Goodbye is one of those words that doesn't quite cover it. Whether you're leaving a job you've had for fifteen years, watching a close friend move across the country, retiring after three decades, or sending your kid off to college, the moment needs more than a handshake and a card you found at the gas station.

The right goodbye quote captures what you can't say out loud. We've put together 65+ farewell quotes organized by context — coworkers, friends, big life transitions, moves, and the complicated mix of relief and sadness that comes with any real ending. These work in speech bubbles, in a farewell photo book, or on the card you hand someone at their last day party.

Goodbye quotes for coworkers

Leaving a job is its own kind of grief. You spend more waking hours with coworkers than with most of your family. These quotes work for the colleague heading to a new company, the boss who's finally retired, and the team member relocating for a partner's career.

• "It's not goodbye. It's see you on LinkedIn."
• "The best part of a job isn't the work. It's the people. I got lucky with both."
• "Don't be sad because it's over. Be glad it happened." — Dr. Seuss
• "Every ending is a new beginning." — Marianne Williamson
• "I wasn't just losing a coworker. I was losing a friend I happened to share a building with."
• "Thank you for making Monday mornings survivable."
• "You've left big shoes to fill. I'm still looking for someone with the same shoe size."
• "Working with you never felt like work. That's rarer than it sounds."
• "I'll miss the coffee runs. I'll miss the conversations more."
• "The meetings will be quieter now. Not better. Just quieter."
• "Here's to the colleague who made the impossible feel routine."
• "May your next chapter be everything this one wasn't, and everything this one was."

A farewell photo book is one of the best gifts you can give a departing colleague. My Social Book can build one from your team's Facebook posts, shared Instagram photos, or Dropbox folder in minutes. Every photo comes with its original date and caption. No one has to spend a Saturday collecting and sorting pictures. Start your free preview here.

Goodbye quotes for friends

Friends who move away are a different category of loss. You'll keep in touch — everyone says that — and some people actually do. But the proximity is gone, and these quotes acknowledge that honestly.

• "How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard." — A.A. Milne
• "Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened." — Dr. Seuss
• "Good friends never truly say goodbye — they say 'see you soon' and mean it."
• "Distance means so little when someone means so much."
• "True friendship doesn't end when someone moves. It just changes area codes."
• "You've made my life better in ways I'm still figuring out."
• "I didn't know what missing someone felt like until I knew you."
• "Close together or far apart, you're always in my heart."
• "You can't stay in your corner of the forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes." — A.A. Milne
• "The world is round and the place which may seem like the end may also be only the beginning." — Ivy Baker Priest
• "Wherever you are, it will be a better place because you're in it."
• "The pain of parting is nothing to the joy of meeting again." — Charles Dickens

If you want to give a friend something that holds the real history of your friendship — not a card they'll lose, but something they'll keep — a photo book from your shared Facebook or Instagram posts captures what no store-bought gift can. It shows the inside jokes, the specific Saturday afternoons, the captions that only make sense to the two of you. See how a Facebook photo book works.

Funny goodbye quotes

Sometimes the situation calls for lightness. A laugh at the right moment makes the leaving easier for everyone. These are for retirement parties, last-day-of-work cards, and situations where the person leaving doesn't want to cry in front of a conference room full of people.

• "So long, and thanks for all the fish." — Douglas Adams
• "Goodbye. I am going now because I want to." — Bilbo Baggins
• "I'm not crying. You're crying. We're all crying, actually. This is terrible."
• "I'd say I'll miss you, but honestly the inbox is already lighter."
• "Farewell. May your Wi-Fi always be fast and your meetings always have an end time."
• "I told myself I wouldn't cry. I lied."
• "Don't worry about me. I'll be devastated in the car."
• "Leaving before the sequel. Smart move."
• "I hope your next chapter has better catering."
• "The group chat will never be the same. That's both a warning and a promise."
• "I'm not saying you were my favorite person here, but you were definitely in the top two."
• "Good luck. You won't need it. But good luck."

Moving away quotes

Moving cities is one of the bigger life pivots. These quotes fit the person packing boxes, the people they're leaving, and the mixed feeling that surrounds any major relocation — part grief, part excitement, part logistical overwhelm.

• "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." — Lao Tzu
• "One's destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things." — Henry Miller
• "The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page." — St. Augustine
• "I'm not running away. I'm running toward."
• "Home is not where you live, but where they understand you." — Christian Morgenstern
• "You'll always have a home here. You know that."
• "Every city is a new chapter. You've earned the move."
• "Not all who wander are lost. Some are just getting started." — Inspired by Tolkien
• "Wherever life plants you, bloom with grace."
• "There are things you cannot leave behind. We are one of them."
• "Roots and wings. You've got both."

A photo book from your time in a city captures the neighborhood, the regulars, the local places. My Social Book pulls the photos from your Facebook or Instagram automatically, in the order they happened. You see the whole arc. That's a meaningful thing to give someone who's leaving a place — or to make for yourself as you close that chapter.

Bittersweet farewell quotes

Some goodbyes aren't clean. Retirement after a 30-year career. A college friend group scattering across the country. A kid going off to university. These quotes sit in that complicated middle ground between proud and sad — which is usually the most honest place to be.

• "Parting is such sweet sorrow." — William Shakespeare
• "Every goodbye makes the next hello closer." — Anon
• "The most important things are the hardest to say." — Stephen King
• "Goodbyes are not forever. Goodbyes are not the end. They simply mean I'll miss you until we meet again."
• "I carry your heart with me, I carry it in my heart." — e.e. cummings
• "To part is to die a little." — French proverb
• "Only in the agony of parting do we look into the depths of love." — George Eliot
• "What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning." — T.S. Eliot
• "We don't need an ending that's happy. Just honest."
• "The hardest goodbyes are the ones you didn't see coming."
• "It takes courage to say goodbye to something good because something better is waiting."
• "Years from now, this will be the part of the story where everything changed."

Retirement farewell quotes

Retirement is its own kind of goodbye — to a career, to colleagues, to the structure of forty-hour weeks. These quotes work for retirement speeches, cards, and the photo book you assemble from the career's best memories.

• "Retirement: the end of an era, the start of an adventure."
• "Don't think of retirement as an end. Think of it as a very long weekend."
• "The trouble with retirement is that you never get a day off." — Abe Lemons
• "You've worked hard for this rest. Enjoy every second of it."
• "After a long career, the greatest reward isn't the pension. It's the stories."
• "They can take away the job title. The legacy stays."
• "Retired: Under new management. See spouse for details."
• "You've earned the right to do absolutely nothing, beautifully."
• "What do you call a person who is happy on Mondays? Retired."
• "Now the fun part starts."

How to turn farewell memories into a photo book

When someone important is leaving, a store-bought card doesn't cut it. A photo book built from real memories — not stock photos, not generic design templates — is the gift that actually gets kept.

My Social Book connects to Facebook, Instagram, or Dropbox, pulls your shared photos in chronological order, and builds a book automatically. The layout is generated for you. Every photo keeps its original date, caption, and likes. For a coworker's farewell book, connect the team's shared account or Dropbox folder. For a friend's moving-away gift, use your shared Instagram history or Facebook timeline.

Books run 25 to 450 pages. Pricing is affordable with frequent discounts. You can preview every page before ordering, remove anything you don't want, and customize the cover.

Related: How to pick the right photo book maker

Frequently asked questions

What's a good short goodbye quote for a card?

For short and sweet, hard to beat Dr. Seuss: "Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened." For something warmer without being sentimental, "I'll miss the coffee runs. I'll miss the conversations more" works well on a card or a farewell book dedication page. A.A. Milne's "How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard" is another that lands every time.

What's the best gift for someone who's leaving a job?

A photo book built from real memories beats anything off a gift shelf. My Social Book can build one from shared Facebook or Instagram posts in minutes. The finished book includes dates, original captions, and the likes from those posts — all the context that makes a memory feel real, not just a pile of photos. It's something they'll keep for years.

What do you say to a retiring colleague?

Acknowledge the years and the impact, not just the event. "You've worked hard for this rest. Enjoy every second of it" is genuine. "They can take away the job title. The legacy stays" lands well for someone who shaped the team culture. Avoid anything that sounds like a performance review. Personal is better than formal in a retirement speech or card.

How do I create a farewell photo book as a group gift?

The easiest way is to have one person connect a shared Facebook account, Instagram account, or Dropbox folder with the group's photos to My Social Book. The book builds automatically from the shared content. Everyone contributes photos simply by being tagged in shared posts. Start your preview at /pages/collection.

Are goodbye quotes different from farewell quotes?

In practice, people use them interchangeably. "Farewell" tends to feel slightly more formal or final — you'd see it in a speech. "Goodbye" is more conversational. For a photo book or card, either works. The quotes in this list function in both contexts.

Start your free photo book preview — connect Facebook, Instagram, or Dropbox and turn a goodbye into something they'll keep forever.

Related reading

• Friendship quotes
• Love quotes for photo books