25 Beautiful Rest in Peace Quotes and Messages 

Celebrate your passed loved ones with these meaningful rest in peace messages.

Published April 5, 2023
A woman looks distracted and pensive as she lies on a bed

Losing a loved one can bring on a hurricane of emotions that washes away any known expression to describe how you're feeling. So often, we send people to the other side with a rest in peace. But for many, that phrase just isn't good enough anymore. There are so many ways you can personalize a rest in peace quote, and these are just a few examples.

Short Rest in Peace Captions to Commemorate Your Loved Ones

Rear View Of Girl Standing At Farm Against Sky

Whether it's sudden or something you've been expecting, losing a loved one will bring an onslaught of memories and emotions. It's common to use social media to announce someone's passing instead of through a traditional obituary. Help the digital world celebrate their life with these short, but meaningful, rest in peace captions.

  • You may not be here anymore, but you're still in our hearts.
  • There's nothing more beautiful than a life fully lived.
  • May you be granted the peace you deserve.
  • Your soul lives on in the people you touched.
  • You're forever in our hearts.
  • My heart only hurts this much because of how much I loved you.
  • You were the strongest person I've known, and now you'll get the rest you deserve.
  • Life wasn't always the kindest to you, but now you're finally at peace.
  • There's a time for all seasons, and it was time for yours to come to an end.

Rest in Peace Quotes Perfect for any Program or Card

Silhouette of birds flying over lake against sky during sunset

If you're holding a memorial service or you're writing something sweet in a condolences card, you don't have to reinvent the wheel. While RIP's taken a less touching meaning in the digital age, there are so many other phrases you can use that have the same sentiment.

  • They never feared the end because they knew they'd lived every moment to the fullest.
  • With our greatest condolences, we send (their name) off to their everlasting peace.
  • (Their name) leaves behind a legacy filled with brightness - something they're sure to pass on from wherever they are.
  • If there was anyone dancing on their way to the other side, it was (their name).
  • What a life (their name) must have lived for so many people to share in this sadness together.
  • (Their name) was always fascinated by the night sky, and now they've joined the stars they loved so much.
  • Our beloved (their name) never knew peace in their life, and so we don't hope for peace in their afterlife. Instead, we wish they get the greatest adventures we could ever imagine.

Meaningful Rest in Peace Quotes From Books and Film

Idyllic landscape and flying geese at sunrise

Just like an "I'm so sorry for your loss" doesn't fully encompass the depth of what you're feeling, 'rest in peace' can't accurately describe your well wishes. We turn to film and books to comfort us in our hardest times, and they're chock full of meaningful quotes we can connect to. Let other's words speak for you with these rest in peace quotes pulled from some of your favorite books and films.

  • "I think we dream so we don't have to be apart for so long. If we're in each other's dreams, we can be together all the time." - A.A. Milne
  • "When we die, our bodies become the grass, and the antelope eat the grass. And so we are all connected in the great circle of life." - The Lion King
  • "Death is a natural part of life. Rejoice for those around you who transform into the Force. Mourn them, do not. Miss them, do not." - Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith
  • "Don't grieve. Anything you lose comes round in another form." - Rumi
  • "Ohana means family, and family means nobody is left behind or forgotten." - Lilo & Stitch
  • "As long as there is love and memory, there is no true loss." - Cassandra Clare
  • "Your absence has gone through me like thread through a needle. Everything I do is stitched with its color." - W.S. Merwin
  • "The love inside, you take it with you." - Ghost
  • "A single person is missing for you, and the whole world is empty." - Joan Didion

Why Do We Even Say Rest in Peace?

It's curious that we still say rest in peace, even though we as a society have long since forgotten where it comes from. The phrase originates from as early as the 8th century, where it was carved into headstones as a plea to God to grant his child a peaceful afterlife. Historic Christianity led to legitimate fears for people's damnation. As is so common in linguistics, the phrase got shorter and shorter before it turned into just RIP.

Some of the common rest in peace phrases you might hear include:

  • May you rest peacefully.
  • R.I.P., (person's name)
  • Rest in peace, (friend, sister/brother, aunt/uncle, grandma/grandpa)
  • Rest in Paradise/Heaven.
  • Sleep in peace.
  • May your soul rest in peace.
  • Rest in perfect peace.
  • May they find eternal peace.
  • Rest easy.
  • Gone but not forgotten. Rest in peace.
  • (Their name) was gone too soon. Rest in peace.

Make Rest in Peace Personal

Today, rest in peace is a sort of catchall placeholder for something more intimate and personal. When you're commemorating your passed loved ones, try to speak from the heart and use rest in peace quotes that describe your feelings on a deeper level.

25 Beautiful Rest in Peace Quotes and Messages