Article image

Hilariously Relatable Quotes About Birthdays

For many of us, our birthday is one of the most fulfilling and joyous days of the year. There are few things that warm the heart more than gathering with friends and family to celebrate, reminisce, and eat plenty of cake.

Of course, others of us would rather not acknowledge our birthdays, as the thought of getting older can be sobering. But it’s important to remember that aging is a gift, and we should try to approach each of our birthdays with an optimistic and humorous attitude.

Given the often lighthearted nature of birthdays, it should come as no surprise that many of the world’s funniest comedians and wittiest authors have chimed in with their own takes about this special occasion. So whether you’ll be celebrating a birthday soon or you’re the type of person who dreads the awkwardness of having “Happy Birthday” sung at you, here are 12 hilarious quotes about birthdays.

You know you’re getting old when the candles cost more than the cake.
Bob Hope

Share Quote

I  see birthdays as a reward for having shown up 365 days in a row. It’s like getting a badge for attendance.
Gina Barreca

Share Quote

When I turned 2 I was really anxious, because I’d doubled my age in a year. I thought, if this keeps up, by the time I’m 6 I’ll be 90.
Steven Wright

Share Quote

When a man has a birthday, he takes a day off. When a woman has a birthday, she takes at least three years off.
Joan Rivers

Share Quote

Pie can’t compete with cake. Put candles in a cake, it’s a birthday cake. Put candles in a pie, and somebody’s drunk in the kitchen.
Jim Gaffigan

Share Quote

Birthdays are good for you. Statistics show that the people who have the most live the longest.
Larry Lorenzoni

Share Quote

Marriage is the alliance of two people, one of whom never remembers birthdays and the other never forgets [them].
Ogden Nash

Share Quote

I know I’m getting old. My last birthday cake looked like a prairie fire.
Rodney Dangerfield

Share Quote

For all the advances in medicine, there is still no cure for the common birthday.
John Glenn

Share Quote

The first birthday party you have and the last birthday you have are actually quite similar. You know, you just kinda sit there. You’re the least excited person at the party. You don’t even really realize that there is a party.
Jerry Seinfeld

Share Quote

Why is a birthday cake the only food you can blow on and spit on and everybody rushes to get a piece?
Bobby Kelton

Share Quote

A diplomat is a man who always remembers a woman’s birthday but never remembers her age.
Robert Frost

Share Quote

Featured image credit: JFunk/ Shutterstock

Author image
About the Author
Bennett Kleinman
Bennett is a staff writer at Optimism as well as a freelance comedy writer. He's based in New York City.
Play more header background
Play more icon
Daily Question
Fill in the blank: "___ is a very powerful thing, more powerful than intellect." - Steve Jobs

More Inspiration

happiness theme icon

Set wide the window. Let me drink the day.

separator icon
Edith Wharton
motivation theme icon

Often when you think you’re at the end of something, you’re at the beginning of something else.

separator icon
Fred Rogers
hope theme icon

I can't give you a recipe for success, but I can give you a recipe for failure: try to please everybody.

separator icon
Frank Langella
love theme icon

Attention is a moral act: It creates, brings aspects of things into being.

separator icon
Iain McGilchrist
wisdom theme icon

The only tired I was, was tired of giving in.

separator icon
Rosa Parks
happiness theme icon

One shouldn't just hope to be treated well: one must insist on it.

separator icon
Abraham Verghese
motivation theme icon

You must not try to make love definite. It is the divine accident of life.

separator icon
Sherwood Anderson
hope theme icon

Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric.

separator icon
Bertrand Russell
love theme icon

I found my place when I stopped looking for it.

separator icon
Mahershala Ali
wisdom theme icon

Enthusiasm is the great hill-climber.

separator icon
Elbert Hubbard
happiness theme icon

There will always be someone who can't see your worth. Don't let it be you.

separator icon
Mel Robbins