11 Leaving Home Quotes That Ring With Profound Truth

There comes a point in every young person’s life where they must leave the only home they’ve ever known and set out into what we condescendingly tend to call “the real world.” For some, that day comes earlier than others. It may mean running away as a teenager. It could mean moving away to go to school. It might involve getting married young and starting a family. Whatever the circumstances, it is a lifechanging event that marks the indelible end of childhood and the beginning of a vast, uncharted journey. It’s only natural that such an event would inspire some of our greatest writers and thinkers to come up with profound and pithy quotes to encapsulate this unforgettable line of demarcation. Here are some of our favorite quotes about leaving home.

“You get a strange feeling when you’re about to leave a place…like you’ll not only miss the people you love but you’ll miss the person you are now at this time and this place, because you’ll never be this way ever again.” – Azar Nafisi

This quote will ring true for many. Even if leaving home only involves moving a few blocks away, it’s not just about the change in circumstances, it’s about the change inside you.

“It was a time before Facebook and Instagram and texting. I imagine it must be easier now, for college students. Home must not feel so far away anymore. But how do you cut the apron strings if the strings are virtual?” – Kirstie Collins Brote

For many reasons, we are glad we had our childhoods in a time before social media and the internet, but we imagine that today’s younger generations can hardly imagine life without it. The connections, certainly, are invaluable.

“A child enters your home and for the next twenty years makes so much noise you can hardly stand it. The child departs, leaving the house so silent you think you are going mad.” – John Andrew Holmes

We’re sure this is a sentiment that rings true for almost every empty-nester who reads it.

“We leave something of ourselves behind when we leave a place, we stay there, even though we go away. And there are things in us that we can find again only by going back there.” – Pascal Mercier

There’s an old hiking adage that says, “Take only memories, leave only footprints,” and the meaning is obviously well-intended. But the truth is that we leave a part of ourselves everywhere and – even if that something is invisible – it forever leaves an imprint.

“It is always sad when someone leaves home, unless they are simply going around the corner and will return in a few minutes with ice-cream sandwiches.” – Lemony Snicket

Maybe this isn’t the most profound quote in our list, but there’s a certain charm to it, nonetheless.

“When you leave home to follow your dreams, your road will probably be riddled with potholes, not always paved in happy Technicolor bricks. You’ll probably be kicked to the ground 150 million times and

told you’re nuts by friends and strangers alike. As you progress you may feel lonely or terrified for your physical and emotional safety. You may overestimate your own capabilities or fail to live up to them, and you’ll surely fall flat on your face once in a while.” – Kelly Cutrone

This quote comes from the “tough love” school of thought, but who can deny the truth of it? We’re not big believers in scaring someone to death about what awaits them in the cold, hard world, but a dose of reality can be helpful for those who dream that life will bring an unending thread of happiness.

“I regarded home as a place I left behind in order to come back to it afterward.” – Ernest Hemingway

Who among us, having had a blast on vacation, have not had a thought similar to this towards the end of our getaway? There’s nothing quite like sleeping in your own bed.

“Leaving home’s a cinch. It’s the staying, once you’ve found it, that takes courage.” – Catherine Watson

It is understood that, not long after you leave your childhood home, that you will one day build a home of your own with a family of your own choosing and creation. And yes, there will be times when the grass looks far greener over the fence. The courage to stay planted is indeed nothing to sneeze at.

“Oh, why did people have to be separated before they understood how much they meant to each other?” – Linda Crew

It’s been said a million times in a million different ways, but you just don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone. Maybe it’s the curse of human psychology, or maybe we can prevail over this tendency by showing gratitude for the things in our life right now.

“The trail will only provide if you accept its offer. All of it. You must leave home. You must be broken. It will cost you your entire life as you know it. And then, and only then, can you receive. What you receive will be far greater than anything you had or anything you lost. It will change you. It might even heal you.” – Ben Crawford

Crawford was writing specifically of the Appalachian Trail in this passage, but you don’t exactly need to have a degree in English to discern the deeper meaning. Only an empty cup can accept liquid, and only someone open to new experiences can actually receive them.

“The wise man and the tortoise travel but never leave their home.” – Traditional proverb

The question is whether there is even a choice in the matter. We may be more similar to the proverbial tortoise than we realize.