A Trusted Friend in a Complicated World

55 Sister Quotes That Perfectly Sum Up Your Relationship

Updated: Jul. 01, 2024

Celebrate your sibling with these thoughtful, funny and inspiring sister quotes

Sister Quotes That Perfectly Sum Up Your Relationship Maxime Lagacé, white daisies in a vase, purple
RD.COM, GETTY IMAGES

Sister quotes that celebrate your bond

There’s nothing like having a sister. You laugh, you cry, you fight and you share some of your greatest memories. It’s hard to sum up sisterhood in a couple of words, but like our list of brother quotes, this collection of sister quotes does a nice job of capturing the essence of that special and sometimes complicated sibling relationship.

So send one or all of these sister quotes to the woman who was your first best friend to let her know she’s on your mind.

Get Reader’s Digest’s Read Up newsletter for more quotes, humor, cleaning, travel, tech and fun facts all week long.

Sister Quotes That Perfectly Sum Up Your Relationship James Devries, butterflies, green
RD.com, Getty Images

The best sister quotes

1. “Sisters are different flowers from the same garden.” —Unknown

2. “You know full well as I do the value of sisters’ affections; there is nothing like it in this world.” —Charlotte Brontë

3. “When sisters stand shoulder to shoulder, who stands a chance against us?” —Pam Brown

4. “Sister is probably the most competitive relationship within the family, but once the sisters are grown, it becomes the strongest relationship.” —Margaret Mead

5. “Parents die, daughters grow up and marry out, but sisters are for life.” —Lisa Lee

6. “My first job is big sister, and I take that very seriously.” —Venus Williams

7. “Sisters function as safety nets in a chaotic world simply by being there for each other.” —Carol Saline

8. “A sister is both your mirror—and your opposite.” —Elizabeth Fishel

9. “Sisters are for sharing laughter and wiping tears.” —Unknown

10. “Sisterhood is powerful.” —Robin Morgan

11. “Acquaintances were always on their best behavior, but sisters loved each other enough to say anything.” —Lauren Weisberger

12. “Look inside any sister relationship, and you’ll find a wealth of interesting stories.” —Colleen Sell

13. “She’s always there for me when I need her. She’s my best friend. She’s just my everything.” —Ashley Olsen

14. “A sister can be seen as someone who is both ourselves and very much not ourselves—a special kind of double.” —Toni Morrison

15. “Bless you, my darling, and remember you are always in the heart—oh tucked so close there is no chance of escape—of your sister.” —Katherine Mansfield

16. “A sister is a gift to the heart, a friend to the spirit, a golden thread to the meaning of life.” —Isadora James

17. “A sister shares childhood memories and grown-up dreams.” —Unknown

18. “What’s the good of news if you haven’t a sister to share it?” —James DeVries

19. “Having a sister is like having a best friend you can’t get rid of. You know whatever you do, they’ll still be there.” —Amy Li

20. “Sisters share a bond unlike any other—thornier, but also tender, full of possibility.” —Joy McCullough

21. “For there is no friend like a sister / In calm or stormy weather; / To cheer one on the tedious way, / To fetch one if one goes astray, / To lift one if one totters down, / To strengthen whilst one stands.” —Christina Rossetti, “Goblin Market”

22. “Sweet is the voice of a sister in the season of sorrow.” —Benjamin Disraeli

23. “A woman without her sister is like a bird without her wings.” —Moosa Rahat

If these sister quotes spoke to you, these family quotes will hit close to home too.

Sister Quotes That Perfectly Sum Up Your Relationship, white daisies in a vase, teal Little Women Winona Ryder
RD.com, Getty Images

Sweet sister quotes

24. “We have our own, unspoken language—a look that makes one of us fall on the floor laughing or the slight inflection in our voice that conveys everything.” —Barbara Bush

25. “Is solace anywhere more comforting than that in the arms of a sister?” —Alice Walker

26. “A sister is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost.” —Marion C. Garretty

27. “So distant yet so close. So different yet so similar. That’s why I love my sister.” —Maxime Lagacé

28. “I could never love anyone as I love my sisters.” —Winona Ryder as Jo March in 1994’s Little Women

29. “Unconditional love: the definition of sister.” —Alicia Cook

30. “The best thing about having a sister was that I always had a friend.” —Cali Rae Turner

31. “A sister is a friend you don’t have to avoid the truth with.” —Michelle Malm

32. “I’ve known every love possible, but as the years stretched out, the love I longed for the most is the one I shared with my sister.” —Josephine Angelini

33. “To have a loving relationship with a sister is not simply to have a buddy or a confidant … it is to have a soulmate for life.” —Victoria Secunda

34. “I do not see as well without her. I do not hear as well without her. I do not feel as well without her. I would be better off without a hand or a leg than without my sister.” —Erin Morgenstern

35. “We’ll always fight, but we’ll always make up as well. That’s what sisters do: We argue, we point out each other’s frailties, mistakes and bad judgment, we flash the insecurities we’ve had since childhood, and then we come back together. Until the next time.” —Lisa See

36. “The ones that stay with you through everything—they’re your true best friends. Don’t let go of them. Also remember, sisters make the best friends in the world.” —Marilyn Monroe

37. “A sister is one who reaches for your hand and touches your heart.” —Unknown

Don’t forget about the man of the house with these amazing dad quotes.

Sister Quotes That Perfectly Sum Up Your Relationship Kendall Jenner, leather red and blue heels, orange
RD.com, Getty Images

Funny sister quotes

38. “What are sisters for if not to point out the things the rest of the world is too polite to mention.” —Claire Cook, Must Love Dogs: New Leash on Life

39. “I would like more sisters, that the taking out of one, might not leave such stillness.” —Emily Dickinson

40. “Sisters never quite forgive each other for what happened when they were 5.” —Pam Brown

41. “Sisters are reliably good for two things: hating and loving.” —Jessica Knoll, The Favorite Sister

42. “A sister will always notice her sister’s first gray hairs with glee.” —Allison M. Lee

43. “Sisters don’t need words—we’ve already got our own language of eye rolls, sighs, winks, laughs and screams.” —Unknown

44. “Is there anything worse than receiving pity from your little sister?” —Louise Miller, The Late Bloomers’ Club

45. “A young lady’s most natural ally is her sister, although sometimes our own relatives are as inscrutable to us as an antipodean.” —Anna Godbersen, Envy

46. “My sisters were the color and noise in my black-and-white boy world—how I pitied my friends who had brothers.” —Rob Sheffield, Talking to Girls About Duran Duran

47. “Nobody fights you like your own sister; nobody else knows the most vulnerable parts of you and will aim for them without mercy.” —Jojo Moyes, The Girl You Left Behind

48. “I would kind of torture her. I was the older sister, and it was just the two of us. So I would play mental games with her.” —Emily Deschanel

49. “At this point, none of us are sure why we fight. We’re sisters. We need no good reason to fight, even though we have plenty of them.” —Ken Wheaton, Sweet as Cane, Salty as Tears

50. “No one will ever be as entertained by us as us.” —Unknown

51. “If you don’t understand how a woman could both love her sister dearly and want to wring her neck at the same time, then you were probably an only child.” —Linda Sunshine

52. “When I say ‘I won’t tell anyone,’ we all know my sister doesn’t count.” —Unknown

53. “But most are like my sister and me … linked by volatile love, best friends who make other best friends ever so slightly less best.” —Patricia Volk

54. “You can kid the world but not your sister.” —Charlotte Gray

55. “The only person I lie to is my little sister, when I steal her clothes.” —Kendall Jenner

Next, read these gratitude quotes that will perfectly capture how you feel about having a sister.

Additional contributions by Charlotte Hilton Andersen and Emma Taubenfeld

Why trust us

At Reader’s Digest, we’re committed to producing high-quality content by writers with expertise and experience in their field in consultation with relevant, qualified experts. We rely on reputable primary sources, including government and professional organizations and academic institutions, as well as our writers’ personal experiences where appropriate. We verify all facts and data, back them with credible sourcing and revisit them over time to ensure they remain accurate and up to date. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.