Here’s your resource for sending great happy 40th birthday messages to colleagues, friends, and family.
This list includes birthday wishes of all types – including positive, meaningful, and humorous messages for a fabulous fortieth birthday.
We’ll start with the best of the best selected by the Poet’s Panel.
Best Happy 40th Birthday Messages
1.) Lordy, Lordy, look who’s 40!
2.) You are not 40. You are eighteen with 22 years of experience.
3.) Fierce, fabulous, and forty!
4.) Fabulous at forty
6.) Warmest wishes for a happy 40th birthday.
7.) 40 isn’t old if you’re a tree.
8.) Cheers to 40 years!
9.) You’re 40 years old? You’re four perfect 10s! Happy birthday.
10.) Happy birthday. It took you 40 years to look this good!
11.) Congratulations on your 40th birthday.
12.) You’re not 40. You’re 29.95 plus shipping and handling.
13.) You make 40 look good.
14.) Wishing you a pleasant birthday! Life begins at forty.
15.) The first 40 years of childhood are always the hardest.
16.) 40… More fun than two 20-year-olds!
17.) 39 was so last year.
18.) Wishing you a truly fabulous day.
19.) Here’s to maturing like a fine wine. Happy 40th birthday!
20.) 40 is fine when you look 29.
21.) Many happy returns on your 40th birthday.
22.) 40 is the new… what was I saying?
23.) It is scientifically proven that people who have more birthdays live longer.
24.) I’m not over the hill. I’m over the mountain.
25.) This is my second time turning 20.
26.) I’m forty-licious!
Sincere Happy 40th Birthday Wishes
27.) May all the dreams you’ve ever had in the last 39 years start to be fulfilled on your 40th birthday!
28.) With so many wonderful accomplishments under your belt, I am sure you have no regrets up to this point in your life. Celebrate this beautiful milestone. Happy 40th birthday!
29.) Hoping your 40s will feel incredibly new and exciting like your 20s — only doubly so!
30.) Being 40 means you have experienced enough to know what you want and are still young enough to go after it. I hope that you acquire everything that you pursue!
For Friends
31.) Life’s milestones are not supposed to be counted. They’re supposed to be celebrated—happy 40th birthday, my best friend.
32.) Even though you are forty, being young is a state of mind. Free yourself of tomorrow’s worries and today’s frets by loving today for all it offers you. Happy birthday on your 40th.
33.) 40 is a limitless age. You have many options to choose from. My birthday wish is that you explore all of them and decide what is best for you.
34.) A piece of advice to a friend on your 40th: try to be someone that will make your friends say, hey, that’s how I want to be when I’m forty. It’s the best way to stay young forever. Happy birthday to someone who makes 40 look like 20. Congrats.
35.) They say inside every older person is someone younger thinking: what happened!? For you, the right thing happened. More senior looks good on you—happy 40th birthday.
Happy 40th Birthday Wishes for Sister
36.) So, I was just wondering… how old should we tell everyone you are this year? I don’t think anyone would believe you’re turning 35 again for the fifth year. Happy 40th Birthday!
37.) Happy Birthday to someone whose enthusiasm extends beyond your 40th! The liveliness of your demeanor is a perfect example of eternal youth!
38.) Congratulations on the 24th anniversary of your 16th birthday! Here’s to many more.
39.) You look amazing. In all fairness, start aging like ordinary people and give the rest of us a break.
40.) Can you believe it? You have endured 40 years of hardships, heartbreaks, and challenges. Only a strong person could have made it this far with a smile on her face. Happy birthday.
41.) May your makeup conceal your wrinkles, may your hair dye not fade, and may this be the first of many 40th Birthdays!
42.) Here’s how you know you’re forty: when Facebook is just another means to spy on your kids—happy 40th birthday.
43.) 40 is when you finally get your head together, but your body has other ideas.
Happy 40th Birthday Image
Happy 40th Birthday Wishes for Brother
44.) You were the coolest 30-year-old I know, and now you will be the coolest 40-year-old ever. Stay groovy. Think of it as a fresh start. Happy 40th birthday!
45.) And remember, you’re not 40. You’re 18 with 22 years of experience. Have an amazing 40th birthday you wonderful person!
46.) Happy 40th birthday! The older you get, the younger you look for your age. At this rate, you will soon start getting carded at bars and casinos.
47.) The older I get, the more I realize that it only makes you feel older if you think about how old you are. So today, don’t do too much thinking. Just be. Happy 40th…. Oops. I mean, happy birthday. That’s all.
48.) Even though you’re older than you were yesterday, you are still younger than you’ll be tomorrow—happy 40th birthday. Make every day count, youngster.
49.) If there is one thing that’s great about turning 40, it’s this: you can blame anything and everything on having a midlife crisis. Congrats and happy birthday.
50.) Congratulations! You’re officially a grown-up! They say that the first forty years of childhood are tough—kudos to you for making it through—Happy 40th birthday to my brother, who just joined adulthood.
51.) Today is your 40th Birthday! See? I thought of you. You’re welcome! Have a fantastic day.
52.) When all you say starts with “when I was younger,” you know you’re in the forties. Sorry, kiddo. Let the festivities begin!
Coworkers
53.) You are now 20 more years until that sweet pension, 20 more years away from your unlimited vacation and freedom from work. Awesome fortieth birthday!
54.) There’s a bright side to hitting 40. It’s better than the alternative — turning 41. Have a happy 40th! Continue to live life to the fullest.
55.) You’re not getting old. You are just getting better—forty years worth of better. That’s pretty amazing. I’m going to write that on your 40th birthday card.
56.) Happy 40th Birthday! Your qualities of being honest and strong are inspiring! May the abundant years that await you hold more chances to urge others to productivity!
57.) May the fact that you have multiple years to obtain what you desire embolden you! May your 40th birthday light a fire within you that can never be quenched! Sieze every new opportunity with gusto!
58.) Wow! You’re how old? No way—you don’t look a day over thirty-one. Have a stellar 40th! There should be more than a single day to celebrate your awesomeness!
59.) So I hear it’s your tenth anniversary of being born – times 4. Congrats and Happy birthday!
60.) If life were a piece of cake, we’d not need to celebrate birthdays. So even though you’re forty, I’m glad we can eat cake now and not feel guilty. Happy birthday.
61.) Who is that older man sitting next to me? Oh, it’s you! Happy 40th Birthday!
62.) They say the real secret to staying young is to lie about your age. So how old are you really? We’ll never know—anyway, happy 40th (air quotes) birthday.
Inspirational 40th Birthday Messages
63.) Forty is fun, fabulous, and absolutely fantastic. It’s your time in the sun. Have fun this fortieth. Indulge your sense of humor, and have a great birthday!
64.) Happy birthday! Even at 40, you look half your age. You should bottle up and sell whatever you do to stay incredibly young-looking.
65.) Life is a book; your forties are the chapters when it all starts making sense—happy 40th birthday.
66.) On your 40th Birthday, may you honor the youthful quality you possess of viewing life with enthusiasm and initiative!
67.) Age matters little when you make every day shine a little brighter. That’s what you’re good at doing. Happy 40th birthday to the best person I know.
68.) Let your 40th birthday consist of the vivacity within you! Let the sincerity and aspirations of this day persevere!
Happy 40th Birthday Wishes
69.) It has taken 40 years for you to mature to the point you are now. You have aged to perfection.
70.) Turning 40 is the start of a new phase in your life! You will bring a fresh approach to all you do, indicating that the best is yet to come!
71.) All I know is that today you are so hot you are, how should I say it…. FORTY-LICIOUS! Yeah, that’s it.
72.) 40 is a great age! How things take place is always fresh and without an end! May the surprises you discover always be pleasant!
73.) Turning forty is not as bad as they say – it means you are incredible, cool, bright, and hip, times forty! What could be bad about that? Happy 40th!
Meaningful 40th Birthday Messages
74.) Turning 40 is a celebration of life, a milestone of achievements, wisdom, and adventures. Look how far you have come. Congratulations! Happy Birthday!
75.) Sure, your 30s are over. Good riddance, I say. The 40s are going to be so much better…in every way. So enjoy your 40th!
76.) I hold your 40th Birthday in the highest regard! I look forward to witnessing the countless events that I know you will be a part of, where you will share your warmth, humor, and goodness!
77.) Life holds so many beautiful experiences that they don’t stop at a particular age. On your 40th Birthday, remember there is still so much to see, do, and wish for!
Happy 40th
78.) Every birthday contains a moment that sets the tone for that year. Your 40th birthday differs from others because many moments represent how bountiful your life will be beyond your birth date.
79.) Happy birthday, make every day of your life meaningful and enjoyable and take care.
80.) Your 4th decade is still a short period in your existence. May you use this day to envision all the places you wish to travel and believe it is possible!
81.) By this time in your life, you have touched so many lives and led a good example to those around you. Stay bright and inspiring—best fortieth birthday.
82.) When you turn 40, get out of your comfort zone to fulfill a dream you’ve always had. That’s how you can make your life really begin at 40.
Funny and Humorous Happy 40th Birthday Wishes
83.) 40 is not over the hill. It’s not even the top of the hill. It’s all uphill from here. If you don’t believe me, try running up an actual hill. Good luck!
84.) Here’s hoping you can blow out all the candles on your cake fast enough to prevent a fire! Happy 40th Birthday!
85.) Turning 40 may not get you everything you expect, but it will give you a spare tire around your waistline. Let the good times roll—happy 40th birthday.
86.) Wishing you a happy 40th birthday. And remember, in Scrabble, forty is only 11.
87.) On your 40th Birthday, you might feel old. You might be right.
88.) Now that you are forty, I say we screw the rules and go party! After all, you’re never too old to be young, right? Happy 40th to my most youthful old friend.
89.) Now that you are forty, what better time to knock things off your bucket list? You better do it now before you kick THE bucket. Happy fortieth.
Good Ones
90.) Happy 40th birthday to the oldest and wisest person I know!
91.) Happy 40th birthday! I’m so pleased to hear you’re over the hill instead of under it.
92.) The 40s may be the new 20s, but certain things don’t change: At 20, you’re young and stupid. At 40, you think you’re young, which makes you do silly things. Happy 40th birthday!
93.) Cheers to a riotous birthday! May the fun you have on your 40th exceed the backaches you will get later!
94.) It’s your 40th Birthday! Time to celebrate another year of applying icy hot to a new place!
95.) Happy birthday! At 40, your body may not always do what you want, but your mind is as sharp as ever. That’s why you should only exercise your mind, not your body.
Happy 40th Birthday Meme
40th Birthday Quotes
96.) At 20 years of age, the will reigns; at 30, the wit; at 40, the judgment.
Benjamin Franklin
97.) We don’t understand life any better at forty than at twenty, but we know it and admit it.
Jules Renard
98.) The first forty years of life give us the text; the next thirty supply the commentary.
Arthur Schopenhauer
99.) At age 20, we worry about what others think of us. At 40, we don’t care what they think of us. (And) at 60, we discover they haven’t been thinking of us at all.
Ann Landers
100.) To think, when one is no longer young, when one is not yet old, that one is no longer young, that one is not yet old, that is perhaps something.
Samuel Beckett
101.) If you’re 40 years old and you’ve never had a failure, you’ve been deprived.
Gloria Swanson
Male 40th Birthday Quotations
102.) At 40, your idea of weight lifting is standing up.
Unknown
103.) Guys are idiots till they’re, what, 40 years old.
Wes Borland
104.) At 20, I thought I knew it all. At 30, I realized I didn’t. And, at 40, I know I never will, but it’s fun trying!
Unknown
105.) Every man over forty is a scoundrel.
George Bernard Shaw
106.) In middle age, a guy keeps turning off lights for economic rather than romantic reasons.
Eli Cass
107.) Middle age is when your age starts to show around your middle.
Bob Hope
108.) Life begins at 40 – but so do fallen arches, rheumatism, faulty eyesight, and the tendency to tell a story to the same person three or four times.
Helen Rowland
109.) Forty is the old age of youth; fifty is the youth of old age.
French Proverb
110.) Middle age is having a choice between two temptations and choosing the one that’ll get you home earlier.
Dan Bennett
Female 40th Birthday Sayings
111.) Women are most fascinating between the ages of 35 and 40 after they have won a few races and know how to pace themselves. Since few women ever pass 40, maximum fascination can continue indefinitely.
Christian Dior
112.) The lovely thing about being forty is that you can appreciate twenty-five-year-old men.
Colleen McCullough
113.) Women deserve to have more than twelve years between the ages of twenty-eight and forty.
James Thurber
114.) If life really begins on your 40th birthday, it’s because that’s when women finally get it… the guts to take back their lives.
Laura Randolph
115.) When I passed forty, I dropped pretense ’cause men like women who got some sense.
Maya Angelou
116.) At the age of 20, we don’t care what the world thinks of us; at 30, we worry about what it is thinking of us; and at 40, we discover that it wasn’t thinking of us at all.
Unknown
117.) Once you hit forty, you start adding letters. I’m 39A this year.
Unknown
118.) The “I just woke up” face of your 30s is the “all day long” face of your 40’s.
Libby Reid
Inspirational 40th Birthday Sayings
119.) Life begins at forty.
Unknown
120.) Probably the happiest period in life most frequently is in middle age, when the eager passions of youth are cooled, and the infirmities of age not yet begun, as we see that the shadows, which are at morning and evening so large, almost entirely disappear at midday.
Thomas Arnold
121.) One of the many things nobody ever tells you about middle age is that it’s such a nice change from being young.
Dorothy Canfield Fisher
122.) This wine is forty years old. It certainly doesn’t show its age.
Cicero
Funny 40th Birthday Quotes
123.) Forty isn’t old if you’re a tree.
Anonymous
124.) Thanks to modern medical advances such as antibiotics, nasal spray, and Diet co*ke, it has become routine for people in the civilized world to pass 40, sometimes more than once.
Dave Barry
125.) At 40, I realized I was built for comfort, not speed.
Unknown
126.) 40 is when your body gives your brain a list of things it’s not going to do anymore.
Unknown
127.) At 40, every time you suck in your gut, your ankles swell.
Unknown
128.) What most persons consider as virtue after the age of 40 is simply a loss of energy.
Helen Rowland
129.) At 40, you sing along with the elevator music.
Unknown
130.) What most persons consider a virtue after the age of 40 is simply a loss of energy.
Voltaire
131.) Be wise with speed; a fool at forty is a fool indeed.
Edward Young
132.) Don’t just count your years. Make your years count.
George Meredith
For More Funny Birthday Quotes.
Funny 40th Birthday Wishes
133.) They say every year of life over 40 is a gift. If that’s the case, get used to writing thank you notes for all your presents. HBD!
134.) You’ve reached that important milestone when most compliments will be followed by “for your age.” Congrats on hitting four decades!
135.) Age is like underwear – it creeps up on you. Happy 40th!
136.) Have a blast on your birthday, and don’t forget about the early bird senior’s discount at the buffet.
137.) At 40, it becomes official – happy hour is now your nap time!
138.) If you thought no one would notice such a momentous occasion as your 40th birthday, well, no such luck. Let’s party.
139.) A new chapter of your life or the same old, same old? I think the former! Can’t wait to celebrate with you this Friday!
140.) At milestone birthdays, it’s traditional to poke a little fun at the birthday boy. But, quite frankly, I’m afraid you might hit me with your cane.
141.) Happy 29th to my favorite 40-year-old!
142.) I came prepared. Yes, I bought a new Zippo to light all of the candles on your 40th birthday cake! Best wishes on your big day!
143.) While other body parts may be failing you, you’ll always be young at heart! Have a magnificent birthday!
Birthday Card Ideas
144.) Cake, wine, and chocolate! It’s time to celebrate your birthday!
145.) At 40, you already have a lifetime of memories. I think you may have a hard time recalling them, though. HBD!
146.) To an amazing person through and through — happy birthday to you!
147.) My dear friend, we’ve been connected at the hip for so long I don’t remember which one of us is the bad influence. Happy bday!
148.) May happiness, peace, and laughter fill your house on your birthday and every day.
149.) Even with a tinge of gray hair and an early bedtime, you’re still twice as much fun as two twenty-year-olds.
Short Birthday Messages for 40th
150.) You’re not 40 — you’re 35 plus shipping and handling!
151.) Turning forty is a piece of cake (and a few more candles). Enjoy!
152.) Welcome to the four Ts! Talented, Terrific, Tough, and Tremendous!
153.) They say the first 40 years of childhood are always the toughest.
154.) Condolences on the loss of your thirties.
155.) Time to start working on that bucket list!
156.) An awesome milestone for an awesome person!
157.) Forty is the new amazing!
158.) The Big 4 – OH!
159.) Sassy and all kinds of classy – that’s you; happy birthday!
160.) Hear that humming sound — it’s your youth saying, “Goodbye.”
161.) Cheers to 40 years!
162.) Four perfect 10s = 40!
163.) 39 is so last year! It’s a new day!
164.) 40 is fine when you look 29!
165.) 40? You don’t look a day over incredible!
166.) What’s the expression? Oh, I remember: “Aged to Perfection!”
167.) Wow! It took you four decades to look this amazing!
Birthday Greetings
168.) You’ve always been a good-looking dude. Now you’re a good-looking older dude. Have a top-notch 40th birthday!
169.) Age is but a number.
170.) Have a lovely 40th birthday, my special friend.
171.) Happy Birthday, sweet friend. If your next 40 years are half as good as the first, you will have had a pretty amazing life.
172.) If you wake up feeling like crap tomorrow, it’s not a hangover, that’s just what being old feels like.
173.) I hope your birthday is filled with sweet surprises!
Wise Words
174.) Forty is the old age of youth; fifty is the youth of old age.
Victor Hugo
175.) Aging can be fun if you lay back and enjoy it.
Clint Eastwood
176.) Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional.
Chili Davis
177.) This wine is forty years old. It certainly doesn’t show its age.
Marcus Tullius Cicero
178.) Age is a matter of feeling, not of years.
George William Curtis
FAQ 40th Birthday Messages
Here are some frequently asked questions about happy 40th birthday messages.
What are some good, short messages to someone celebrating a 40th birthday?
Try “Turning forty is a piece of cake (and a few more candles). Enjoy!” or “40? You don’t look a day over incredible!”
What’s another name for a 40th birthday?
Although it’s not widely used, some call the 40th birthday a “Ruby Jubilee.” Ruby Jubilee refers to the 40th anniversary of a birth. The term is also used for wedding anniversaries and the anniversary of accession to the crown for royalty.
What is a funny happy 40th birthday wish?
At 40, it becomes official – happy hour is now your nap time! Or, You’ve reached that important milestone when most compliments will be followed by “for your age.”
What are some well-known expressions people say to friends turning 40?
“Life begins at 40,” “Welcome to the four T’s,” and “40 is the new 30” are popular expressions to communicate to those turning 40 years of age.
Using These Birthday Expression
Use these happy 40th birthday messages and quotes to personalize greeting cards, send birthday text messages, or verbally congratulate the birthday boy or girl.
Here’s a fun way to use these birthday quotes and messages. Find a vintage or childhood photo of the birthday boy or girl. Take a digital photo or scan the image so you can post the picture online, using a quote from this list as the caption.
Post the photo to sites like Facebook or Instagram for everyone to see and add their comments.
By Greg Johnson and Mike O’Halloran
Greg has been celebrating his 40th birthday for a few anniversaries now. He’s a writer, designer, and creative director. Mike is the founder and editor of Greeting Card Poet.
Extra Extra
You’re on Happy 40th Birthday! Page.
You might like:
Birthday Messages and Memes
Happy Birthday Wishes
Blessings on your Birthday
Picking Birthday Cards
Thank You for your Birthday Wishes
