What motivated me? My mother. My mother was an immigrant woman, a peasant woman, struggled all her life, worked in the garment center. – Al Lewis

Motherhood: All love begins and ends there. – Robert Browning

A mother’s happiness is like a beacon, lighting up the future but reflected also on the past in the guise of fond memories. – Honore de Balzac

My mother said to me, ‘If you are a soldier, you will become a general. If you are a monk, you will become the Pope.’ Instead, I was a painter, and became Picasso. – Pablo Picasso

The natural state of motherhood is unselfishness. When you become a mother, you are no longer the center of your own universe. You relinquish that position to your children. – Jessica Lange

Mommy smoked but she didn’t want us to. She saw smoke coming out of the barn one time, so we got whipped. – Loretta Lynn

Mothers are the necessity of invention. – Bill Watterson

Every man must define his identity against his mother. If he does not, he just falls back into her and is swallowed up. – Camille Paglia

If you ever become a mother, can I have one of the puppies? – Charles Pierce

I ask people why they have deer heads on their walls. They always say because it’s such a beautiful animal. There you go. I think my mother is attractive, but I have photographs of her. – Ellen DeGeneres