Quotes from the Best Eulogies

Funeral eulogies are not always easy to write. There’s no basic template to follow or formula you can plug in. How do you express to yourself and those at the funeral how you feel and what sort of relationship you had with the deceased?

If you need a bit of inspiration, we have compiled a few quotes from the best eulogies. Taken from both film and real life, these quotes may be able to inspire you to tell your story and celebrate your loved one.

Four Weddings and a Funeral: Mathew’s Speech at Gareth’s Funeral

“Gareth used to prefer funerals to weddings. He said it was easier to get enthusiastic about a ceremony one had an outside chance of eventually being involved in…As for me, you may ask how I’ll remember him, what I thought of him. Unfortunately there I don’t have words. Perhaps you will forgive me if I turn from my own feelings to the words of another splendid bugger: W.H. Auden. This is actually what I wanted to say:

He was my North, my South, my East, my West.

My working week and my Sunday rest.

My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song,

I thought love would last forever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now, put out every one.

Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun.

Pour out the ocean and sweep up the wood,

For nothing now can ever come to any good.’”

The Fault in Our Stars: Hazel to Gus

“… I will not tell you our love story, because like all real love stories, it will die with us. As it should…I can’t talk about our love story, so I will talk about math. I am not a mathematician, but I know this. There is an infinite between 0 and 1. There’s 0.1 and 0.12 and 0.112 and an infinite collection of others. Of course there is a bigger infinite set of numbers between 0 and 2, or between 0 and a million. Some infinities are bigger than other infinities. A writer we used to like taught us that. There are days, many days of them, when I resent the size of my unbounded set. I want more numbers than I’m likely to get, and God, I want more numbers for Augustus Waters than he got. But, Gus, my love, I cannot tell you how thankful I am for our little infinity. I wouldn’t trade it for the world. You gave me a forever within the numbered days, and I’m grateful.”

Billy Crystal to Muhammad Ali

“Muhammad Ali struck us in the middle of America’s darkest night, in the heart of its most threatening, gathering storm. His power toppled the mightiest of foes, and his intense light shined on America. We were able to see clearly injustice, inequality, poverty, pride, self-realization, courage, laughter, love, joy and religious freedom for all.

“Ali forced us to take a look at ourselves. This brash young man who thrilled us, angered us, confused and challenged us ultimately became a silent messenger of peace who taught us that life is best when you build bridges between people, not walls.

“My friends, only once in a thousand years or so do we get to hear a Mozart, see a Picasso, read a Shakespeare. Ali was one of them, and yet, at his heart, he was still a kid from Louisville who ran with the gods and walked with the crippled and smiled at the foolishness of it all. He is gone, but he will never die. He was my big brother.”

Alex Gow Funerals has been helping families throughout Queensland create meaningful tributes to their loved ones since 1840. If you require assistance with funeral arrangements, please do not hesitate to contact us or call our Brisbane head office on 07 3073 4816. We also have an online pre-arrangement form you can fill out.