How to End a Eulogy

Eulogies are an important part of funerals and celebrations of life for many families. That being said, they aren’t exactly pieces of writing most folks are familiar with. There are plenty of ways to write a eulogy and many ways to end one – here’s how.

Before getting into how to end a eulogy, it can help to understand the standard format of a typical eulogy. Eulogies, like obituaries, often follow a general format and include common pieces of information. While a eulogy certainly doesn’t have to include these traits, understanding the format and structure of a typical eulogy can help you figure out how you’d like to structure the one you’re writing and then how to end it. Here's how a eulogy is often formatted:

1. Introduction

• Include a greeting and acknowledgment: Begin by greeting the audience and acknowledging those present. This includes family, friends, and others who have come to pay their respects.
• Introduce yourself: Briefly explain your relationship with the deceased. This helps establish your perspective and connection.
• Provide a purpose statement: Mention that you are there to honor the life and memory of the deceased. This sets the tone and context for your eulogy.

2. Personal stories and memories

• Highlight key traits: Describe the qualities that defined the person — their character, values, and how they impacted others. You can focus on their kindness, humor, generosity, strength, etc.
• Share anecdotes: Share a few specific stories or memories that illustrate those traits. Stories bring the person's spirit to life and offer the audience a chance to remember them fondly.
• Balance the emotion: Incorporate a mix of humor and solemnity. While it’s important to acknowledge the sadness of the occasion, a touch of humor can help celebrate their life more fully and provide comfort.

3. Reflection on the person’s impact

• Discuss relationships: Talk about how the person influenced or connected with family, friends, colleagues, or the community. This could include their role as a parent, partner, friend, or mentor.
• Highlight achievements: Mention significant accomplishments or contributions they made in their lifetime — both big and small. It could be personal milestones, professional successes, or acts of kindness.

4. Personal gratitude and lessons learned

• Share what you learned: Reflect on any lessons you learned from the deceased or how they inspired you. This personalizes the eulogy and connects your feelings to a broader message.
• Express gratitude: Acknowledge what you are grateful for — perhaps the time you spent together, the memories shared, or the love they gave.

5. Farewell

• Offer a final goodbye: Conclude with a meaningful farewell. This could be a short phrase, a favorite quote, a poem, or even a religious passage, depending on what feels appropriate.
• Call for remembrance: Encourage others to remember the deceased in a particular way — through a specific action, by carrying on their legacy, or simply by cherishing their memory.

6. Ending remarks

• Thank the audience: Thank those in attendance for being there to honor the deceased.
• Close the eulogy: Close the eulogy with a final, respectful word or gesture.

Now, if you came to this article wondering, “How do you end a eulogy?” and still are looking for ideas for what type of farewell or ending to give, keep reading!

How to end a eulogy

Ending a eulogy can be challenging because it's the moment where you encapsulate the essence of the person you're honoring and leave the audience with a final, resonant thought. Here are some suggestions on how to craft a meaningful and impactful conclusion:

1. Offer a final goodbye

• Offer a simple farewell: Use a direct and heartfelt goodbye, such as "Goodbye, [Name]. You will always be in our hearts." This can be effective when you want to keep it simple and sincere.
• Provide a personal message: Speak directly to the deceased as if you were talking to them, for example, "Thank you for all the love, laughter, and guidance you brought into our lives. Until we meet again."

2. Use a meaningful quote or poem

• Select a relevant quote: Choose a quote from a favorite book, poem, or person that captures the spirit or values of the deceased. For instance, “As [Name] would often say, ‘To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die.’” You can find more quote suggestions at the end of this article if you don’t have one in mind.
• Recite a poem: A short poem that reflects on life, love, or the person's character can provide a poignant ending. Examples include excerpts from poets like Mary Elizabeth Frye ("Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep") or Khalil Gibran.

3. Call for remembrance or action

• Encourage a tribute: Suggest a way for the audience to honor the deceased's memory, like “Let us remember [Name] by continuing to live with the kindness and generosity they showed every day.”
• Ask for reflection: Invite those present to reflect on their own lives or relationships, such as, “As we leave today, may we all take a moment to think about the impact we have on others, just as [Name] did throughout their life.”

4. Express gratitude and love

• Thank the audience: Acknowledge the shared loss and gratitude for their support. For example, “Thank you all for being here today and for being a part of [Name]’s life. Your presence is a testament to the love they inspired.”
• Express love: Close with a simple statement of love, such as, "We love you, [Name], and we always will."

5. Share a final memory or reflection

• Highlight a defining moment: End with a memorable story or anecdote that perfectly captures the deceased's essence. Choose a moment that represents their spirit and the joy they brought into life.
• Offer a personal reflection: Offer a final reflection on what the deceased meant to you personally, such as “I’ll always remember [Name] for their courage and kindness, and I feel so blessed to have had them in my life.”

6. Conclude with silence or a gesture

• Request a moment of silence: Invite the audience to join you in a moment of silence to reflect and remember the deceased.
• Perform a gesture: If appropriate, consider a physical gesture like placing a flower, lighting a candle, or even raising a toast, depending on the setting and the person's culture or preferences.

7. Finish with hope or comfort

• Offer comforting words: End with a hopeful or comforting statement, like “Though [Name] is no longer with us, their spirit lives on in every act of kindness we do in their name.”
• Mention a reunion: If appropriate, you could end with a religious or spiritual message, such as “We take comfort in knowing that [Name] is at peace, and we will meet again someday.”

Following are some expanded examples on how to end a eulogy, including movie quotes, famous quotes, and poems. Customizing the eulogy by picking a quote, poem, song, bible verse, or other ending is a great way to make the eulogy feel memorable and unique.

Quotes to end a eulogy

One option you have when ending a eulogy is to simply use a quote from the person the eulogy is for. If the person the eulogy is for didn’t have a specific phrase or quote you’d like to include, you can consider using quotes that feel relevant to their life or the occasion. Each of these eulogy ending quotes offers comfort, reflection, or inspiration, making them fitting for a farewell:

1. "People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." - Maya Angelou
2. "Our death is not an end if we can live on in our children and the younger generation. For they are us; our bodies are only wilted leaves on the tree of life." - Albert Einstein
3. "What we have once enjoyed deeply we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us." - Helen Keller
4. "For life and death are one, even as the river and the sea are one." - Kahlil Gibran
5. "What we do now echoes in eternity." - Marcus Aurelius
6. "And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest." - William Shakespeare
7. "Death is not extinguishing the light; it is only putting out the lamp because the dawn has come." - Rabindranath Tagore
8. "There are no goodbyes for us. Wherever you are, you will always be in my heart." - Mahatma Gandhi
9. "The sole meaning of life is to serve humanity." - Leo Tolstoy
10. "Unable are the loved to die, for love is immortality." - Emily Dickinson
11. "Goodbyes are only for those who love with their eyes. Because for those who love with heart and soul, there is no such thing as separation." - Rumi
12. "Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened." - Dr. Seuss
13. "The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living." - Cicero
14. "The reality is that you will grieve forever. You will not 'get over' the loss of a loved one; you will learn to live with it. You will heal, and you will rebuild yourself around the loss you have suffered." - Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
15. "While we are mourning the loss of our friend, others are rejoicing to meet him behind the veil." - Benjamin Franklin

Movie quotes to end a eulogy

If your loved one was a film fan and you’d like to share a quote from a movie they loved or a popular movie, it can help to personalize the eulogy and add a unique touch. Every eulogy is unique and different, just as everyone’s life is unique and different. If you’re wondering how to end a funeral speech for a film lover, consider using one of these following movie quotes (or finding a quote from a film they particularly enjoyed).

1. "It's the circle of life, and it moves us all through despair and hope, through faith and love, till we find our place on the path unwinding." - The Lion King
2. "Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary." - Dead Poets Society
3. "End? No, the journey doesn't end here. Death is just another path, one that we all must take." - The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
4. "I don't know if we each have a destiny, or if we're all just floating around accidental-like on a breeze. But I think maybe it's both." - Forrest Gump
5. "The best love is the kind that awakens the soul; that makes us reach for more, that plants the fire in our hearts and brings peace to our minds." - The Notebook
6. "What we do in life echoes in eternity." - Gladiator
7. "Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies." - The Shawshank Redemption
8. "Every man dies, not every man really lives." - Braveheart
9. "Do not pity the dead, Harry. Pity the living, and above all, those who live without love." - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
10. "You gave me a forever within the numbered days, and I’m grateful." - The Fault in Our Stars
11. "You'll have bad times, but it'll always wake you up to the good stuff you weren't paying attention to." - Good Will Hunting
12. "A man tells his stories so many times that he becomes the stories. They live on after him, and in that way, he becomes immortal." - Big Fish
13. "You know, Miss Ruth was a lady. And a lady always knows when to leave." - Fried Green Tomatoes
14. "The Force will be with you, always." - Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back
15. “Our lives are defined by opportunities, even the ones we miss." - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

These quotes reflect themes of love, memory, hope, and the continuation of life beyond death, making them fitting and meaningful choices for ending a eulogy.

Poems to end a eulogy

Ending a eulogy with a poem can be a beautiful and meaningful choice. Poems often use imagery, rhythm, and carefully chosen words to express feelings of love, grief, hope, and remembrance that may be hard to articulate in ordinary speech. Following are some potential options for powerful poems to end the eulogy with:

1. "Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep" by Mary Elizabeth Frye

"Do not stand at my grave and weep;
I am not there, I do not sleep."

2. "Death is Nothing at All" by Henry Scott-Holland

"Death is nothing at all.
It does not count. I have only slipped away into the next room."

3. "Remember" by Christina Rossetti

"Remember me when I am gone away,
Gone far away into the silent land."

4. "Crossing the Bar" by Alfred Lord Tennyson

"Sunset and evening star,
And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
When I put out to sea."

5. "Funeral Blues" by W.H. Auden

"He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest."

6. "Afterglow" by Helen Lowrie Marshall

"I’d like the memory of me
To be a happy one.
I’d like to leave an afterglow
Of smiles when life is done."

7. "To Those Whom I Love and Those Who Love Me" by Anonymous

"When I am gone, release me, let me go.
I have so many things to see and do."

8. "When I Am Dead, My Dearest" by Christina Rossetti

"When I am dead, my dearest,
Sing no sad songs for me;
Plant thou no roses at my head,
Nor shady cypress tree."

9. "Requiem" by Robert Louis Stevenson

"Under the wide and starry sky,
Dig the grave and let me lie.
Glad did I live and gladly die,
And I laid me down with a will."

10. "She Is Gone (He Is Gone)" by David Harkins

"You can shed tears that she is gone,
Or you can smile because she has lived."

11. "Success" by Ralph Waldo Emerson

"To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;
...This is to have succeeded."

12. "Turn Again to Life" by Mary Lee Hall

"If I should die and leave you here a while,
Be not like others sore undone, who keep
Long vigils by the silent dust, and weep."

13. "If I Should Go" by Joyce Grenfell

"If I should go before the rest of you,
Break not a flower nor inscribe a stone,
Nor when I’m gone speak in a Sunday voice,
But be the usual selves that I have known."

14. "High Flight" by John Gillespie Magee Jr.

"Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings."

15. "The Parting Glass" (Traditional Irish Farewell)

"Of all the money that e'er I had,
I spent it in good company.
And all the harm I've ever done,
Alas, it was to none but me."

Writing a eulogy is just one way to honor the memory of a loved one. If you're looking for a meaningful way to remember them, consider creating a memorial website on Ever Loved. Memorial websites on Ever Loved give you a place to share the eulogy, provide event details, post an obituary, and collect donations and cherished memories in your loved one’s honor.

Create a memorial website