51 Best Goodbye Quotes to Help You Say Farewell
“I won’t say goodbye my friend, for you and I will meet again.”
Posted 3/13/2025
Family
Whether you’re saying goodbye to a friend or family member, for a short or long period of time, goodbyes are hard! They bring emotions to the surface, and remind you just how much you care for one another. Goodbyes are made even tougher if you don’t know when you’ll see that person again (thank goodness for Facetime!).
It’s important to say goodbye, whether in person, over the phone or via card, and if you’re struggling to find the right words to say, great news—there are plenty of goodbye quotes out there to help you say what’s on your mind. Read on for 51 of the best goodbye quotes to help you say, “it’s not goodbye, it’s see ya later.”
Goodbye Quotes for Friends
When it comes to an emotional goodbye message, you may not know what to say—“until we meet again” may feel impersonal and short, but a speech probably feels too long. If you’re looking for a quote for a friend that’ll work for an in-person goodbye or a message in a card, read on:
- “Remember me and smile, for it is better to forget than to remember me and cry” —Dr. Seuss
- “This is not goodbye, my darling, this is thank you.” —Nicholas Sparks
- “The pain of parting is nothing to the joy of meeting again.” —Charles Dickens
- “It feels right. But it’s emotional. Saying goodbye to anything you’ve done that long is hard.” —Angela Ruggiero
- “We all take different paths in life, but no matter where we go, we will take a little of each other everywhere.” —Tim McGraw
- “You have been my friend. That in itself is a tremendous thing.” –E.B. White
- “Don’t be dismayed at goodbyes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again. And meeting again, after moments or lifetimes, is certain for those who are friends.” –Richard Bach
- “Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.” –Semisonic
- “We laughed until we had to cry, we loved right down to our last goodbye, we were the best.” –St. Elmo’s Fire
- “So long as the memory of certain beloved friends lives in my heart, I shall say that life is good.” –Helen Keller
- “Yesterday brought the beginning, tomorrow brings the end, though somewhere in the middle we became the best of friends.” –Unknown
- “You and I will meet again, When we’re least expecting it, One day in some far off place, I will recognize your face, I won’t say goodbye my friend, For you and I will meet again.” –Tom Petty
- “Nothing makes the earth seem so spacious as to have friends at a distance; they make the latitudes and longitudes.” –Henry David Thoreau
- “May the road rise up to meet you, may the wind be ever at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face and the rain fall softly on your fields. And until we meet again, may God hold you in the hollow of his hand.” –Irish Blessing
Goodbye Quotes for Loved Ones
How do you say goodbye to a loved one? Whether they’re retiring to a faraway state, moving for a job or starting college in a new place, saying goodbye can be a tearful moment. Here are some goodbye quotes to help you, and the one you love, say farewell with a silver lining.
- “How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.” –A.A. Milne
- “It’s time to say goodbye, but I think goodbyes are sad and I’d much rather say hello. Hello to a new adventure.” –Ernie Harwell
- “All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another.” –Anatole France
- “I can’t remember all the times I told myself to hold on to these moments as they pass.” –Counting Crows
- “It’s not the days in life we remember, rather the moments.” –Walt Disney
- “Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for a while, leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never, ever the same.” –Flavia Weedn
- “The two hardest things to say in life is hello for the first time and goodbye for the last.” –Moira Rogers
- “Goodbyes are only for those who love with their eyes. Because for those who love with heart and soul there is no such thing as separation.” –Rumi
- “You know it’s love when you have been saying goodbye for how many times but still you’re not ready to leave.” –Unknown
- “The story of life is quicker than the wink of an eye, the story of love is hello and goodbye, until we meet again.” –Jimi Hendrix
- “I hate the feeling when you have to say goodbye to someone you want to spend every minute with.” –Unknown
- “You had me at hello, goodbye and everything in between.” –Shannon L. Alder
Goodbye Quotes for Coworkers
Whether your co-worker is retiring or moving on to different pastures, it’s hard to part with someone you spend so much of your time with. No matter how close you are, here are some ways to send your colleagues off with well wishes:
- “Great is the art of beginning, but greater is the art of ending.” –Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- “No distance of place or lapse of time can lessen the friendship of those who are thoroughly persuaded of each other’s worth.” –Robert Southey
- “True friends don’t say good-bye, they just take extended leaves of absences from each other.” –Unknown
- “Life is a journey, not a destination.” –Ralph Waldo Emerson
- “Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.” –Garrison Keillor
- “This is the beginning of anything you want.” –Unknown
- “Farewell! God knows when we shall meet again.” –William Shakespeare
- “Having awesome colleagues is a bad habit, because it’ll be impossible to work with someone else now that you’re leaving. Goodbye.” –Unknown
- “So, old friends, now it’s time to start growing up, taking charge, seeing things as they are, facing facts, not escaping them, still with dreams, just reshaping them, growing up.” –Stephen Sondheim
Funny Goodbye Quotes
While goodbyes can be emotionally heavy and sad, if you want to bring some levity and positivity to the moment, try these funny goodbye quotes to say farewell with a smile.
- “Don’t ever tell anyone anything. If you do, you start missing everybody.” –J.D. Salinger
- “Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go.” –Oscar Wilde
- “We are really going to miss trying to avoid you around here.” –Unknown
- “I’ll see you in another life. When we are both cats.” –Tom Cruise, Vanilla Sky
- “See you later, alligator.” –Bill Haley and the Comets
- “The magic thing about home is that it feels good to leave, and it feels even better to come back.” –Wendy Wunder
Short Farewell Quotes
When it comes to writing a message for a friend you’re saying “see ya” to, a farewell quote may help to sum up your feelings (if you’re finding it hard putting pen to paper).
- "Goodbyes are not forever, are not the end; it simply means I’ll miss you until we meet again." —Unknown
- "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams." —Henry David Thoreau
- "Parting is such sweet sorrow." —William Shakespeare
- "A goodbye isn’t painful unless you’re never going to say hello again." —Unknown
- "We only part to meet again." —John Gay
- "Life is made of ever so many partings welded together." —Charles Dickens
- "The world is round, and the place which may seem like the end may also be only the beginning." —Ivy Baker Priest
- "If you’re brave enough to say goodbye, life will reward you with a new hello." —Paulo Coelho
- "Moving on is simple; what you leave behind is what makes it hard." —Unknown
- "Every goodbye is the birth of a memory." —Dutch Proverb
As we know “parting is such sweet sorrow,” and it rings true for colleagues, friends and family. It’s hard to say goodbye to the people in our life, and it helps to remember all the memories—aka the collection of reasons we’ll miss them so much. If you want to send them off with someone sentimental, print a Classic Photo Book or Photo Prints (and keep copies for yourself) with these farewell quotes as captions so you can send them off with a beautiful reminder of your relationship.
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