30 Unforgettable Quotes For National Brother's Day

If there was ever a year to send a little extra love to your bro on National Brother’s Day (May 24), this year is it. Sure, he may have picked on you growing up, but absence makes the heart grow fonder. If you’ve found yourself longing for your halcyon childhood days of yore recently, tell your brother how much you care with one of these quotes.

From Leonardo DiCaprio to Bob Hope, this list is a mix of a variety of individuals' thoughts on what it means to have a brother. There are thoughtful words on how brothers are built in friends and honest examples of how a brother can be a lifelong tormentor only to become a close confidant later in life. Best of all, you can pick and choose what you want to say without having to get a big lump in your throat writing out your own personal thoughts on your brotherly relationships.

And even if he doesn’t say so, or rolls his eyes reading the sappy words you’ve chosen, you can rest assured your brother appreciates the effort. Even if he gives you a noogie after hiding his tears and giving you a reluctant side hug.

For Brothers Who Are Heroes

You don’t have to be the younger sibling to look up to your brother. They have your back when you’re in a tight spot and come to your defense when you’re in need. For this special brand of brother, here are a few great quotes.

• “ Sometimes being a brother is even better than being a superhero.” — Marc Brown
• “Being his real brother I could feel I live in his shadows, but I never have and I do not now. I live in his glow.” — Michael Morpurgo
• “ When brothers agree, no fortress is so strong as their common life.” — Antisthenes
• “Brotherhood means… I will always come for you no matter the cost.” — Anonymous
• “I’m happy if everybody else is. I’m a big brother, the oldest. If you’re happy and I’m not, I’m cool with that. If I’m happy and you’re not, I’m sad. — Chris Rock

For Brothers Who Become Best Friends

It’s possible, your in-house childhood bully can, in fact, become your very best friend. Just look at all the close brothers who spent their youths picking on each other and now call each other BFF. If you know a little something about that, you might want to relay one of these quotes to your brother.

• “Brothers don’t necessarily have to say anything to each other — they can sit in a room and be together and just be completely comfortable with each other.” — Leonardo DiCaprio
• “A brother is a gift to the heart, a friend to the spirit.” — Anonymous
• “I smile because you’re my brother. I laugh because there’s nothing you can do about it!”
• “I always fight with my brother. This is our way of saying “I love you” — Unknown
• “From the time we're born, our brothers and sisters are our collaborators and co-conspirators, our role models and our cautionary tales” — Jeffrey Kluger
• “Brother may it inspire you to know when I need a daily boost I remember the days of yesterday and the laughter we had as children.” — Robert Rivers
• “My mother was nuts. My father was boring. My older brother was funny.” — Penny Marshall
• “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a difficult time.” — Proverbs 17:17
• “I don’t believe an accident of birth makes people sisters or brothers. It makes them siblings, gives them mutuality of parentage. Sisterhood and brotherhood is a condition people have to work at... ” — Maya Angelou
• “Once a brother, always a brother no matter the distance, no matter the difference and no matter the issue.” — Byron Pulsifer

For The Ups and Downs of Brotherhood

If you admit rather begrudgingly that you love your brother, but need to acknowledge the struggle, these quotes bring an honest perspective to the trails and tribulations of being a sibling.

• “I grew up with six brothers. That's how I learned to dance — waiting for the bathroom.” —Bob Hope
• “The younger brother must help to pay for the pleasures of the elder.” — Jane Austen
• “Love between brothers is messy, loud, rough, sweet, fierce, fun, unique, forever.” — Anonymous
• “Our brothers and sisters are there with us from the dawn of our personal stories to the inevitable dusk.” — Susan Scarf Merrell
• “Siblings are the people we practice on, the people who teach us about fairness and cooperation and kindness and caring quite often the hard way.” — Pamela Dugdale
• “When I look at each of my brothers, I see two things. First, I see the next place I want to leave a rosy welt. Second, I see a good man who will always be there, no matter how hard life gets for me or him.” — Dan Pearce

For Twin Brothers

Twin brothers share a bond only other multiples can fully appreciate. This kind of brotherhood deserves its own special quotes that explain this powerful relationship between twins.

• “It takes two men to make one brother.” — Israel Zangwill
• “Here's to the bond that comes from having the same parents.” — Anonymous
• “Half the time when brothers wrestle, it's just an excuse to hug each other. — James Patterson
• “My brother is worth a thousand of your friend.” — Cersei Lannister
• “A joy that is shared is a joy made double.” — Anonymous
• “In this life we will never truly be apart, For we grew to the same beat of our mother's heart.” — Daphne Fandrich

For Stepbrothers

You don’t have to have the exact same parents to find a brother in someone. Whether by marriage or by choice, some of the closest bands of brothers are stepbrothers. Here’s to their unique alliance that for so many is just as strong or stronger than blood brothers.

• “A sibling is the lens through which you see your childhood.” — Ann Hood
• “The men who learn endurance, Are they who call the whole world, Brother.” — Charles Dickens
• “A mystic bond of brotherhood makes all men one.” — Thomas Carlyle
• “Did we just become best friends?” — Step Brother

For all the brothers in your life, tell them how much you care this National Brothers’ Day with one of these great quotes.