"You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them."

~ Desmond Tutu

Photo by yalgood

"I don't care how poor a man is; if he has family, he's rich."

~Dan Wilcox and Thad Mumford, "Identity Crisis"

"In time of test, family is best."

~Burmese Proverb

"At the end of the day, a loving family should find everything forgivable."

~Mark V. Olsen and Will Sheffer, Big Love, "Easter"

Raccoon Family by Brian Tang

"The family is one of nature's masterpieces."

~ George Santayana

Photo by Vasi Vasut

"Govern a family as you would cook a small fish - very gently."

~ Chinese Proverb

"The family you come from isn't as important as the family you're going to have."

~ Ring Lardner

"Other things may change us, but we start and end with the family."

~ Anthony Brandt

"The love of a family is life's greatest blessing."

"He that raises a large family does, indeed, while he lives to observe them, stand a broader mark for sorrow; but then he stands a broader mark for pleasure too."

~ Benjamin Franklin

Temple monkeys (macaques), Khao Takiab near Hua Hin, Thailand by Gerald Zinnecker

"A family is a place where minds come in contact with one another. If these minds love one another, the home will be as beautiful as a flower garden. But if these minds get out of harmony with one another it is like a storm that plays havoc with the garden."

~ Buddha

"The only rock I know that stays steady, the only institution I know that works is the family."

~Lee Iacocca

Family by Paul van Wijngaarden