Loyalty to the ones we care about is important.
Loyalty gives us the power to form lasting bonds and close friendships. Imagine how hard life would be if you never had anyone that you could count on, and having people like this contributes greatly to our happiness.
Loyalty is fantastic because it benefits everyone. We’re told that we live in a “dog eat dog world” but that is simply incorrect. It’s only through loyalty, compassion, and cooperation that we do our best work for humanity.
Loyalty, healthy relationships, and kindness make the earth spin. So if you’re looking to understand a little bit about loyalty and how you can bring more of it into your life, we’ve compiled this list of loyalty quotes for you.
However, before we get to the quotes let’s delve a bit deeper into the whole idea behind loyalty.
Why Read Loyalty Quotes
What is loyalty? The word originally comes from the French word loial, which concerns legality and lawful conduct.
When most people think of loyalty they think about pets, as many of us have had a loyal dog or knew somebody who had one. While loyalty can be associated negatively, like “blind loyalty” to a corrupt king. This is not the loyalty we’re discussing here.
Loyalty to friends means standing by them, supporting them, or remaining faithful to those you care about. Relationships enshrined in loyalty will always stand the test of time, as they bring out the best in the people involved.
If you doubt the value of loyalty just ask yourself, what do you want in a spouse, partner, or your friendships? I’d be willing to bet that loyalty is in the top 5 in some shape or form. So how do we get these loyal people in our lives?
This is why we’ve compiled a list of 121 quotes for you. The words here will help you reflect more deeply on the concept of loyalty, what it means to you, and how you can embody it in your life more and more.
The ancient Chinese Han dynasty had many stories about loyalty because they deeply understood its value, one such story goes like this:
A ruler of a kingdom once honored a minister that had served him faithfully for decades, the ruler would often bow and present gifts to this minister.
The minister was elderly and soon passed away, when it came time to find a replacement the ruler had so many talented, loyal candidates to choose from that his entire cabinet was renowned for being incredibly loyal, and his kingdom was one of the most unified in all of ancient China.
The lesson of this story is that loyalty can’t be demanded, when you are loyal to others, they in turn will be loyal to you.
These quotes will help you understand and develop your concept of loyalty, and as you become more loyal to those you care about, you’ll see them return it tenfold.
Let’s see these quotes!
121 Loyalty Quotes for Dedication to Friends, Co-Workers, & Loved Ones
- “Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved.” – Martin Luther
- “I think the greatest of all human virtues is loyalty. It embraces all the best of the human character: courage, faith, love and charity.” – Douglas Bader
- “If having a soul means being able to feel love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot of humans.” – James Herriot
- “Loyalty is the strongest glue which makes a relationship last for a lifetime.” – Mario Puzo
- “Honesty and loyalty are key. If two people can be honest with each other about everything, that’s probably the biggest key to success.” – Taylor Lautner
Honesty and loyalty are key. If two people can be honest with each other about everything, that’s probably the biggest key to success.” – Taylor Lautner
- “Loyalty is from above, betrayal is from below.” – Bob Sorge
- “Without trust, there can be no loyalty – and without loyalty, there can be no true growth.” – Fred Reichheld
- “If by my life or death I can protect you, I will.” – Aragorn (J.R.R. Tolkien)
- “True friends are those who came into your life, saw the most negative part of you, but are not ready to leave you, no matter how contagious you are to them.” – Michael Bassey Johnson
- “Loyalty isn’t grey. It’s black and white. You’re either loyal completely, or not loyal at all.” – Sharnay
- “You cannot buy loyalty; you cannot buy the devotion of hearts, minds, and souls. You have to earn these things.” – Clarence Francis
- “Nothing is more noble, nothing more venerable, than loyalty.” – Cicero
- “One loyal friend is worth ten thousand relatives.” – Euripides
- “Without loyalty, you won’t accomplish anything.” – Washington
- “Anything is possible when you have the right people there to support you.” – Misty Copeland
- “Love grows from stable relationships, shared experience, loyalty, devotion, trust.” – Richard Wright
- “Hold faithfulness and sincerity as first principles.” – Confucius
- “Every nation must now develop an overriding loyalty to mankind as a whole in order to preserve the best in their individual societies.” – Martin Luther King, Jr
- “The only true test of loyalty is fidelity in the face of ruin and despair.” – Eric Felten
- “Loyalty is what makes us trust, Trust is what makes us stay, Staying is what makes us love, and love is what gives us hope.” – Glenn van Dekken
- “Loyalty is a 24-hour proposition, 24/7. It’s not a part-time job.” – Jonathan Moyo
- “Wherever there is a grain of loyalty there is a glimpse of freedom.” – Algernon Charles Swinburn
- “Loyalty is the pledge of truth to oneself and others.” – Ada Velez-Boardley
- “There is one element that is worth its weight in gold and that is loyalty. It will cover a multitude of weaknesses.” – Philip Armour
There is one element that is worth its weight in gold and that is loyalty. It will cover a multitude of weaknesses.” – Philip Armour
- “Loyalty is still the same, whether it win or lose the game; true as a dial to the sun, although it be not shined upon.” – Samuel Butler
- “As I’m getting older, I’m really learning unconditional love and loyalty are extremely important.” – Bindi Irwin
- “You don't earn loyalty in a day. You earn loyalty day-by-day.” – Jeffrey Gitomer
- “So much of what is best in us is bound up in our love of family, that it remains the measure of our stability because it measures our sense of loyalty.” – Haniel Long
- “I don't like to give up on people when they need someone not to give up on them.” – Carroll Bryant
- “Anyone can give you attention and compliments… but someone who loves you will give you that plus respect, honesty, trust, and loyalty.” – Charles Orlando
- “Lack of loyalty is one of the major causes of failure in every walk of life.” -Napoleon Hill
- “Loyalty is the holiest good in the human heart.” – Seneca The Younger
- “There’s always a way – if you’re committed.” – Tony Robbins
- “Animals are reliable, many full of love, true in their affections, predictable in their actions, grateful and loyal. Difficult standards for people to live up to.” – Alfred Armand Montapert
- “I’ll take 50% efficiency to get 100% loyalty.” – Samuel Goldwin
- “No more important duty can be urged upon those who are entering the great theater of life than simple loyalty to their best convictions.” – Edwin Hubbell Chapin
- “Exceeding expectations is where satisfaction ends and loyalty begins.” – Ron Kaufman
- “But what are loyalty and caring really worth?”To me? Everything.” – Richelle Mead
- “Where there is loyalty, weapons are of no use.” – Paulo Coelho
- “You stand up for your teammates. Your loyalty is to them. You protect them through good and bad, because they'd do the same for you.” – Yogi Berra
- “Those who don’t know the value of loyalty can never appreciate the cost of betrayal.” -Anonymous
- “Grant stood by me when I was crazy, and I stood by him when he was drunk, and now we stand by each other.” – William T. Sherman
- “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” – Helen Keller
- “Sometimes I think you believe in me more than I do,” said the boy”You'll catch up,” said the horse.” – Charlie Mackesy
- “Loyalty means sticking with people you love through hard times. It doesn’t mean giving someone a license to treat you like nothing and you’ll stick around no matter what. Big difference.” – Doe Zantamata
Loyalty means sticking with people you love through hard times. It doesn’t mean giving someone a license to treat you like nothing and you’ll stick around no matter what. Big difference.” – Doe Zantamata
- “Loyalty that is bought with money may be overcome by money.” – Seneca
- “Be loyal to those who are not present. In doing so, you build the trust of those who are present.” – Stephen Covey
- “The scholar does not consider gold and jade to be precious treasures, but loyalty and good faith.” – Confucius
- “Ability is important in our quest for success, but dependability is critical.” – Zig Ziglar
- “A friend is someone who walks into a room when everyone else is walking out.” – Gary Moore
- “It is better to be faithful than famous.”– Theodore Roosevelt
- “Unless you can find some sort of loyalty, you cannot find unity and peace in your active living.” – Josiah Royce
- “The first step in the evolution of ethics is a sense of solidarity with other human beings.” – Albert Schweitzer
- “Avoid those who seek friends in order to maintain a certain social status or to open doors they would not otherwise be able to approach.” – Paulo Coelho
- “The foundation stones for a balanced success are honesty, character, integrity, faith, love, and loyalty.” – Zig Ziglar
- “We have to recognise that there cannot be relationships unless there is commitment, unless there is loyalty, unless there is love, patience, persistence.” – Cornel West
- “If put to the pinch, an ounce of loyalty is worth a pound of cleverness.” – Elbert Hubbard
- “Loyalty is not unilateral. You have to give it to receive it.” – Pat Summitt
- “I think a good friend, to me, is all about trust and loyalty. You don’t ever want to second-guess whether you can tell your friend something.”– Lauren Conrad
- “Sometimes it was worth all the disadvantages of marriage just to have that: one friend in an indifferent world.” – Erica Jong
- “A healthy loyalty is not passive and complacent, but active and critical.” – Harold Laski
- “It is not a lack of love, but a lack of friendship that makes unhappy marriages.” – Friedrich Nietzsche
- “That’s what a good wife does, keeps your dreams alive even when you don’t believe anymore” – Michael J. Sullivan
- “It is not fair to ask of others what you are not willing to do yourself.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
It is not fair to ask of others what you are not willing to do yourself.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
- “People who are brave, fearless and courageous are usually loyal and trustworthy people.”-Nurudeen Ushawu
- “Leadership is a two-way street, loyalty up and loyalty down.” – Grace Murray Hopper
- “There’s nothing like a really loyal, dependable, good friend. Nothing.” – Jennifer Aniston
- “The truest form of love is how you behave toward someone, not how you feel about them.” – Steve Hall
- “A trusting heart will follow, only those who truly follow their heart.” – Anthony Liccione
- “You have to be really loyal to the people that supported you when you were coming up.” – Sylvester Stallone
- “In the Olympic Oath, I ask for only one thing: sporting loyalty.” – Pierre de Coubertin
- “Don’t let your loyalty become slavery. If they don’t appreciate what you bring to the table, let them eat alone.” – Anonymous
- “You give loyalty, you’ll get it back. You give love, you’ll get it back.” – Tommy Lasorda
- “Without commitment you cannot have depth in anything.” – Neil Strauss
- “Never expect loyalty from a person that can’t give you honesty.” – Surgeo Bell
- “Unlike the puerile loyalty to a conviction, loyalty to a friend is a virtue—perhaps the only virtue, the last remaining one.” – Milan Kundera
- “To lead people walk behind them” – Lao Tzu
- “Order a man to turn his child over to the state? Not while I'm his captain!” – Captain Jean Luc Picard
- “Success is the result of perfection, hard work, learning from failure, loyalty, and persistence.” – Colin Powell
- “Lots of people want to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “Better to have one woman on your side than ten men.” – Robert Jordan
- “You find out who your real friends are when you’re involved in a scandal.” – Elizabeth Taylor
- “If you will not die for us, you cannot ask us to die for you.” – Jacqueline Carey
- “Loyalty means nothing unless it has at its heart the absolute principle of self-sacrifice.” – Woodrow Wilson
- “Employee loyalty begins with employer loyalty. Your employees should know that if they do the job they were hired to do with a reasonable amount of competence and efficiency, you will support them.” – Harvey Mackay
Employee loyalty begins with employer loyalty. Your employees should know that if they do the job they were hired to do with a reasonable amount of competence and efficiency, you will support them.” – Harvey Mackay
- “There is nothing I would not do for those who are really my friends.” – Jane Austen
- “I belong to the people I love, and they belong to me—they, and the love and loyalty I give them, form my identity far more than any word or group ever could.” – Veronica Roth, author
- “It gives me strength to have somebody to fight for; I can never fight for myself, but, for others, I can kill.” – Emilie Autumn
- “Loyalty is a fine quality, but in excess it fills political graveyards.” – Neil Kinnock
- “It’s the friends you can call up at 4 a.m. that matter.” – Marlene Dietrich
- “We are sure to get opportunities as we show ourselves capable of being trusted.” – Roy L. Smith
- “No more important duty can be urged upon those who are entering the great theater of life than simple loyalty to their best convictions.” – Edwin Hubbell Chapin
- “Never mind, said Hachiko each day. Here I wait, for my friend who’s late. I will stay, just to walk beside you for one more day.” – Jess C. Scott
- “My father wrote: “Always question where your loyalties lie. The people you trust will expect it, your greatest enemies will desire it, and those you treasure the most, will, without fail, abuse it.” – Emily Thorne
- “A true friend never gets in your way unless you happen to be going down.” – Arnold H. Glasgow
- “An intelligent and conscientious opposition is a part of loyalty to country.” – Bainbridge Colby
- ‘You can trust us to stick with you through thick and thin–to the bitter end. And you can trust us to keep any secret of yours–closer than you keep it yourself. But you cannot trust us to let you face trouble alone and go off without a word.” – J.R.R Tolkien
- “Loyalty and friendship, which is to me the same, created all the wealth that I’ve ever thought I’d have.” – Ernie Banks
- “Sometimes we're loyal to more than one thing. When there's a conflict, we have to choose which loyalty to honor.” – Claudia Gray
- “Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens.” – J.R.R. Tolkien
- “True friends don't come with conditions.” – Aaron Lauritsen
- “Nothing is more noble, nothing more venerable, than loyalty.” – Cicero
- “The only people I owe my loyalty to are those who never made me question theirs.” – Anonymous
- “We men and women are all in the same boat, upon a stormy sea. We owe to each other a terrible and tragic loyalty.” – G.K. Chesterton
- “Reliability is a most wonderful virtue. We should cultivate it. We should be consistent about the things we do, so that others will know they can count on us. But more important, we want to be able to count on ourselves. The greatest pain is to have to disappoint one's self.” – Sterling W. Sill
Reliability is a most wonderful virtue. We should cultivate it. We should be consistent about the things we do, so that others will know they can count on us. But more important, we want to be able to count on ourselves. The greatest pain is to have to disappoint one's self.” – Sterling W. Sill
- “Now everyone dreams of a love faithful and true, but you and I know what this world can do. So let’s make our steps clear so the other may see. And I’ll wait for you…should I fall behind wait for me.” – Bruce Springsteen
- . “Be slow to fall into friendship; but when thou art in, continue firm & constant.” – Socrates
- “Your truest friends are the ones who will stand by you in your darkest moments–because they're willing to brave the shadows with you–and in your greatest moments–because they're not afraid to let you shine.” – Nicole Yatsonsky
- “Love is friendship that has caught fire. It is quiet understanding, mutual confidence, sharing and forgiving. It is loyalty through good and bad times. It settles for less than perfection and makes allowances for human weaknesses.” – Ann Landers
- “Commitment is what transforms a promise into a reality.” – Abraham Lincoln
- “But what he hadn’t expected was that when everyone feared him and flattered him, Lan WangJi scolded him right in his face; when everyone spurned him and loathed him, Lan WangJi stood by his side.” – Mó Dào Zǔ Shī
- “Loyalty is a continuous phenomenon; you don’t score points for past action.” – Natasha Pulley
- “Loyalty…When I think of it, I wonder if I would rather have it than love. Whereas love is often an over-used word and an unpredictable feeling, the other is nothing but dependability.” – Donna Lynn Hope
- “If we commit ourselves to one person for life, this is not, as many people think, a rejection of freedom; rather, it demands the courage to move into all the risks of freedom, and the risk of love which is permanent; into that love which is not possession but participation.” – Madeleine L'Engle
- “Friends ask you questions; enemies question you.” – Criss Jami
- “When confronted with a challenge, the committed heart will search for a solution. The undecided heart searches for an escape.” – Andy Andrews
- A friend is one that knows you as you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become, and still, gently allows you to grow.” – William Shakespeare
- “Trust is earned, respect is given, and loyalty is demonstrated. Betrayal of any one of those is to lose all three.” – Ziad K. Abdelnour
- “If a man asks me for my loyalty…I will give him my honesty. If a man asks me for my honesty…I will give him my loyalty!” – John Boyd
- “Loyalty is a characteristic trait. Those who have it, give it free of charge.” – Ellen J. Barrier
- “Be with a leader when he is right, stay with him when he is still right, but, leave him when he is wrong.” – Abraham Lincoln
Final Thoughts on Loyalty Quotes
Loyalty is such an important part of our lives, we hope these quotes can help understand just how positively it can impact you.
When we demonstrate our loyalty to the people we work with or the people we care about, then we are in turn given a great opportunity.
While it may seem counter-intuitive to let our guard down by opening ourselves up to betrayal, we are also in turn providing space for loyal relationships to flourish.
To help you create this in your own world, check out these 13 ways to show respect for others in your everyday life. When we go out of our way to give the people around us our respect and courtesy, we are planting the seeds of long-term loyalty.
And if you want more eye-opening quotes, be sure to check out these blog posts:
- 77 Liar Quotes to Deal with Dishonest People
- 79 Jealousy Quotes to Overcome Your Envy
- 105 Forgiveness Quotes to Help You Let Go of Your Hurt
Finally, if you want to use these quotes to make a lasting change to your life, then check out and recite these 57 affirmations for success.
Tom Smith is a creative writer with over 6 years of professional experience. He discovered the joy of writing after covering some furniture in his childhood home with graffiti. In later years, he got himself a BA in creative writing and hasn’t looked back. After discovering the power of positive thinking and discovering the spiritual side of life, he believes it's a huge privilege to be able to write about all things personal development.
