Farewell Quotes for Friends: Sourced Lines for Cards and Send-Offs

Farewell quotes for friends are short lines for a goodbye card, a leaving party or a message to someone moving away. The ones below have a named source, and a few of the most popular “goodbye” quotes are listed separately because their usual attribution is wrong.

Classic lines about parting

“Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow, / That I shall say good night till it be morrow.”

— Juliet, William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet (c. 1595), Act 2, Scene 2

Juliet says it from the balcony. “Parting is such sweet sorrow” is the part most often used for goodbyes.

“I will not say: do not weep; for not all tears are an evil.”

— Gandalf, J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King (1955), Book VI, Chapter 9, “The Grey Havens”

Gandalf says it to Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin as Frodo leaves Middle-earth. It works for a send-off where the people are sad and that is fine.

Lines from films

“We’ll always have Paris.”

— Rick Blaine, Casablanca (1942)

Rick says it to Ilsa at the airport in the final scene. It suits a goodbye between friends who shared one place or one period of life.

“So long, partner.”

— Woody, Toy Story 3 (2010)

Woody says it to Andy as Andy leaves for college and passes the toys on. It is a short line that fits a farewell to a childhood friend.

Traditional blessings

“May the road rise up to meet you” is the start of a traditional Irish blessing. It has no single known author, so it should be labeled “Irish blessing” or “traditional,” not credited to a person.

The rest of the blessing continues “May the wind be always at your back, / May the sun shine warm upon your face.” Versions differ slightly between sources.

Friendship and distance

Diogenes Laërtius reports that Aristotle described a friend as “a single soul dwelling in two bodies.” That is reported secondhand and does not appear in Aristotle’s own surviving writing, but it is the oldest known line about friendship and works for a card to someone who is moving away.

For a friend leaving a school or workplace, a short custom line often works better than a famous quote. A sentence naming a shared memory is usually the stronger card.

Popular goodbye quotes with the wrong attribution

“Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened” is credited to Dr. Seuss. No book, interview or letter of his contains it. It should be used without a name.

“How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard” is credited to A.A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh. No source in Milne’s books has been found. Treat it as unsourced.

Which to use

For a school send-off, see end of school year quotes and last day of college quotes. For graduation cards, inspiring graduation quotes has more sourced options.

For a note about the friendship itself, the Clarence quote from It’s a Wonderful Life is a film line about what friends are worth.

FAQ

Did Dr. Seuss say “don’t cry because it’s over”?

No source has been found in his work. The line is widely credited to him but is best used without an attribution.

Where is “parting is such sweet sorrow” from?

Act 2, Scene 2 of Romeo and Juliet, spoken by Juliet.

Is “may the road rise up to meet you” a real Irish blessing?

It is a traditional blessing in English with no known author. The wording differs between published versions.

What is a short farewell quote for a friend?

“We’ll always have Paris” and “So long, partner” are both short film lines with a clear speaker.