152 Birthday Quotes to Celebrate Friends and Family

Use these happy birthday messages On good friends, best friends, girlfriends, and boyfriends.

There are a lot of ways to wish someone a happy birthday, from the two-word tradition to more personal takes on the day. There are also plenty of reasons to gravitate toward the latter, especially when celebrating good friends, best friends, girlfriends, or boyfriends. To help, we've put together an original list of happy birthday quotes to share with someone special in your life. Check out the selection below.

RELATED: I'm Sorry Quotes: 100 Ways to Apologize.

152 Ways to Wish Someone a Very Happy Birthday

Use these meaningful birthday messages to wish someone the very best on their special day. Write them on a birthday card, incorporate them into a birthday gift, or save them for a special toast at the birthday party. The choice is yours!

Inspirational Birthday Quotes

woman blowing confetti and sending happy birthday wishes
Shutterstock / Simona Pilolla 2
  1. "Your birthday is the beginning of your own personal new year. Your first birthday was a beginning, and each new birthday is a chance to begin again, to start over, to take a new grip on life." — Wilferd Peterson
  2. "Birthdays are inevitable, beautiful, and very particular moments in our lives! Moments that bring precious memories back, celebrate the present times, and give hope for the future." — Bsbr Arish
  3. "There are two great days in a person's life—the day we are born and the day we discover why." — William Barclay
  4. "In other words, live vicariously, beautifully, and excitingly, discover, love, dare and act as there is nothing to lose." — Andy Hertz
  5. "We should celebrate every year that we made it through and every year that we're happier and healthier." — Ellen DeGeneres
  6. "Don't just count the years, make the years count." — George Meredith
  7. "Because time itself is like a spiral, something special happens on your birthday each year. The same energy that God invested in you at birth is present once again." — Menachem Mendel Schneerson
  8. "I believe that no matter what condition you are in when someone close to your heart remembers your birthday and wishes you a happy birthday, you feel happy." — A. Singla
  9. "Celebrate your journey of life." — Lailah Gifty Akita
  10. "Eventually you reach a point when you stop lying about your age and start bragging about it." — Will Rogers
  11. "A birth date is a reminder to celebrate the life as well as to update the life." — Amit Kalantri
  12. "Each new year of life added to your past, changing the way you viewed every new day, influencing how you reacted to everything from the simplest daily routines to complex events touching you, your family, and the world you lived in." — Paul Snyder
  13. "A birthday is not a day to fear. It is a day to celebrate and look forward to the coming year." — Byron Pulsifer
  14. "My life is better with every year of living it." — Rachel Maddow
  15. "If we could be twice young and twice old we could correct all our mistakes." — Euripides
  16. "You take away all the other luxuries in life, and if you can make someone smile and laugh, you have given the most special gift: happiness." — Brad Garrett
  17. "A child whose birthday is coming up is so excited, they count down the days. But as we get older we seem to lose the excitement. We need to rethink and be happy we have reached another birthday." — Theodore W. Higginsworth
  18. "Age is a case of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter." — Satchel Paige
  19. "When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice." — Cherokee Proverb

Funny Birthday Quotes

silly man sending a happy birthday message
Shutterstock / Golubovy
  1. "You are only young once, but you can stay immature indefinitely." — Ogden Nash
  2. "Why is a birthday cake the only food you can blow on and spit on and everybody rushes to get a piece?" — Bobby Kelton
  3. "I'm at an age when my back goes out more than I do." — Phyllis Diller
  4. "The secret of staying young is to live honestly, eat slowly, and lie about your age." — Lucille Ball
  5. "Why party like it's 1999 when you can party like it is your birthday?" — Prince
  6. "Birthdays are good for you. Statistics show that the people who have the most live the longest." — Larry Lorenzoni
  7. "Put candles in a cake, it's a birthday cake. Put candles in a pie, and somebody's drunk in the kitchen." — Jim Gaffigan
  8. "Every year on my birthday, I start a new playlist titled after my current age so I can keep track of my favorite songs of the year as a sort of musical diary because I am a teenage girl." — Chris Hardwick
  9. "You know you're getting old when you get that one candle on the cake. It's like, 'See if you can blow this out.'" — Jerry Seinfeld
  10. "The best way to remember your wife's birthday is to forget it once." — H.V. Prochnow
  11. "Birthdays, birthdays, birthdays—everybody's got one. Most kids wish they had more. Older people wish they had fewer and find them a bore." — Sally Huss
  12. "When a man has a birthday, he takes a day off. When a woman has a birthday, she takes at least three years off." — Joan Rivers
  13. "I still think of myself as I was 25 years ago. Then I look in a mirror and see an old bastard and I realize it's me." — Dave Allen
  14. "As you get older, three things happen; the first is your memory goes, and I can't remember the other two." — Norman Wisdom

… And Even More Hilarious Birthday Quotes

dog in wig there to celebrate friend's birthday
Shutterstock / WilleeCole Photography
  1. "A diplomat is a man who always remembers a woman's birthday but never remembers her age." — Robert Frost
  2. "I wish people would stop talking about my birthday." — George Bernard Shaw
  3. "I was brought up to respect my elders, so now I don't have to respect anybody." — George Burns
  4. "A friend never defends a husband who gets his wife an electric skillet for her birthday." — Erma Bombeck
  5. "To me, old age is always 15 years older than I am." — Bernard Baruch
  6. "If I'd known I was going to live this long, I'd have taken better care of myself." — Eubie Blake
  7. "Today is the oldest you have been, and the youngest you will ever be. Make the most of it!" — Nicky Gumbel
  8. "Birthdays are nature's way of telling us to eat more cake." — Edward Morykwas
  9. "Like many women my age, I am 28 years old. — Mary Schmich
  10. "Inside every older person is a younger person—wondering what the hell happened." — Jennifer Yane
  11. "Aging seems to be the only available way to live a long life." — Kitty Collins
  12. "Youth is the gift of nature, but age is the work of art." — Garson Kanin
  13. "The older you get the better you get, unless you are a banana." — Betty White
  14. "I intend to live forever. So far, so good." — Steven Wright

Quotes About Birthday Cake

best birthday messages on birthday cake
Shutterstock / Ruth Black
  1. "I like birthday cake. It's so symbolic. It's a tempting symbol to load with something more complicated than just 'Happy birthday!' because it's this emblem of childhood and a happy day." — Aimee Bender
  2. "All the world is birthday cake, so take a piece, but not too much." — George Harrison
  3. "My policy on cake is pro-having it and pro-eating it. " — Boris Johnson
  4. "For me, the end of childhood came when the number of candles on my birthday cake no longer reflected my age, around 19 or 20. From then on, each candle came to represent an entire decade." — Yotam Ottolenghi
  5. "When the candles on your cake burn down before they are all lit you know you are getting up there." — Catherine Pulsifer
  6. "Birthdays are a great time to stop and appreciate gravity. Sure, it makes things sag as you get older, but it also keeps your cake from flying all over the room, so you don't have to chase it." — Greg Tamblyn
  7. "Cakes are special. Every birthday, every celebration ends with something sweet, a cake, and people remember. It's all about the memories." — Buddy Valastro
  8. "You know you're getting old when the candles cost more than the cake." — Bob Hope
  9. "I wanted to buy a candle holder, but the store didn't have one. So I got a cake." — Mitch Hedberg
  10. "Romance novels are birthday cake and life is often peanut butter and jelly. I think everyone should have lots of delicious romance novels lying around for those times when the peanut butter of life gets stuck to the roof of your mouth." — Janet Evanovich

Birthday Quotes About Age

birthday presents for older couple dancing
Shutterstock / Halfpoint
  1. "Life really does begin at forty. Up until then, you are just doing research." — Carl Jung
  2. "Old age is like everything else. To make a success of it, you've got to start young." — Fred Astaire
  3. "Life isn't about your age. Life is about living. So when your birthday comes, be thankful for the year that has just passed and anticipate with a happy heart what the coming year will bring." — Catherine Pulsifer
  4. "Old age is like a plane flying through a storm. Once you are aboard, there is nothing you can do about it." — Golda Meir
  5. "One of the shocks of a 50th birthday is realizing the fundamental fact that your youth is irrevocably over." — Marianne Williamson
  6. "The great thing about getting older is that you don't lose all the other ages you've been. " — Madeleine L'Engle
  7. "Wisdom doesn't necessarily come with age. Sometimes age just shows up all by itself." — Tom Wilson
  8. "Everything I know, I learned after I was 30." — George Clemenceau
  9. "The old believe everything; the middle-aged suspect everything; the young know everything." — Oscar Wilde
  10. "How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are?" — Satchel Paige
  11. "Your age isn't you. Use today to feel your best, celebrate and be your very happiest." — M. Rivers
  12. "Middle age is when you still believe you'll feel better in the morning." — Bob Hope
  13. "No wise man ever wished to be younger." — Jonathan Swift
  14. "Cherish all your happy moments; they make a fine cushion for old age." — Booth Tarkington
  15. "To my surprise, my 70s are nicer than my 60s and my 60s than my 50s, and I wouldn't wish my teens and 20s on my enemies." — Lionel Blue
  16. "Keep true to the dream of thy youth." — Friedrich Schiller
  17. "You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream." — Les Brown
  18. "At twenty years of age, the will reigns; at thirty, the wit; and at forty, the judgment." — Benjamin Franklin
  19. "Few women admit their age. Few men act theirs." — John Glenn
  20. "I think all this talk about age is foolish. Every time I'm one year older, everyone else is too." — Gloria Swanson
  21. "Old age deprives the intelligent man only of qualities useless to wisdom. " — Joseph Joubert
  22. "Don't regret another birthday, the good news is that you are alive and can celebrate it." — Catherine Pulsifer
  23. "You've heard of the three ages of man—youth, age, and 'you are looking wonderful.'" — Francis Spellman

Short and Simple Birthday Quotes

birthday quotes - man holding balloons and cupcake
Shutterstock / Cast Of Thousands
  1. "You don't get older, you get better." — Shirley Bassey
  2. "Nice to be here? At my age, it's nice to be anywhere." — George Burns
  3. "Our birthdays are feathers in the broad wings of time." — Jean Paul Richter
  4. "Your birthday is my pleasure. You are my sweetest treasure."— Danny Demeersseman
  5. "We turn not older with years, but newer every day." — Emily Dickinson
  6. "Youth has no age." — Pablo Picasso
  7. "Let us celebrate the occasion with wine and sweet words." – Plautus
  8. "We grow neither better nor worse as we get old, but more like ourselves." — Bernard Baruch
  9. "Life is too short to be small." — Benjamin Disraeli
  10. "The first hundred years are the hardest." — Wilson Mizner
  11. "We are always the same age inside." — Gertrude Stein
  12. "Every birthday is a gift. Every day is a gift." — Aretha Franklin
  13. "Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana." — Groucho Marx
  14. "Just remember, once you're over the hill you begin to pick up speed." — Charles Schulz
  15. "Every year on your birthday, you get a chance to start new." — Sammy Hagar

Birthday Quotes About Life

little girl celebrating birthday and sending warmest wishes
Shutterstock / Aleksandra Suzi
  1. "You were born and with you endless possibilities, very few ever to be realized. It's okay. Life was never about what you could do, but what you would do." — Richelle E. Goodrich
  2. "There is no cure for birth and death save to enjoy the interval." — George Santayana
  3. "You were born an original. Don't die a copy." — John Mason
  4. "The way I see it, you should live every day like it's your birthday." — Paris Hilton
  5. "The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate." — Oprah Winfrey
  6. "A birthday is just another day where you go to work and people give you love. Age is just a state of mind, and you are as old as you think you are. You have to count your blessings and be happy." — Abhishek Bachchan
  7. "Another year comes to a close, and another begins. May the coming year be one that will be filled with laughter of friends, love of family, and the life that you dream of." — Catherine Pulsifer
  8. "Very early, I knew that the only object in life was to grow." — Margaret Fuller
  9. "Life is a moderately good play with a badly written third act." — Truman Capote
  10. "Our wrinkles are our medals of the passage of life. They are what we have been through and who we want to be." — Lauren Hutton
  11. "Life seems to fade our memory, so on this birthday I will forget yours if you forget mine!" — Kate Summers
  12. "Today you have added another candle of knowledge and wisdom to your life. May it give you the power to enlighten the whole world. On your birthday, I wish you joy and happiness." — Debasish Mridha
  13. "Celebrate your journey of life." — Lailah Gifty Akita
  14. "Count your age by friends, not years. Count your life by smiles, not tears." — John Lennon
  15. "I was forced to live far beyond my years when just a child, now I have reversed the order and I intend to remain young indefinitely." — Mary Pickford
  16. "Live not one's life as though one had a thousand years, but live each day as the last." — Marcus Aurelius
  17. "Men are like wine: some turn to vinegar, but the best improve with age." — Pope John XXIII

Sweet Happy Birthday Messages for Your Best Friend

happy birthday quotes - best friends celebrating
Shutterstock / Kamil Macniak
  1. "Birthdays come every year, but friends like you only come around once in a lifetime. Best wishes on your special day."
  2. "I am beyond grateful for your friendship. Hope you have a great birthday."
  3. "I hope all your wishes come true. Happy birthday to a dear friend!"
  4. "Happy birthday to my best friend in the whole wide world!"
  5. "Happy birthday, best friend! I hope you enjoy your special day."
  6. "Every year on this day, I am reminded to count my blessings because I get to call you a friend."
  7. "I am so thrilled to be celebrating your birthday today. To many more walks around the sun."
  8. "Another birthday means celebrating another of growth and prosperity. To the best birthday yet!"
  9. "Wishing you a fantastic birthday filled with happy memories."
  10. "We both know we won't make it past 10 p.m., so let's get this party started!"
  11. "Happy birthday to the best friend I could ask for. Cheers to more precious memories together."
  12. "Happy birthday to the only person I'd go out on a weekday for!"
  13. "The only better thing than celebrating a birthday with friends is celebrating a birthday with old friends. To many more years ahead!"
  14. "They say age is just a number, and they might be right. Happy birthday to my friend who is forever young at heart."

Birthday Greetings for Her

man surprising girlfriend with present on her birthday
Shutterstock / Roman Samborskyi
  1. "Happy birthday to the woman whose flame only grows brighter with time!"
  2. "Today, we celebrate the birthday girl. Tomorrow, you'll rest up, as an adventure-filled year awaits!"
  3. "To that special woman in my life, I hope you have the best birthday ever."
  4. "Wishing a very happy birthday to my [wife or girlfriend]. May I always be by her side to blow out the candles."
  5. "Happy birthday, darling. May all your wishes come true today, tomorrow, and forever."
  6. "Wishing you only love and happiness on your birthday. I am so lucky to have you in my life."
  7. "Sending birthday wishes to my wife. May today bring you all the happiness you deserve."
  8. "The older you get, the more space you have in my heart. Happy birthday, love."
  9. "Every day, I count my blessings because I have you in my life. Happy birthday."
  10. "Here's to another year on the books. May this one be the best one yet. Happy birthday, baby."
  11. "Happy birthday, my love! I hope today brings you the same happiness you bring me."
  12. "Hope your birthday is just like you… absolutely amazing!"
  13. "Happy birthday, darling! Hope today brings just what you deliver to those around you; nothing but the best."
  14. "Sending lots of love to the most amazing woman in my life. Like a fine wine, you just keep getting better with age!"

Happy Birthday Wishes for Him

woman surprising boyfriend with presents on his birthday
Shutterstock / Prostock-Studio
  1. "Today we celebrate you! Happy birthday to a wonderful person."
  2. "Happy birthday to one of the most special people in my life. Wishing you many more."
  3. "Happy birthday to an amazing person. Wishing you endless possibilities in the year ahead."
  4. "On this day, a very special person came into this world and I'm forever grateful for that. Happy birthday."
  5. "No present can compete with the best gift of all—you. Happy birthday, sweetheart."
  6. "Finally, proof the perfect guy does exist. Wishing him a very happy birthday."
  7. "I'm so thankful to have you in my life. Happy birthday and cheers to an adventure-filled year ahead."
  8. Birthdays come and go, but men like you only come around once in a lifetime. Happy birthday, darling."
  9. "Wishing you the happiest of birthdays. Let's make the most of this year, before we add another candle to the cake."
  10. "Happy birthday to one of the best guys I know. May this year bring the best yet."
  11. "Hope your special day brings everything your heart desires! Wishing you a day full of pleasant surprises! Happy birthday!"
  12. "It's not about getting older, it's about getting wiser. Happy birthday, babe!"
Carrie Weisman
Carrie Weisman oversees all SEO efforts at Best Life. She specializes in content optimization and editorial marketing. Read more
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