18 Tattoos That Say More Than a Thousand Words

Sometimes there is a whole story behind a small tattoo — love, loss or a new chapter of life. We put together tattoos, many of which were made not for fashion or aesthetics, but for a much more important reason. Each of them is a memory, a symbol, or a personal manifesto.

“My friend just got what has to be the most pragmatic tattoo ever.”

• He wants to live. © sean488 / Reddit

“Tattoos my mom and I got”

“After her son passed away, this awesome lady got the image and writing from a card he’d written for her tattooed on her forearm.”

“I almost cried seeing her reaction. She said the card itself was so worn out from her reading it over and over.”

“Ambigram of my daughter’s name”

“I just got my first tattoo to commemorate my battle with depression!”

“I love cats, but the semicolon means that my life doesn’t stop after depression, there is more life to live. It’s a pause, not a stop.”

“Self-portrait by my daughter, signed by her”

“My new tattoo is only a couple of days old, and it’s a real treasure: it was designed by my 3.5-year-old daughter. I’ll be adding to it as she gets older and can draw other things!”

“The cutest tattoo in the world!”

“If you’re going to get a couples tattoo, it’s hard to beat this.”

“Memorial tattoo (nose print) of my recently passed pup, Zero”

“Sister tattoo I designed.”

“Me and my sis. We live in separate states and bond through tattoos. This isn’t our first, just the favorite. I’m the one with the messy bun. Looks just like me.”

“For their 50-year anniversary”

“My 70-year-old dad got his first tattoo to honor his love for my 73-year-old mom.”

“Best twin brother tattoos ever.”

“Got my first tattoo: a sonogram of my sons saying, ’Daddy, I love you’.”

“I got ’I don’t know’ in Chinese tattooed on my arm to confuse people who ask what my tattoo means.”

“I have had multiple ankle surgeries. Today I got a tattoo to make my scar a little sillier.”

“The first time my daughter wrote Love.”

“I asked my dad what I should get for my next tattoo. He was not impressed.”

“UFO arm tattoo to highlight my scar”

And these tattoos required a true artist to become a masterpiece.