In this article, we have collected 70 toxic people quotes that will help you to recognize them and cut the drama out of your life!
Toxic people are hard to avoid! It could be your friend, family member, neighbor, or coworker. Their toxicity manifests in many different ways. They could be full of interpersonal issues, needy and disrespectful, manipulative and controlling, and extremely critical of themselves and others. Whatever the case, dealing with toxic people isn’t easy.
Therefore, we want to share with you our collection of 70 toxic people quotes. These quotes will motivate you to set the limits for acceptable behavior from those around you, set healthy boundaries, and help you avoid getting too close to people who don’t have your best interests at heart.
70 Toxic People Quotes
#1
“Stop letting people who do so little for you control so much of your mind, feelings, and emotions.” — Will Smith
#2
“I will not allow anyone to walk in my mind with dirty feet.” – Mahatma Gandhi
#3
“Toxic people attach themselves like cinder blocks tied to your ankles, and then invite you for a swim in their poisoned waters.” ― John Mark Green
#4
“Letting go of toxic people in your life is a big step in loving yourself.” — Hussein Nishah
#5
“It’s one thing if a person owns up to their behavior and makes an effort to change. But if a person disregards your feelings, ignores your boundaries, and continues to treat you in a harmful way, they need to go.” — Daniell Koepke
#6
“Some people are in such utter darkness that they will burn you just to see a light. Try not to take it personally.” ― Kamand Kojouri
#7
“When you notice someone does something toxic the first time, don’t wait for the second time before you address it or cut them off. Many survivors are used to the ‘wait and see’ tactic which only leaves them vulnerable to a second attack. As your boundaries get stronger, the wait time gets shorter. You never have justify your intuition.” ― Shahida Arabi
#8
“Letting go doesn’t mean that you don’t care about someone anymore. It’s just realizing that the only person you really have control over is yourself.” — Deborah Reber
#9
“People inspire you, or they drain you. Pick them wisely.” — Hans F. Hasen
#10
“If someone thinks you’re being dramatic or selfish, then they obviously haven’t walked a mile in your shoes. It’s not important for you to explain yourself. You get a pass here. Don’t let anyone else try to saddle you with guilt or shame. If you need your space, take it.” ― Sarah Newman
#11
“If you walked away from a toxic, negative, abusive, one-sided, dead-end low vibrational relationship or friendship — you won.” ― Lalah Delia
#12
“Don’t let negative and toxic people rent space in your head. Raise the rent and kick them out.” — Robert Tew
#13
“My encouragement: delete the energy vampires from your life, clean out all complexity, build a team around you that frees you to fly, remove anything toxic, and cherish simplicity. Because that’s where genius lives.” — Robin Sharma
#14
“Fire false friends as early as possible. Do it before they dig out the dream seeds you’ve planted! The earlier, the better; the quicker, the safer!” ― Israelmore Ayivor
#15
“Let go of negative people. They only show up to share complaints, problems, disastrous stories, fear, and judgment on others. If somebody is looking for a bin to throw all their trash into, make sure it’s not in your mind.” – Dalai Lama
#16
“Losing will not always amount to a loss, sometimes you have to lose those toxic relationships and bad habits to create a space for better things.” ― Gift Gugu Mona
#17
“No matter how much you love the person, you cannot change them. You may influence them; but at the end of the day, they must decide for themselves.” — Robert E. Baines Jr.
#18
“If you accept the expectations of others, especially negative ones, then you never will change the outcome.” — Michael Jordan
#19
As important as it is to learn how to deal with different kinds of people, truly toxic people will never be worth your time and energy – and they take a lot of each. Toxic people create unnecessary complexity, strife, and, worst of all, stress.” — Travis Bradberry
#20
“Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too can become great.” — Mark Twain
#21
“I found peace of mind when I walked away from small fights not worth fighting. I stopped fighting for people who gossiped about me. I stopped fighting for those who didn’t respect me. I quit worrying about those who wouldn’t value me for being me.” ― Dana Arcuri
Toxic People Quotes
#22
“You cannot expect to live a positive life if you hang with negative people.” — Joel Osteen
#23
“You don’t have to live happily ever after with every single person in your life in order to live happily ever after. Some unfortunate endings are necessary.” ― Joyce Rachelle
#24
“Yes, the people around us can be insensitive, narcissistic, toxic, and sometimes even abusive, but it is up to us to take that energy on or let it flow through us. No one is responsible for taking away our happiness but us.” ― Aletheia Luna
#25
“You lift your spirits by moving away from what upsets you. If the stove is hot, you can’t ask how to touch it but be happy about it.” ― Queen Tourmaline
#26
“Weeding out the harmful influences should become the norm not the exception.” ― Carlos Wallace
#27
“At some point you have to realize that some people can stay in your heart but not in your life.” — Sandi Lynn
#28
“The quality of your life is the quality of your relationships.” — Anthony Robbins
#29
“Like arsenic, toxic people will slowly kill you. They kill your positive spirit and play with your mind and emotions. The only cure is to let them go.” — Dennisse Lisseth
#30
“I’ve found the most tragic aspect of losing loved ones wasn’t the big boom of the fallout, but realizing later how much healthier I was without them.” ― Maggie Young
#31
“Controllers, abusers, and manipulative people don’t question themselves. They don’t ask themselves if the problem is them. They always say the problem is someone else.” —Darlene Quimet
#32
“How you choose to feel today should not be dependent on others.” ― Anthon St. Maarten
#33
“We don’t get to choose our family, but we can choose our friends. With courage, we can weed out narcissistic people. We can focus on those who do appreciate us, love us, and treat us with respect.” ― Dana Arcuri
#34
“Every day you must unlearn the ways that hold you back. You must rid yourself of negativity, so you can learn to fly.” — Leon Brown
#35
“Many people get into a relationship as a way to compensate for something they lack or hate within themselves. This is a one-way ticket to a toxic relationship because it makes your love conditional – you will love your partner as long as they help you feel better about yourself.” – Mark Manson
#36
“An entire sea of water can’t sink a ship unless it gets inside the ship. Similarly, the negativity of the world can’t put you down unless you allow it to get inside you.” — Goi Nasu
#37
“Let negative people live their negative lives with their negative minds.”― Moosa Rahat
#38
“Don’t let toxic people sabotage your happiness, ruin your positive attitude, contaminate your mind or destroy your self-confidence. Instead, surround yourself with generous, positive, and nurturing people who will lift you up.”― Farshad Asl
#39
“Letting go means to come to the realization that some people are a part of your history, but not a part of your destiny.” — Dr. Steve Maraboli
#40
“It’s very possible and very okay to forgive someone and still not want to spend time with them.” ― Karen Salmansohn
#41
“We all have that toxic people around us that make our lives miserable… The day we take them out from our lives, we will all become better people; including them…” ― Rodolfo Peon
#42
“The only relationships that exist are based on truth. Everything else is just a mutual and isolating delusion.” ― Stefan Molyneux
Toxic People Quotes
#43
“I am worth more than these excuses. I am worth more than this inconsistent, unhealthy, disappointing dynamic. I am worthy of finding someone that is never going to allow us to settle into this toxic, distorted version of love.” ― Liz Newman
#44
“Sometimes you don’t get closure, you just move on.” ― Karen Salmansohn
#45
“Save your skin from the corrosive acids from the mouths of toxic people. Someone who just helped you to speak evil about another person can later help another person to speak evil about you.” ― Israelmore Ayivor
#46
“Remember…Whoever is trying to bring you down is already below you.” — Ziad K. Abdelnour
#47
“Toxic relationships are dangerous to your health; they will literally kill you. Stress shortens your lifespan. Even a broken heart can kill you. There is an undeniable mind-body connection. Your arguments and hateful talk can land you in the emergency room or in the morgue. You were not meant to live in a fever of anxiety; screaming yourself hoarse in a frenzy of dreadful, panicked fight-or-flight that leaves you exhausted and numb with grief. You were not meant to live like animals tearing one another to shreds. Don’t turn your hair gray. Don’t carve a roadmap of pain into the sweet wrinkles on your face. Don’t lay in the quiet with your heart pounding like a trapped, frightened creature. For your own precious and beautiful life, and for those around you — seek help or get out before it is too late. This is your wake-up call!” ― Bryant McGill
#48
“If someone thinks you’re being dramatic or selfish, then they obviously haven’t walked a mile in your shoes. It’s not important for you to explain yourself. You get a pass here. Don’t let anyone else try to saddle you with guilt or shame. If you need your space, take it.”
― Sarah Newman
#49
“Look around you at the people you spend the most time with and realize that your life can’t rise any higher than your friendships.” ― Mandy Hale
#50
“Relationship with a narcissist in a nutshell: You will go from being the perfect love of their life, to nothing you do is ever good enough. You will give your everything and they will take it all and give you less and less in return. You will end up depleted, emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and probably financially, and then get blamed for it.” — Bree Bonchay
#51
“It’s amazing how quickly things can turn around when you remove toxic people from your life.” — Robert Tew
#52
“It’s rare for a toxic person to change their behavior. More often, the only thing that varies is their target and the blame they place. Because some toxic people are difficult to identify, keep in mind that a victim mindset is sometimes a red flag. So, listen when someone talks about their life and circumstances. If the list of people they blame is long… it’s probably only a matter of time before you’re on that list.” ― Steve Maraboli
#53
“Nobody can be kinder than the narcissist while you react to life on his terms.” — Elizabeth Bowen
#54
“Have you ever been in a relationship with an individual who demands your attention incessantly and becomes depressed, sulky and even full of rage if your attention goes elsewhere? This is one of the earliest warning signs of a narcissist. Please understand healthy adults do not behave in such a way. This is where people who know the difference turn their back and walk away; they know that any person ringing them 10 times a day and demanding attention is not well. Unfortunately, many individuals, as I did, can mistake (or delude ourselves) that this high need for attention means we’re loved, missed and adored, or maybe we felt wrong in leaving or speaking up, as a result of our own deficient boundary function. Please be assured, this is not love; it’s the deadly calling card of the narcissist.“
— Melanie Tonia Evans
#55
“Pay no attention to toxic words. What people say is often a reflection of themselves, not you.” ― Christian Baloga
#56
“To protect your spirit from contamination you must limit the amount of time you spend around negative people.” ― Clyde Lee Dennis
#57
“It’s so nice when toxic people stop talking to you. It’s like the trash took itself out.” – Karen Salmansohn
#58
“I wish that people would stop destroying other people just because they were once destroyed.” – Karen Salmansohn
#59
“A narcissist paints a picture of themselves as being the victim or innocent in all aspects. They will be offended by the truth. But what is done in the dark will come to light. Time has a way of showing people’s true colors.” — Karla Grimes
#60
“View your life as a toxic-free zone! If someone treats you badly don’t lower yourself to their level. Stay toxicity free. Simply do what you can to move on.” – Karen Salmansohn
#61
“Truth is like surgery. It hurts but it cures. A lie is like a pain killer. It gives instant relief. But has side effects forever.”
Toxic People Quotes
#62
“What’s more toxic than what they have done, think, or have said about you is how you let your mind receive it. In a world as ours filled with so much noise and hate, what suffers the most is our minds. Know when to keep your mind shut!” ― Chinonye J. Chidolue
#63
“You can’t force someone to respect you. But you can refuse to be disrespected.”
#64
“There is simply no winning with a narcissist. He will treat you so horribly that you will become withdrawn and depressed and then he will turn around and say, ‘You’re no fun anymore, you’re always so depressed. I need to be with someone more positive.’” — Susan Williams
#65
“Once you face down your fears of saying no, you’ll be much better able to stick to situations that don’t drain you.”
― Christiane Northrup
#66
“An energy vampire can never “steal” energy from us unless we consciously or unconsciously permit them to.”
― Mateo Sol
#67
“Babies cry to get their needs met. Narcissists are great actors and often use tears as a tool of manipulations, this is an abuse tactic! Do not allow them to let this work as guilt, they are acting!” ― Tracy Malone
#68
“Narcissists will destroy your life, erode your self-esteem, and do it with such stealth as to make you feel that you are the one that’s letting them down.”
#69
“How starved you must have been that my heart became a meal for your ego.” — Amanda Torroni
#70
“The narcissist is like a bucket with a hole in the bottom: No matter how much you put in, you can never fill it up. The phrase “I never feel like I am enough” is the mantra of the person in the narcissistic relationship. That’s because to your narcissistic partner, you are not. No one is. Nothing is.” ― Dr. Ramani Durvasula
We hope you are inspired and motivated by these toxic people quotes as much as we are!
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