Inscriptions for Headstones
Choosing the inscription for a loved one's headstone can be a difficult decision, so Grant Memorials has compiled this collection of quotations to help you commemorate and celebrate them.
You might prefer a brief inscription, simply to say that the person who has died was a wonderful spouse, parent, grandparent or child, or you might like the epitaph to feature words that reflect their personality and beliefs. If you cannot find something here that speaks to you, please let us know, and through our conversation together we will find the words that honor the memory of your family member.
Father, Son, Husband, and Brother Inscriptions
He lives with us in memory and will for evermore.
His friendship was an inspiration, his love a blessing.
He was beloved in life.
He loved his fellowman.
A loving father, tender and kind, what a beautiful memory you left behind.
Resting with those he loved.
His greatest joy was in making others happy.
His joy was in serving others.
God took him home, it was his will, but in our hearts he liveth still.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember him.
O, Lord I put him in thy hands.
His mission on earth fulfilled.
No man is indispensable but some are irreplaceable.
His friends were his world.
A man greatly beloved.
To those who knew and loved him, his memory will never grow old.
He had a kindly word for each and died beloved by all.
My pal on earth, God's angel in heaven.
Fond memories linger every day, remembrance keeps him near.
The world's loss was heaven's gain when God took you home.
A man greatly beloved.
To live with him and sing in endless morn of light!
His life was gentle, and the elements so mix'd in him, that nature might stand up and say to all the world, "This was a man!"
On him and on his high endeavor the light of praise shall shine forever.
We loved him a lot but God loved him more.
To know him was to love him.
He loved people and laughter.
Mother, Wife, Daughter, and Sister Inscriptions
She walked in beauty.
O, Lord I put her in thy hands.
She had a kindly word for each and she died beloved by all.
She lives with us in memory and will for evermore.
May God grant you eternal rest, dear Mother.
She concealed her tears but shared her smiles.
God took her home, it was his will, but in our hearts she liveth still.
God bless thee wheresoe'er thou art in his great universe today.
She is resting peacefully with Jesus in that beautiful home above.
Her memory is enshrined in our hearts.
Her friendship was an inspiration, her love a blessing.
God's greatest gift returned to God--my mother.
She served and kept the faith.
She passed through glory's morning gate and walked in paradise.
Her friends were her world.
She loved people and laughter.
She would rather give than receive.
God called her from among us to a home of eternal rest.
Always loving: always loved.
To know her was to love her.
She gave so much and demanded so little.
Her children arise up and call her blessed.
A mother is a mother still, the holiest thing alive.
Grace was in all her steps, heaven in her eye, in every gesture dignity and love.
When she had passed, it seemed like the ceasing of exquisite music.
Resting with those she loved.
Child Inscriptions
So small, so sweet, so soon. (anonymous)
Children bring their own love with them when they come. (Jean Ingelow)
What would the world be to us if the children were no more? (Longfellow)
Oh, for boyhood's time of June, crowding years into one brief moon. ( Whittier)
Sleep undisturbed within the peaceful shrine till angels wake thee with a note like thine. (Samuel Johnson)
No jewel is as perfect as the innocence of childhood. (anonymous)
Sleep, my little one, sleep. (Harrington)
Children are an heritage of the Lord. (Psalms 127: 3)
The child is the father of the man. (Wordsworth)
Little Boy Blue has gone away. (Field)
Hush, my dear, be still and slumber; Jolly angels guard your bed. ( Watts)
Remembering a tiny angel. (anonymous)
An angel visited the green earth, and took a flower away. (Longfellow)
Lord, we give you our littlest angel. (anonymous)
Budded on earth to bloom in Heaven. (anonymous)
For such is the Kingdom of Heaven.
His was a man's courage.
Our littlest angel who went back to Heaven.
Called by one who loves him dearly.
Let thy child rest in hope and rise in glory.
Awaiting the touch of a little hand, and the smile of a little face. (E. Field)
Children are the keys of paradise. (R.H. Stoddard)
God's garden has need of little flowers. (anonymous)
Bible Inscriptions
The Lord hath given him rest from all his enemies. (II Samuel 7: 1)
Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. (23rd Psalm)
This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. (Matthew 3: 17)
The Lord is my sheperd, I shall not want. (23rd Psalm)
I rejoice in thy salvation. (1 Samuel 2: 1)
He that believeth in the Son hath everlasting life. (John 3: 16)
For of such is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 19: 14)
Thy remembrance shall endure unto all generations. (102nd Psalm)
This is the promise...the life everlasting. (John 2: 25)
He that endureth to the end shall be saved. (Matthew 10: 22)
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. (Matthew 5: 8)
Whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3: 16)
The righteous shall go into life eternal. (Matthew 25:46)
He shall receive in the world to come eternal life. (Mark 10:30)
Believe on Him to life everlasting. (1 Timothy 1: 16)
I thank my God upon every remembrance of you. (Philippians 1: 3)
All things work together for good to them that love God. (Romans 8: 28)
Blessed is the man that maketh the Lord his trust. (Psalm 40: 4)
Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden. (Matthew 11:28)
Sleep on now, and take your rest. (Matthew 26: 45)
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. (Matthew 5: 4)
Well done, thou good and faithful servant. (Matthew 25: 21)
I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. (II Timothy 1: 7)
Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. (John 14: 1)
This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. (Matthew 3: 17)
Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. (Revelation 2: 10)
Not my will, but thine be done. (Luke 22: 42)
The Lord watch between me and thee, while we are absent, one from the other. (Genesis 31: 49)
For with Thee is the fountain of life: in the light shall we see light. (Psalm 36: 9)
God is love: and He that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. (1 John 4: 16)
Greater love than this no one has, that one lay down his life for his friends. (John 15: 13)
I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. (John 11:25)
Classic Inscriptions
Heaven, the treasury of everlasting joy. (Shakespeare)
The dutifulness of children is the foundation of all virtue. (Cicero)
Till the Master of all good workmen shall set us to work anew. (Rudyard Kipling)
The end and the reward of toil is rest. (James Beattie)
In His will is our peace. (Dante)
Safe in the hallowed quiets of the past. (Lowell)
Music, when soft voices die, vibrates in the memory... (Shelley)
Each lonely scene shall thee restore. (William Collins)
Things past belong to memory alone, things future are the property of hope. ( John Home)
Mutual love, the crown of all our bliss. ( Milton)
The heart of him who truly loves is a paradise on earth. (Lamennais)
Sorrows are like tall angels with star-crowns in their hair. (Margery Eldredge Howell)
The acts of this life are the destiny of the next. (Eastern proverb)
Dust thou art, to dust returnest, was not spoken of the soul. (Longfellow)
Death is not a foe, but an inevitable adventure. (Sir Oliver Lodge)
Nature's loving proxy, the watchful mother. (Bulwer)
Earth hath no sorrow that Heaven cannot heal. (Moore)
There is a sweet joy that comes to us through sorrow. (Spurgeon)
Death is the golden key that opens the palace of Eternity. (Milton)
What seem to us but dim funereal tapers may be Heaven's distant lamps. (Longfellow)
Strength is born in the deep silence of long-suffering hearts, not amid joy. (Hemans)
Tears are often the telescope by which men see far into Heaven. (H.W. Beecher)
The soul that suffers is stronger than the soul that rejoices. (E. Shepard)
Death is the golden key that opens the palace of Eternity. (Milton)
Strength is born in the deep silence of long-suffering hearts, not amid joy. (Hemans)
Every man's life is a plan of God. (Horace Bushnell)
He hath awakened from the dream of life. (Shelley)
Where there is much light, the shadows are deepest. (Goethe)
Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal. (Moore)
Now twilight lets her curtain down and pins it with a star. (L.M. Child)
Where there is sorrow there is holy ground. (Wilde)
'Tis not the whole of life to live, nor all of death to die. (J. Montgomery)
Until the day break, and the shadows flee away.
Faith builds a bridge across the gulf of death. (Young)
There never was night that had no morn. (D.M.N. Craik)
But in the night of death hope sees a star, and listening love can hear the rustle of a wing. (Ingersoll)
Whither though goest, I will go. (Ruth 1: 16)
God gives us love. Something to love He lends us. (Tennyson)
Where He leads me I can safely go. (Millay)
The kiss of the sun for pardon, the song of the birds for mirth, One's nearer God's heart in a garden, than anywhere else on earth. (Dorothy Francis Gurney)
Beyond is the infinite morning of a day without a tomorrow. (W.S. Abbott)
His daily prayer, far better understood in acts than words, was simply doing good. (Whittier)
Life's a voyage that's homeward bound. (H. Melville)
Onward to thy glory! 'Tis always morning somewhere in the world. (R.H. Horne)
Death's but a path to be trod if man would ever pass to God. (T. Parnell)
God is and all is well. ( Whittier)
...The heart of man is restles until it finds its rest in Thee. (St. Augustine)
The cross leads generations on. (Shelley)
Joy, joy forever! My task is done--the gates are pass'd, and heaven is won. (Moore)
...There hath pass'd away a glory from the earth. (Wordsworth)
Yet in this heart's most sacred place, thou, thou, alone, shall dwell forever. ( Moore)
To love is to place our happiness in the happiness of another. (Leibnitz)
Humble love, and not proud science, keeps the door of Heaven. (Young)
The greatest attribute of Heaven is mercy. (Beaumont and Fletcher)
Mercy to him that shows it, is the rule. (Cowper)
Give sorrow words; the grief that does not speak whispers the o'erfraught heart and bids it break... (Shakespeare)