The best gift for me during the holiday season is the opportunity to spend time with my extended family. And I feel doubly blessed when I listen to some of my friends discuss the trials and tribulations of being with their families—particularly the delicate task of trying to bring together the families of both spouses. I actually like my family. Not only that, I like my brother’s in-laws, too. I even like my sister-in-law’s dog.

But like everyone else, I had my share of awkward family moments as I was growing up. And if the mountain you have to move in the next few days involves making nice with relatives that don’t inspire you to feel goodwill toward all, just remember: This too shall pass.

To help you through all the togetherness, here are a few thoughts on friends and families:

“Friendship makes prosperity more shining and lessens adversity by dividing and sharing it.”

—Cicero, Roman orator and politician

“Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city.”

—George Burns, comedian

“There is no such thing as ‘fun for the whole family.'”

—Jerry Seinfeld, comedian

“The happiest moments of my life have been the few which I have passed at home in the bosom of my family.”

—Thomas Jefferson, President of the United States

“If you ever start feeling like you have the goofiest, craziest, most dysfunctional family in the world, all you have to do is go to a state fair. Because five minutes at the fair, you’ll be going, ‘you know, we’re all right.'”

—Jeff Foxworthy, comedian

“The ornament of a house is the friends who frequent it.”

—Ralph Waldo Emerson, essayist and philosopher

“There is plenty of peace in any home where the family doesn’t make the mistake of trying to get together.”

—Kin Hubbard, humorist

“Let us make one point: that we meet each other with a smile when it is difficult to smile.”

—Mother Teresa, humanitarian