Family might be defined as a group of people who are related to each other, but it’s more than that. It’s a meaningful connection, an experience. It’s an incredible and unbreakable bond—created by mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers. It’s comfort in a world of uncertainty. It’s a shoulder to lean on. It’s a source of inspiration. It’s love and support. It’s that warm and fuzzy feeling. It’s wonderful, and it’s necessary.

Here are 14 quotes to remind you why family matters.

1. “A happy family is but an earlier heaven.” —George Bernard Shaw

2. “The family is the test of freedom; because the family is the only thing that the free man makes for himself and by himself.” —Gilbert K. Chesterton

3. “You leave home to seek your fortune and, when you get it, you go home and share it with your family.” —Anita Baker

4. “Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family: Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.” —Jane Howard

5. “The family is one of nature’s masterpieces.” —George Santayana

6. “Families are the compass that guides us. They are the inspiration to reach great heights, and our comfort when we occasionally falter.” —Brad Henry

7. “Other things may change us, but we start and end with the family.” —Anthony Brandt

8. “Family is not an important thing, it’s everything.” —Michael J. Fox

9. “Family means no one gets left behind or forgotten.” —David Ogden Stiers

10. “The only rock I know that stays steady, the only institution I know that works, is the family.” —Lee Iacocca

11. “Without a family, man, alone in the world, trembles with the cold.” —Andre Maurois

12. “The informality of family life is a blessed condition that allows us all to become our best while looking our worst.” —Marge Kennedy

13. “In family life, love is the oil that eases friction, the cement that binds closer together, and the music that brings harmony.” —Friedrich Nietzsche

14. “Rejoice with your family in the beautiful land of life.” —Albert Einstein