Whether you consider them your playmates, your ride-or-dies, your protectors, or the thorns in your side, siblings often know you in ways no one else can. Who else, after all, can recount similar experiences growing up in your unique household, and with your particular set of parents?
Often, our brothers or sisters are our first friends — and they might just be our longest-lasting ones, too. As children, they help us learn about things like boundaries, negotiation, and conflict resolution: Studies have shown that healthy sibling relationships promote empathy and positive social behavior. Siblings can help us understand ourselves better, too.
As we develop our likes and dislikes when we’re young, we often base our preferences on what we observe in our siblings — they give us a steady point of comparison from which to form our own identity. Later in life, having a sibling to confide in is truly priceless, given their decades-long understanding of our life circumstances and upbringing.
So whether you and your sibling are attached at the hip or the quintessential rivals, here are 16 quotes to remind you of the lasting value of this singular, special relationship.
Children of the same family, the same blood, with the same first associations and habits, have some means of enjoyment in their power, which no subsequent connections can supply.Jane Austen
A sibling is the lens through which you see your childhood.Ann Hood
Siblings: children of the same parents, each of whom is perfectly normal until they get together.Sam Levenson
A sibling may be the sole keeper of one’s core identity, the only person with the keys to one’s unfettered, more fundamental self.Marian Sandmaier
What causes sibling rivalry? Having more than one kid.Tim Allen
I do find the sibling connection endlessly fascinating, as I do all family dynamics. I like how siblings seem to create their own parentless mini-civilization within a family, one that has its own laws, myths, language, humor, its own loyalties and treacheries.Jandy Nelson
The advantage of growing up with siblings is that you become very good at fractions.Robert Brault
Having lots of siblings is like having built-in best friends.Kim Kardashian
Siblings that say they never fight are most definitely hiding something.Lemony Snicket (Daniel Handler)
To the outside world, we all grow old. But not to brothers and sisters. We know each other as we always were, we know each other’s hearts, we share private family jokes. We remember family feuds and secrets, family griefs and joys.Clara Ortega
It was wonderful to grow up with so many siblings. We were all just a year or two apart, and we were always so supportive of each other.Joaquin Phoenix
If you want to do really important things in life and big things in life, you can’t do anything by yourself. And your best teams are your friends and your siblings.Deepak Chopra
Siblings are a volume of childhood memories; a nostalgia that cannot be easily deleted.Vincent Okay Nwachukwu
Is solace anywhere more comforting than in the arms of a sister?Alice Walker
A sister is both your mirror — and your opposite.Elizabeth Fishel
Brothers don’t necessarily have to say anything to each other — they can sit in a room and be together and just be completely comfortable with each other.Leonardo DiCaprio
Featured image credit: ljubaphoto/ iStock
