Home is where the heart is is a well-known English proverb used to express that a place becomes a true home because of emotional attachment, not because of its location or appearance. It highlights the idea that love, comfort, and connection matter more than the physical space itself.
Home Is Where the Heart Is Meaning
You use this phrase to say that the place (or the people) you love most feels like your true home.
No one knows for sure the origin of the proverb; however, it’s been attributed to the first-century Roman author, naturalist, and philosopher Pliny the Elder (Gaius Plinius Secundus).
- Don’t worry about where you’re going to live next year. Home is where the heart is.
- No matter where I go, it’s always so lovely to come back here. Home is where the heart is after all.
- Home is certainly where the heart is, they all agreed as the family sat down together for Christmas dinner.
- Josephine decided to travel to Chicago with her boyfriend. After all, home is where the heart is.
Common Expressions with “Home”
There’s no place like home
- Home is the most satisfying place to be.
Home sweet home
- One has returned to the comfort of home after an extended absence.
Home away from home
- A place you are visiting that feels as comfortable and welcoming as your own home.
Bring home the bacon
- To earn money for your family; to be successful.
Come home to roost
- To return and cause trouble later (like chickens returning to the coop at the end of the day).
Close to home
- Deeply affecting one’s feelings; personally relevant.
Home truth
- An unpleasant fact that is difficult to accept.
Keep the home fires burning
- To keep things going at home while someone is away.
You can’t go home again
- After you leave, both you and your circumstances change, so things won’t feel the same as before.
Leave home
- To start living apart from one’s parents.
Take home
- The main idea or key message you keep from a talk, meeting, or class.
Bring home
- To make a point clearly understood or strongly felt.
Home in on
- To focus attention on something or move directly toward a target.
Down-home
- Simple and traditional, typical of rural life.
A woman’s place is in the home
- An outdated and offensive saying that suggests women should only do childcare and housework. It is best avoided in modern English.
Useful Phrases with “Heart”
Young at heart
- Feeling and behaving in a youthful way.
After one’s own heart
- Exactly as one likes; very appealing to someone.
Take something to heart
- To feel upset or hurt because of something someone said or did.
At heart
- Basically; in one’s true nature.
Set one’s heart on something
- To want something very much.
Break somebody’s heart
- To make somebody feel very sad.
In one’s heart
- In one’s true feelings; deep down (often different from what someone says publicly).
By heart
- From memory.
In good heart
- In good spirits; feeling cheerful and confident.
Do one’s heart good
- To make someone feel encouraged or happy.
One’s heart sinks
- To suddenly feel sad or disappointed.
Eat one’s heart out
- To feel bitter envy or deep sadness about something (often used jokingly as: “Eat your heart out!”).
A heart of stone
- An unfeeling or cold nature.
From the bottom of one’s heart
- Very sincerely.
A heart of gold
- A very kind and generous nature.
Have one’s heart in one’s boots
- To feel extremely sad or worried.
Heart and soul
- With all your energy and enthusiasm.
Have one’s heart in one’s mouth
- To feel very frightened or anxious.
One’s heart’s content
- As much as one wants.
Have one’s heart in the right place
- To have good intentions, even if the result isn’t perfect.
Last Updated on February 3, 2026
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