With the planning of a celebration of life comes the search for the perfect words. You might sit down to your computer and find yourself feeling stuck… What should I say?… You decide on a collection of customary words you’ve heard at services before… Does that sound too generic?… And before you know it, you’ve typed and deleted three different introductions and are staring at a blinking cursor… This is hard.        

Finding Celebration of Life Quotes

You want to know that what you choose to say or write for a memorial will do justice to the life that your loved one lived. You want to know that your words will provide genuine comfort. Lighten understands this can sometimes be difficult. And we would like to help. In this article, we are providing guidance toward celebration of life quotes that will help honor a life well lived.

I. In Remembrance 

In the setting of a memorial service, a powerful quote can be a powerful way to honor the a loved one’s life. Sentiments like the ones below are typically the kind that inspire collective nods and phrases of affirmation uttered under our breath. There is something to be said about the power that a small phrase can have to activate individual memories from every person gathered together for the purpose of honoring a life.    

• How you make others feel about themselves, says a lot about you.

• “Nothing ever goes away until it teaches us what we need to know.” – Pema Chodron

• “What we once enjoyed and deeply loved we can never lose, for all that we love deeply becomes part of us.” – Helen Keller

• Retrospection is what creates fond memories.

• Evidence of a life well lived is found in those who love you.

II. For the Living

Gathering for a memorial service or celebration of life can be a meaningful source of support and community for family members and friends of the loved one who passed away. Uplifting and inspiring celebration of life quotes can help create an atmosphere of comfort and healing.

• “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.” –  Dr. Seuss

• “Wherever you are, be all there.” – Jim Elliot

• Because someone you love is in heaven, there’s a little bit of heaven in your home.

• “A great soul never dies. It brings us together again and again.” – Maya Angelou

III. From Famous Passages

There is comfort to be found in literature that has withstood the test of time because it holds universal truths. If you plan to print cards for an in-person memorial service or are setting up the biography on a memorial webpage, consider searching for a passage from the loved one’s favorite pieces of literature. It will make the sentiment just that much more personal.  

• “Now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story no one on earth has ever read, which goes on forever; in which every chapter is better than the one before.” – C.S. Lewis, The Last Battle (The Chronicles of Narnia)  

• “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So do not be troubled or afraid.” – John 14:27

• “Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul. And sings the tune without the words, and never stops at all.” – Emily Dickinson, “Hope” is the thing with feathers – (314)

• “Perhaps they are not stars but rather openings in heaven where the love of our lost ones shines down to let us know they are happy.” – Indigenous legend

If you are in the process of planning a celebration of life, let one of the Lighten team members help you. Tell us the story of your loved one’s life and we will curate a celebration to match.