14 Christmas Quotes About Family For 2016

Christmas provides the perfect opportunity for families to spend time together, be it over a Christmas Eve dinner, shopping for gifts, or even doing something as simple as sipping cocoa by the fire. As these 14 Christmas quotes about family for 2016 make evident, there's no one more important in somebody's life than their family, so if you do have the chance to tell yours how significant they are to you, make sure you don't waste the opportunity.

Not quite sure how to tell your family? These 14 quotes will also come in handy for that. Write one in a card, post one on your family member's Facebook wall, or simply send a text with one of them. While they may just be words, they carry with them so much weight — and sometimes, it's the smallest gestures that can go the furthest.

From Michael J. Fox and Caroline Kennedy to Richard Branson and Jennifer Ellison, the authors of these 14 quotes are able to define family in a way that's beautiful, authentic, and filled with joy. Don't keep it all to yourself. Share the love this year, and every year, from now and until the end. After all, your family is always your family.

1. "You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them." — Desmond Tutu

2. "Family is not an important thing. It's everything." — Michael J. Fox

3. "Some of the most important conversations I've ever had occurred at my family's dinner table." — Bob Ehrlich

4. "I would prefer to have no money but to have a nice family and good friends around." — Li Na

5. "It's true, Christmas can feel like a lot of work, particularly for mothers. But when you look back on all the Christmases in your life, you'll find you've created family traditions and lasting memories. Those memories, good and bad, are really what help to keep a family together over the long haul." — Caroline Kennedy

6. "Christmas is far and away my favorite holiday. I love everything about it, from the event that inspired it, hoping for a white one, to wrapping presents. But mostly I love having family and friends gathered, and sharing traditions." — Ellen Hopkins

7. "I think togetherness is a very important ingredient to family life." — Barbara Bush

8. "I believe that the greatest gift you can give your family and the world is a healthy you." — Joyce Meyer

9. "So much of what is best in us is bound up in our love of family, that it remains the measure of our stability because it measures our sense of loyalty. All other pacts of love or fear derive from it and are modeled upon it." — Haniel Long

10. "Family means no one gets left behind or forgotten." — David Ogden Stiers

11. "Going home and spending time with your family and your real friends keeps you grounded." — Jennifer Ellison

12. "I cannot remember a moment in my life when I have not felt the love of my family. We were a family that would have killed for each other — and we still are." — Richard Branson

13. "In every conceivable manner, the family is link to our past, bridge to our future." — Alex Haley

14. "My advice: Take a second out of the day today and be thankful for your family." — Jenna Morasca

Images: Getty Images; Giphy