done.” – Madonna

18. “I’m a hustler. I’m a single mom, so whatever I’ve gotta do, I gotta do.” – Sherri Shepard

19. “Babies are bits of star-dust blown from the hand of God. Lucky the woman who knows the pangs of birth for she has held a star.” – Larry Barretto

20. “A single mom tries when things are hard. She never gives up. She believes in her family, even when things are tough. She knows that above all things, a mother’s love is more than enough.” – Deniece Williams

21. “You do the best you can. Some days you feel really good about yourself and some days you don’t.” – Katie Holmes

22. “I believe the choice to become a mother is the choice to become one of the greatest spiritual teachers there is.” – Oprah Winfrey

23. “A mother is she who can take the place of all others but whose place no one else can take.” – Cardinal Meymillod

24. “I want to show the example that you can be a single mother and work and handle a lot of other things at the same time.” – Christina Milian

25. “My family is blended and diverse, nutty, and loving and understanding. That’s a family.” – Sandra Bullock

26. “A mother’s happiness is like a beacon, lighting up the future but reflected also on the past in the guise of fond memories.” – Honore de Balzac

27. “A mother’s arms are more comforting than anyone else’s.” – Princess Diana

28. “The life of a mother is the life of a child: you are two blossoms on a single branch.” – Karen Maezen Miller

29. “I know how to do anything, I’m a mom.” – Rosanne Barr

30. “There is nothing in the world of art like the songs mother used to sing.” – Billy Sunday

31. “You make it work. You keep getting out of bed. Sometimes it’s just because you know there’s a cup of coffee downstairs.” – Michelle Williams

32. “Just because I am a single mother doesn’t mean I cannot be a success.” – Yvonne Kaloki

Single mother life quote

33. “Being a full-time mother is one of the highest salaried jobs since the payment is pure love.” – Mildred B. Vermont

34. “We are born of love; love is our mother.” – Rumi

35. “Children are the anchors that hold a mother to life.” – Sophocles

36. “Whatever else is unsure in this stinking dunghill of a world, a mother’s love is not.” – James Joyce

37. “A child’s first teacher is its mother.” – Peng Liyuan

38. “The mother’s heart is the child’s schoolroom.” – Henry Ward Beecher

39. “There’s no way to be a perfect mother and a million ways to be a good one.” – Jill Churchill

40. “A mother’s arms are made of tenderness and children sleep soundly in them” – Victor Hugo

41. “Life began with waking up and loving my mother’s face.” – Geroge Eliot

42. “It takes one rad mama to be a father too.” – Anonymous

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

44. “Having kids—the responsibility of rearing good, kind, ethical, responsible human beings—is the biggest job anyone can embark on.” – Maria Shriver

45. “Single moms: You are a doctor, a teacher, a nurse, a maid, a cook, a referee, a heroine, a provider, a defender, a protector, a true superwoman. Wear your cape proudly.” – Mandy Hale

46. “Only mothers can think of the future because they give birth to it in their children.” – Maxim Gorky

47. “Mothers – especially single mothers – are heroic in their efforts to raise our nation’s children, but men must also take responsibility for their children and recognize the impact they have on their families’ well-being.” – Evan Bayh

48. “I thought about giving up, but then I remembered who was watching.” – Anonymous

49. “I didn’t plan on being a single mom, but you have to deal with the cards you are dealt the best way you can.” – Tichina Arnold

50. “What is free time? I’m a single mother. My free moments are filled with loving my little girl.” – Roma Downey

51. “Nothing you do for children is ever wasted.” – Garrison Keillor

52. “If you bungle raising your children, I don’t think whatever else you do matters very much.” – Jackie Kennedy

53. “As a single mum you’ll discover inner strengths and capabilities you never knew you had.” – Emma-Louise Smith

54. “I value so many people who have to work full time, definitely single mothers. Their work is the hardest work. I applaud it so much.” – Molly Sims

55. “I was once a single mother, with very few resources, so I have a special place in my heart for women in difficult situations.” – Linda Lael Miller

56. “I don’t think you necessarily have to be part of a traditional nuclear family to be a good mother.” – Mary Louise Parker

57. “My mother was a single mom, and most of the women I know are strong.” – Regina King

58. “I am struggling, I won’t lie, but every night when I put my little one to sleep and I watch her, I know deep in my heart that she is well worth my struggles.” – Jesenia

59. “I was a single mom that raised two bright, beautiful, and compassionate girls.” – Connie Stevens

60. “I am a single mum. What is your superpower?” – Anonymous

Single mother life quote

61. “As a single mom, I’m juggling a lot and working long hours. Yes, it costs them a little, but what my children get in return is a mother who is energized and content.” – Edie Falco

62. “Mothers are the necessity of invention.” – Bill Watterson

63. “I was raised in Boston by three older brothers and a very strong and empowering single mom.” – Eliza Dushku

64. “President Obama’s fight for rural America is personal. He was raised by a single mom and grandparents from Kansas. He hails from a farming state, Illinois.” – Tom Vilsack

65. “I was born and raised in East Los Angeles by a single mom who had three biological kids and adopted four more. I never met my dad.” – Will.I.Am

66. “[Being a mom] will change your life, but I think in the long run it will change for the better.” – Gypsy Lady

67. “You are doing what is best for you and your children. You can’t ever be faulted for that. Hang in there.” – Skoy Chicago

68. “Being raised by a single mother, I learned to appreciate and value independent women.” – Kenny Conley

69. “Respect to all mums doing double duty because of men failing to do their part as dads.” – John Mark Green

70. “My children may not have everything they want in life, but they have a mum who loves them more than anything in the world.” – Anonymous

71. “When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child.” – Sophia Loren

72. “Breathe darling, this is just a chapter. It’s not your whole story.” – S.C Lourie, Empowered Single Moms

73. “Even on the days you feel like you are failing, look around, I promise your kids still think you are the best mom in the whole universe.” – Anonymous

74. “The best part of being a mom to me is the unconditional love. I have never felt a love as pure, a love that’s as rewarding.” – Monica Denise Brown

75. “In the end, I am the only one who can give my children a happy mother who loves life.” – Janene Wolsey Baadsgaard

76. “You are never ‘just’ a mom. You are everything your child can need in life, and more.” – Anonymous

77. “It takes a tremendous amount of strength to be a single mother. To hold down the forte of a home, a life and your child’s entire happiness.” – Nikki Rowe

78. “Single mom or not, remember that you are the best and you are doing the best.” – Anonymous

79. “The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before.” – Rajneesh

80. “Did you hear? Superheroes are real. They are called single moms.” – Anonymous

81. “So far I’m not surprised by anything about being a mom. It’s all pretty great — but that’s what I expected.” – Charlize Theron

82. “Gone are the days when you would sit and wait for your knight in shining armor. Be brave, be independent and believe that you can do it, and you can do a better job.” – Anonymous

83. “Career is important, but nothing really supersedes my role as a mother.” – Halle Berry

84. “The anger and hurt you have within will only help you become stronger and more caring and protective towards your children.” – Anonymous

85. “I’m not really single. I mean I am, but I have a son. Being a single mother is different from being a single woman.” – Kate Hudson

86. “At the end of the day, it’s the bond you share with your child that matters, and you mommy know just how to do that.” – Anonymous

87. “Mom – a title just above the queen.” – Anonymous

Single mother life quote

88. “As long as we are giving our kids the best life we can… I don’t see anything to be ashamed of.” – Sarah Rachel

89. “Being a mother is hard and it wasn’t a subject I ever studied.” – Ruby Wax

90. “You’d be surprised how it all works out in the end. You’ll quickly find a routine that works for [you and your children].” – Sig Kap

91. “A mother is clothed with strength and dignity, laughs without fear of the future. When she speaks her words are wise and she gives instructions with kindness.” – Proverbs

92. “You have a good head on your shoulders and you’ll get yourself to where you need to be, and that’s all you should ask of yourself.” – Jay Elise

93. “The strength of my mother is something I didn’t pay attention to for so long. Here she was, this single mom, who was part of the Great Migration, who was part of a Jim Crow south, who said, ‘I’m getting my kids out of here. I’m creating opportunities for these young people by any means necessary’.” – Jacqueline Woodson

94. “The heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness.” – Honore de Balzac

95. “He didn’t realize that love as powerful as your mother’s for you leaves its own mark.” – J.K. Rowling

96. “A mother is your first friend, your best friend, your forever friend.” – Unknown

97. “Mother is a verb. It’s something you do. Not just who you are.” – Dorothy Canfield Fisher

98. “Moms are the people who know us the best and love us the most.” – Anonymous

Single parent quotes

Going through life raising a child without a partner might not be the ideal life you pictured, but your child sure makes everything worth it.

These single mom quotes capture the importance of your little ones perfectly.

1. “When you’re a single parent, you’re often lonely yet seldom alone. There is no backup… It is mothering without a net.” – Amy Dickinson

2. “I can’t tell you how much I respect all the single parents out there doing it solo.” – Jennie Finch

3. “It’s not single parenthood in and of itself. It’s more about how people parent.” – Sophie Zadeh

4. “The most difficult part of dating as a single parent is deciding how much risk your own child’s heart is worth.” – Daniel Pearce

5. “Being a working mother and a working single parent instills in you a sense of determination.” – Felicity Jones

6. “Better a loving single-parent family than a ‘conventional’ family where the parents hate each other and the father is a demagogue.” – Moby

7. “Single parent mothers who aren’t spending their time looking for a man but spending their time providing for their children are the most admirable people on earth.” – Anonymous

8. “Being a single parent is not a life full of struggles, but a journey for the strong.” – Meg Lowrey

Single parent quote

9. “I know it’s hard being a single parent, but I’d rather do it by myself than with someone who doesn’t want to.” – Anonymous

10. “Single parents don’t have it easy. They find a way to make it work, even when they don’t know how. It’s the love for their child that pushes them through, every single time.” – Inspirational Quotes Journal

11. “I would say to any single parent currently feeling the weight of stereotype or stigmatization that I am prouder of my years as a single mother than of any other part of my life.” – J.K. Rowling

12. “What is best for us will be the best for the baby in the end, because when we are emotionally healthy and strong, we can be the best parents we can be.” – KLeighC

13. “If you want to stand with me as a single mom – and I know so many of my friends and colleagues do – please don’t appropriate my burden as a way to validate your own. To suggest that you are single-parenting when you are simply solo for the weekend devalues what real single mothers do.” – Rachel Simmons

14. “The best gift a parent can give children is time … Single moms need to know it’s okay to have a little ‘me’ time.” – Denise Richards

15. “Remember that a single mom is just like any other mom and that our number one priority is still our kids. Any parent does whatever it takes for their kids and a single mother is no different.” – Paula Miranda

16. “I hope telling the story of how I went from being a single mom to serving in the Texas State Senate to running for governor will remind others that with the right leadership in government, where you start has nothing to do with how far you go.” – Wendy Davis

17. “I think moms, single or not, put a lot of pressure on ourselves trying to balance it all. It’s NEVER going to be perfectly balanced — the sooner you know this, the sooner you can relieve some of the pressure you put on yourself.” – Denise Richards

18. “Being a single parent made me stronger than ever before.” – Anonymous

19. ”Don’t pity me because I am a single mum. Respect me for having the courage to do it alone, the strength to never give up and the love to put my child’s needs before my own.” – mysinglemummyself.com

20. “The women whom I love and admire for their strength and grace did not get that way because things worked out. They got that way because things went wrong, and they handled it. They handled it in a thousand different ways on a thousand different days, but they handled it. Those women are my superheroes.” – Elizabeth Gilbert

21. “Being a single parent is twice the work, twice the stress and twice the tears but also twice the hugs, twice the love, and twice the pride.” – Anonymous

22. “I’m a single parent. What’s your superpower?” – Anonymous

23. “Don’t feel guilty about being a single mother. Patience is super important as a single mother. You do have to be a little more patient because all of the responsibility is on you…ask for help!” – Nia Long

24. “I love being a single mom. But it’s definitely different when you’re dating.” – Brooke Burns

25. “I don’t think I realized how stressed I was, being a single parent. It was really, really stressful. It’s not easy on anybody.” – Reese Witherspoon

26. “When you’re sick, nobody takes care of you like your mom.” – Trisha Yearwood

27. “I was illustrating, and I was cleaning people’s houses; I was doing whatever I could to take care of my kid as a single parent.” – Emil Ferris

28. “I am a single mom and I’m the breadwinner and I have to work and I have to do these things and that’s just the way it is. I don’t think my son even knows any different. ” – Charisma Carpenter

In Conclusion

Single dad and single mom quotes are great at motivating parents that have to do most of the parenting themselves to keep going. They remind them that all this work is definitely worth it in the end.

Although you are filling the role of two parents at once, trust that your kids are getting all the love and affection they need to grow up into healthy adults.

Just keep going, you’re on the right path!

READ NEXT: 13 Best Ways To Find Single Mom Help

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