850 Best Narcissistic Parents Quotes: Toxic Home (2023)
1. “People tend to raise the child inside of them rather than the child in front of them. ” –Joe Newman
2. “The negative effects of your self-absorbed parent may lead you to perceive yourself as inadequate, inferior, ineffective, and a whole host of other self-defeating thoughts and attitudes. ” – Nina W. Brown
3. “For toxic mothers out there, just know that your toxic and abusive behaviour will one day backfire when the children you are mistreating grow up and become adults. ” — Samuel Zulu
4. “Feeding on pure souls and hearts is what a narcissist does.”
5. “Please repair your narcissism before you start loving your neighbor as yourself.” ~ Charles F. Glassman
6. “In troubled families, abuse and neglect are permitted. It's talking about them that is forbidden.”
7. “White feminist narcissism has no truck with the idea that we are anything but victims. ” ― Alison Phipps
8. “Fighting became a way of life and seemed perfectly normal for your family.”
9. “Yes, Eleanor loathed herself and yet required praise, which she then never believed. ”― Hanif Kureishi
10. “We forget in order to survive our childhoods when we are totally dependent on our parents’ goodwill; but to recover from such childhoods, we must begin by remembering the bad and the good. ” ― Victoria Secunda
11. “Whether it’s a parent, sibling, friend, or family member, do not allow a destructive person to put you down a hole for the rest of your life. ” — unknown
12. “Narcissist parents don’t care about their children’s feelings at all. Only their feelings matter.” – Kim Saeed
13. “Them” is some sort of imaginary entity that means everyone who “is oppressing her”.
14. “There’s really no point in having children if you’re not going to be home enough to father them.”
15. “A toxic mother talks but never listens, and she gives advice but never takes any. ” — Sherrie Campbell
16. “By aggrandizing one's own abilities and achievements, the grandiose person remains out of touch with who they truly are and as such, remains prone to crossing the boundaries of others. ” ― Steven Franssen
17. “Narcissists, however, are similar to a spider that has built a web for its prey to bring itself.” ~ Mwanandeke Kindembo
18. “While a narcissistic mother will gossip endlessly about the most details about your life, she is very secretive about her own life. She will lie about you but will punish you for telling them what she has done. ” ― Gail Meyers
19. “The lion is most handsome when looking for food. ” — Rumi
20. “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. ”
21. “Narcissistic mothers will often use money and gifts as a way to control their children, rather than giving them genuine love and support. ”
22. “Unhappy people can be very dangerous, don’t forget that.”
23. “Positive humor is one of our most valuable tools for strengthening family bonds. But humor that belittles can be extremely damaging within the family. Children take sarcasm and humorous exaggeration at face value.”- Dr. Susan Forward
24. “Children deserve both parents. They deserve to know that their parents respect each other, if nothing else. So that really helps me set the standard of how I try and behave.”
25. “Narcissism is a powerful form of emotional abuse. This sophisticated emotional abuse tactic makes victims question their own sanity.” ~ Invajy
26. “Narcissistic mothers will often use their children as scapegoats for their own failures and shortcomings. ”
27. “Out of all the addictions in the world, Attention is slowly but surely becoming one of the most dangerous.” ~ Saahil Prem
28. “I didn’t grow up having role models. I grew up having people I didn’t want to be like and seeing situations I’d never want to be in. Not all of us are dealt the right cards, but that doesn’t mean you can’t reshuffle your deck for a better outcome. ” — Irina Vujakilja
29. “At the end of the day, the most overwhelming key to a child’s success is the positive involvement of parents.” – Jane D. Hull
30. “Instead of promoting healthy development, they unconsciously undermine it, often with the belief that they are acting in their child’s best interest.”- Dr. Susan Forward
31. “A toxic narcissistic mother will often use money and gifts as a way to manipulate her child, rather than giving them genuine love and support.”
32. “Healthy moms are a delight to their children, but toxic moms are a source of grief to their own children. ” — Samuel Zulu
33. “Even though friends say they are interested in your life, they never really want to talk about you as much as you want them to.” ― Charise Mericle Harper
34. “It’s not your fault that your mom is toxic as it isn’t your job to raise your mom because she is already an adult responsible for her own life choices just as you are responsible for your own. ” — unknown
35. “Good parenting gives headaches, but bad parenting gives heartaches.”
36. “There was nothing more unattractive than narcissism, she thought: nothing could transform beauty into a cloying, unattractive quality than that self-conscious appreciation of self.” ~ Alexander McCall Smith
37. “Most adult children of toxic parents grow up feeling tremendous confusion about what love means and how it’s supposed to feel. ”- Dr. Susan Forward
38. “Sometimes, using no contact is the best way to be safe from abusive parents.”
39. “I have a gaping painful hole in my soul where good, loving parents and a normal, safe childhood should have been.”- Lily Hope Lucario
40. “Ego is borne of the need to ‘prove’ oneself instead of making the choice to ‘be’ oneself.”~ Craig D. Lounsbrough
41. “Sometimes, narcissistic parents are also better loved from a distance to avoid further emotional damage. ” — unknown
42. “When a toxic person can no longer control you, they will try to control how others see you. The misinformation will feel unfair, but you stay above it, trusting that other people will eventually see the truth just like you did.” ― Jill Blakeway
43. “I will give my toxic mother one thing she never gave me – the truth. ” ― Rayne Wolfe
44. “But that’s the thing about narcissists. They can try to fool you, with all their heart, but in the end, they’re just fooling themselves.” ~ Ellie Fox
45. “The selfishness of the parents is to blame. Pay attention to your kids’ lives and get involved. Your only hope and your legacy are them.” – Aaron B. Powell
46. “Toxic family members will see expressions of forgiveness as weaknesses to exploit. Don't give in to their tactics this way. If you need to forgive them for your own healing, then do it, but keep it to yourself.”
47. “Toxic mothers are image-oriented rather than love-oriented.” – Sherrie Campbell
48. “Permissiveness is the principle of treating children as if they were adults; and the tactic of making sure they never reach that stage. ” — Thomas Szasz
49. “Your mother’s happiness is not your responsibility. It has never been.” – Unknown
50. “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
51. “No, we don’t control who our parents are. We don’t control what color we are. We don’t control what home we are born into. But we control our attitude. We control our work ethic. We control our drive and our commitment.”
52. “When you grieve toxic, abusive parents, you don’t just grieve the abuse, you grieve everything you didn’t have.”- Lily Hope Lucario
53. “Boys and girls of narcissistic mothers both have to deal with a deficit of maternal nurturing that their upbringing lacked. ” ― Mark Bans Chick
54. “When the healthy pursuit of self-interest and self-realization turns into self-absorption, other people can lose their intrinsic value in our eyes and become mere means to the fulfillment of our needs and desires.” ~ P.M. Forni
55. “I like to be admired from afar, and then complimented up close.” ― Gena Showalter
56. “For the most part people are not curious except about themselves.” ~ John Steinbeck
57. “Narcissists don’t co-parent. They counter-parent. they don’t care about the collateral emotional damage done to the children, as long as it hurts you.”
58. “It has been my observation that parents kill more dreams than anybody. ” – Spike Lee
59. “Toxic parents care more about how you make them look than how you actually feel.” – Unknown
60. “How starved you must have been that my heart became a meal for your ego.” ~ Amanda Torroni
61. “Beware of narcissistic people. They’ll tell everyone you’re crazy, only to cover up their trickery. ” ~ Mitta Xinindlu
62. “How starved you must have been that my heart became a meal for your ego.”
63. “If a toxic mom claims to love you, kindly remind her that there is a big difference between real love and abuse or control disguised as love and that real love doesn’t hurt nor is it abusive. ” — unknown
64. “Narcissists are inherently manipulative, they gaslight you with such stealth as to make you feel that you are the one that’s letting them down.” ~ Invajy
65. “Children of narcissists learn that love is abuse. The narcissist teaches them that if someone displeases you, it is okay to harm them and call it love. ” ― M. Wakefield
66. “Parents wonder why the streams are bitter when they themselves have poisoned the fountain. ” ― John Locke
67. “I spend my life constantly calling in ‘imaginary’ debts that aren’t owed to me in order to avoid the ‘real’ debts that I owe to others, and so everybody ends up bankrupt.” ~ Craig D. Lounsbrough
68. “The truth is that the happier and stronger you are, the more unhappy the narcissistic parent is because when you feel good, they lose their grip over you, and the ability to shame you. ” ― Diana Macey
69. “Fear-based parenting is the surest way to create intimidated children.” – Tim Kimmel
70. “The first step to getting anywhere is deciding you’re no longer willing to stay where you are. ”
71. “What a sick, narcissistic society must be we to reward relatability more than credibility?” ― Adeel Ahmed Khan
72. “But both the narcissist and his partner do not really consider each other. Trapped in the moves of an all-consuming dance macabre, they follow the motions morbidly – semiconscious, desensitized, exhausted, and concerned only with survival.” ~ Sam Vaknin
73. “You can’t change the toxic behaviour of your toxic parents but you can decide how you respond.” – Unknown
74. “A toxic narcissistic mother will never accept responsibility for her own mistakes, instead shifting the blame onto her child.”
75. “Toxic narcissistic mothers will go to great lengths to maintain their image, even if it means sacrificing their children’s well-being.”
76. “A lot of people who have experienced trauma at the hands of people they’ve trusted take responsibility, and that is what’s toxic.” – Hannah Gadsby
77. They didn’t help us with homework, come to our open houses at school or graduations
78. “You don't have to leave your whole family in the past, just those who don't deserve a place in your future.” – Christina Enevoldsen
79. Narcissus weeps to find that his Image does not return his love.” — Mason Cooley
80. “Selfish people are unable to love others, but they are also unable to love themselves.” – Unknown
81. “I have a very simple question to people who seem to suffer from excessive narcissism: Please name three other persons who are smarter and more capable than you, in the field you work in. In most cases they are utterly unable to answer that question honestly.” ~ Ingo Molnar
82. “Love yourself enough to set boundaries. Your time and energy are precious. You get to choose how you use it. You teach people how to treat you by deciding what you will and won’t accept.”
83. “Selfish parents may someday realize what damage they have done that can never be undone.” – Unknown
84. “The sadistic narcissist perceives himself as Godlike, ruthless and devoid of scruples, capricious and unfathomable, emotion-less and non-sexual, omniscient, omnipotent and omni-present, a plague, a devastation, an inescapable verdict.” ― Sam Vaknin
85. “Parents are supposed to give the child back to herself with love. If they’ve got duct tape over their eyes because of narcissism, it doesn’t happen. ” — Jane Fonda
86. “Nothing is braver than walking away because you realize it’s time to protect your heart.”
87. “For some, life may be a playground to undermine the brainwaves of others or simply a vainglorious game with an armory of theatrics, illustrating only bleak self-deception, haughty narcissism and dim deficiency in empathy. ” ― Erik Pevernagie
88. “If toxic mothers are not getting the attention they crave from their children, they experience their children as inconveniences who stand in their way of doing what they want to do for themselves. ” — Sherrie Campbell
89. “A narcissist will intentionally and repeatedly remind you of things that will upset you.”
90. “The lack of stability and consistency from a narcissistic mother can make it difficult for her children to feel secure and grounded. ”
91. “Very often, toxic moms will abandon their own children and find meaningless excuses to justify their deeds as to why they are not able to be there for their children. ” — unknown
92. “Whether it’s a parent, sibling, friend, or family member, do not allow a destructive person to drag you down a hole for the rest of your life.”
93. “Parents have got to chill out. Let your kid eat dirt – they’re gonna be fine!” — Jeff Garlin
94. “Parents wonder why the streams are bitter when they themselves have poisoned the fountain.” – John Locke
95. “If a toxic parent does not want to live in sin, they must not provoke their children to sin—especially by using the holy & righteous word to do it.”
96. “Dysfunctional parents let their children know how burdened they have been by their children and how many sacrifices they had to make in order to raise them. ” — Dr. Marita Sirota
97. “Children of selfish and demanding parents are not guilty of anything. They have been abused and manipulated into believing that their sole purpose is to make their parent happy. In fact this is a destructive can job, and the guilt rests with the self-absorbed or narcissistic parent.”- Glynis Sherwood
98. “Don’t let their past abuse define you for the rest of your life.”
99. “Follow your own passion – not your parents’, not your teachers’ – yours.” – Robert Ballard
100. “With a toxic narcissist, get ready to face their demeaning nature as they would belittle and bully you as many times as they can.”
101. “A narcissist slowly chips away at your self-esteem until you lose all sense of who you are and what they have done to you.”
102. “All a narcissist seeks is praise and admiration without trying to reciprocate.”
103. “You can always leave your childhood trauma, your abusive mom or dad behind. Never be a victim. ” — unknown
104. “Self-love for ever creeps out, like a snake, to sting anything which happens … to stumble upon it.” ~ George Gordon Noel Byron
105. “The question ‘How are you (doing)?’ is the most common way of indirectly saying ‘Ask me how I am (doing)’. ” ― Mokokoma Mokhonoana
106. “Control, manipulation and possessiveness is the name of their game.”
107. “As a parent, your child’s happiness should come before your own petty anxieties and jealousies.” – Unknown
108. “At the end of the day, the most overwhelming key to a child's success is the positive involvement of parents.”
109. “Children shouldn’t have to sacrifice so that you can have the life you want. You make sacrifices so your children can have the life that they deserve.” – Unknown
110. “One tip that has always helped me is to keep it on a business level, rather than a personal level. You are now in the ‘business’ of raising these children with a person that no longer resides in your home.”
111. “When I look at narcissism through the vulnerability lens, I see the shame-based fear of being ordinary. I see the fear of never feeling extraordinary enough to be noticed, to be lovable, to belong, or to cultivate a sense of purpose.” ― Brené Brown
112. “When the healthy pursuit of self-interest and self-realization turns into self-absorption, other people can lose their intrinsic value in our eyes and become mere means to the fulfillment of our needs and desires. ” ― P. M. Forni
113. “The spirit of arrogance most definitely makes you shine. It paints a bright red target on your own forehead.” ~ Criss Jami
114. “Parents are the least likely to forgive their children for the flaws they ingrained in them.” – Unknown
115. “Loneliness is a form of narcissism. A mother who is in harmony with her child, who understands her place in her child’s life and her role in society, is never lonely. Through caring for her child, all her needs are fulfilled. ” — Jessamine Chan
116. “This is probably one of the most difficult challenges any parent could face – learning to love the other parent enough to make the children first.” – Iyanla Vanzant
117. “I don't care what you think unless it is about me.” ― Kurt Cobain
118. “Selfish parents tend to be treating children like a burden rather than a joy. That’s on them and not about you and your worth as a human so don’t let that drag your self esteem down.” – Unknown
119. A culture of narcissism is not a place where love can flourish. The emergence of me" culture is a direct response to our nation's failure to truly actualize the vision of democracy. While emotional needs are difficult, and often impossible to satisfy, material desires are easier to fulfill. ” ― Bell Hooks
120. “Narcissist: a more polite term for a self-serving, manipulative, evil jerk with no soul and no compassion.” ~ Anonymous
121. “Everyone needs a house to live in, but a supportive family is what builds a home.”
122. “Narcissists install a mental filter in our heads a little bit at a time. . . . ‘Will he get upset if I do/say/think this? Will he approve/disapprove? Will he feel hurt by this?’ Until we can uninstall the narcissist-filter, our actions are controlled by narcissists to some degree.” – Sam Vaknin
123. “A narcissistic man will break your heart as many times as he wishes to.”
124. “A narcissistic parent will provoke an independent child to anger in order to feel superior and prove the child’s flaws. ” — Shannon Thomas
125. “That man who lives only for himself is the cruelest mortal on the face of the earth.” – Unknown
126. “A child’s shoulders were not built to bear the weight of their parent’s choices.”- Toby Mac
127. “I loved myself and since I loved me, I loved him because I realized he was good for me. A type of self worth, a type of narcissistic love.” ~ Dominic Riccitello
128. “Hate is the complement of fear and narcissists like being feared. It imbues them with an intoxicating sensation of omnipotence.” ― Sam Vaknin
129. “You don't let go of a bad relationship because you stop caring about them. You let go because you start caring about yourself.”
130. “Narcissism is a cover for a very weak self-image. They often want attention in any form, good or bad. Although they love adoration, the worst pain for a narcissist is to not be noticed. They will say or do outrageous things to be noticed if they are feeling ignored.” — Dian Grier, LCSW
131. “Half the pain in human life comes from gazing in mirrors.” ~ Marty Rubin
132. “You can teach a narcissist to show up on time, but you can't train them to listen once they get there. ” ― Dr. Ramani Durvasula
133. “Silent treatment is a narcissist’s most used weapon. ” — unknown
134. “The narcissist would love nothing more than to know you are eating uncooked Top Ramen out of a dumpster for dinner tonight while wearing yesterday’s underwear.” ~ Tina Swithin
135. “Narcissists often appear to be very confident, but a key feature of narcissism is low self-esteem. Narcissists display arrogance and exaggerate their achievements to hide this low self-esteem.” – Emily Guarnotta, PsyD
136. “Just remember when you are ignoring them, you are teaching them to live without you.” – Unknown
137. “When I was with my mother, I sometimes thought of myself as a trophy. Something to be flaunted before friends. When out of public view, I sat on the shelf ignored and forgotten. ” — Joan Frances
138. “Nobody can be kinder than the narcissist while you react to life on his terms.” ~ Elizabeth Bowen
139. “A person can’t pick up the children and just squeeze them to which-a-way they want them to be.”
140. “Toxic narcissistic mothers will often isolate their children from others, making it difficult for them to form healthy relationships.”
141. “The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails. ”
142. “Americans are experiencing an epidemic in narcissistic behavior in a culture that is intrinsically self-conscious and selfish, and citizens are encouraged to pursue happiness and instant gratification of their personal desires.” ― Kilroy J. Oldster, author of Dead Toad Scrolls
143. “It is a violation of trust to use your kids as caulking for the cracks in you.” – Anne Lamott
144. “The ‘I’ is the ego that we must avoid at any cost, if we truly wish to be different from narcissists. Instead of using ‘I’ repeatedly, it would be wise to replace it with ‘we’. ” ― Mwanandeke Kindembo
145. “Being a control freak is a weakness, not a strength. If you can’t allow others to shine, you’re exhibiting signs of narcissism and showing a lack of self-confidence. It is isolation through ego.” ~ Stewart Stafford
146. “Abuse grows from attitudes and values, not feelings. The roots are ownership, the trunk is entitlement, and the branches are control. ” ― Lundy Bancroft
147. “The narcissist mother refuses to acknowledge her games if she is pouting, let her. If she is using guilt in an attempt to force you to do something, do not give in. ” — Cynthia Bailey Rug
148. “The most loving parents and relatives commit murder with smiles on their faces. They force us to destroy the person we really are: a subtle kind of murder. ”– Jim Morrison
149. “Narcissistic mothers will often use their children as emotional punching bags, taking out their own frustrations on them. ”
150. “I’m too ugly to be a narcissist.” ~ Mitch Albom
151. “I have a very simple question to people who seem to suffer from excessive narcissism: Please name three other persons who are smarter and more capable than you, in the field you work in. In most cases they are utterly unable to answer that question honestly. ” — Ingo Molnar
152. “Parents. Honestly. Sometimes they really do think the world revolves around them.” – Randa Abdel-Fattah
153. “Selfishness is not living as one wishes, but rather requesting that others live as one wishes.”
154. “If a toxic parent does not want to live in sin, they must not provoke their children to sin—especially by using the holy & righteous word to do it. ” ― Zara Hairston
155. “It is the selfish parents who are to blame. Pay attention, be involved in your children's lives. They are your legacy, your only hope.”
156. “If you hold onto hurt and anger with a narcissist, the children will have no normal parent. The narcissistic parent will use them as puppets, lovebomb, and abandon them. You are their only hope.”
157. “You don't let go of a bad relationship because you stop caring about them. You let go because you start caring about yourself.” – Charles Orlando
158. “If mental abuse was a punishable crime, a lot of parents would be in jail serving a long term.”
159. “A narcissistic mother will rarely apologize or take responsibility for her own mistakes, instead blaming others for her problems. ”
160. “No matter how socially skilled an extreme narcissist is, he has a major attachment dysfunction. The extreme narcissist is frozen in childhood.” — Samuel Lopez de Victoria
161. “Instead of treating your child like how you were treated. Treat them with the same love and attention you wanted from your parents while growing up.” – Jonathan Anthony Burkett
162. “Everyone thinks they're entitled to their 15 minutes of fame. And it's that narcissism that makes people, who have no business writing a book, think they can write a book. ” ― Oliver Markus Malloy
163. “Today’s troubled homes are made by parents who want to have children but don’t want their children to have parents.” – Agona Apel
164. “Sometimes you just have to walk away. End toxic family relationships because they hurt more than they help. And start rebuilding a new definition of a healthy family in your life, far away from toxic family members.”
165. “Some scars don’t hurt. Some scars are numb. Some scars rid you of the capacity to feel anything ever again.” – Joyce Rachelle
166. “In the Narcissistic parent’s eyes, they do no wrong nor do they feel they should be held accountable for the bad and wrong things that they have done. ” — Katherine Childress
167. “Everyone thinks they’re entitled to their 15 minutes of fame. And it’s that narcissism that makes people, who have no business writing a book, think they can write a book.” ~ Oliver Markus Malloy
168. “Family is where you’re meant to be most free, don’t let blood chain you down. ” – Michelle Meleen
169. “Did you have parents or just some people who thought they should own somebody?” — Catherine Lacey
170. “Narcissistic mothers will often deny their children the right to their own emotions and feelings, belittling or dismissing them when they express th
171. “Withhold admiration from a narcissist and be disliked. Give it and be treated with indifference.” ~ Mason Cooley
172. “Withhold admiration from a narcissist and be disliked. Give it and be treated with indifference. ” — Mason Cooley
173. “Growing up with a toxic narcissistic mother can leave you feeling like you are never enough, no matter what you do.”
174. “Recognizing a problem and seeking help is a sign not only of health but of courage.”- Susan Forward
175. “Fear based parenting is the surest way to create intimidated children.” – Tim Kimmel
176. “The scars left by a toxic narcissistic mother may not be visible, but they can run deep and affect every aspect of a person’s life.”
177. “If mental abuse was a punishable crime, a lot of parents would be in jail serving a long term. ” — Maddy Malhotra
178. “This is called crazy making, and it is what narcissists do. They push to provoke bad feelings, and when they do and their victim reacts, they feel better. Somehow they transfer their state of mind onto their victims.”
179. “Since narcissists deep down feel themselves to be faultless, it is inevitable that when they are in conflict with the world they will invariably perceive the conflict as the world’s fault. ” — M. Scott Peck
180. At my wedding my parents planned a reception at their home afterwards… they did not invite me, my new husband or his family. My mother wanted the attention to be on herself, not on me and used the occasion to do so
181. “Love without sacrifice is like theft”
182. “If your parents ignored you, or if they are just not emotionally available, or if they yell a lot, that is a type of trauma.” – Tucker Max
183. “Love and respect them but don’t get caught up in their drama.”
184. “The main priority of everyone surrounding a highly narcissistic person is to ensure that they are looking after themselves, maintaining their own mental and physical health and wellbeing, before looking after the narcissist.” ~ Theresa Jackson
185. “There’s really no point in having children if you’re not going to be home enough to father them.” – Anthony Edwards
186. “A good parent never uses their child for their happiness.” – Unknown
187. “Children of narcissists learn that love is abuse. The narcissist teaches them that if someone displeases you, it is okay to harm them and call it love.”
188. “Boys want to grow up to be like their male role models. And boys who grow up in homes with absent fathers search the hardest to figure out what it means to be male.”
189. “Toxic mothers have this type of toxic, manipulative love which is controlling and possessive in nature and never allows you to be yourself or express your true individuality. ” — unknown
190. “How many narcissists does it take to screw in a light bulb? None, they don’t use light bulbs, they use gaslighting!” ― Unknown
191. “Most signs of emotional immaturity are beyond a person’s conscious control, and most emotionally immature parents have no awareness of how they’ve affected their children. ” – Lindsay C. Gibson
192. “Pathological narcissism is like psychological arsenic: lethal in small doses over time!”
193. “In the early stages of narcissist abuse you will be angry enough to think crazy things. Be strong. They are not worth your anger. Get help and heal that is the way to peace.” ― Tracy Malone
194. “Narcissist parents don't care about their children's feelings at all. Only their feelings matter.”
195. “Anyone could father a child. But a good parent puts his child's needs before his own. A parent should be selfless not selfish.” — Penelope Ward
196. I wish that people would stop destroying other people just because they were once destroyed. — Karen Salmansohn
197. “Narcissistic mothers will often prioritize their own needs and desires over those of their children, even when it comes to basic necessities like food and shelter. ”
198. “I was worthy of her love whether she gave it to me or not. Every child is worthy of love. ” — Richard Paul Evans
199. “I understand perfectly because I’m in love with myself. The fact that I’m not transfixed in front of the nearest mirror takes a great deal of self-control.” ~ Anne Rice
200. “You might as well bang your head into a brick wall if you expect the narcissist to be reasonable, empathetic or human in any way. If you sense or witness any of these traits, there is an ulterior motive. When the narcissist is being nice, it’s because they have something to gain.” — Tina Swithin
201. “Parents forgive their children least readily for the faults they themselves instilled in them.” – Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach
202. “Coparenting with an ex can be tough, but if you stay calm and keep your child’s needs in focus, your actions will always be sound, no matter how your coparent might behave.”
203. “When you’re three or seven years old, it’s less frightening to think of yourself as an unlovable, disappointing screwup than to recognize the fact that you’re living with a monster.” – Keith Ablow
204. “They should love you, just as you are. Parents should love their kids, right? “You’d think so”.c- N.R. Walker
205. “You will never really see how toxic someone is until you breathe fresher air.” — Unknown
206. “Narcissist parents don’t care about their children’s feelings at all. Only their feelings matter. ” — Kim Saeed
207. “Narcissism has more in common with self-hatred than with self-admiration.” – Christopher Lasch
208. “Family is where you're meant to be most free. Don't let blood chain you down.” – Unknown
209. “Parents wonder why the streams are bitter when they themselves have poisoned the fountain.”
210. “Individuality should not translate to narcissism. Realizing the strength of individuality is an accomplishment while being narcissistic is a failure.” ~ Amitav Chowdhury
211. “Withhold admiration from a narcissist and be disliked. Give it and be treated with indifference.” — Mason Cooley
212. “He's satisfied with himself. If you have a soul you can't be satisfied. ” ― Graham Greene
213. “Where there is much pride or much vanity, there will also be much revengefulness. ― Arthur Schopenhauer
214. “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.”
215. “The ‘I’ is the ego that we must avoid at any cost, if we truly wish to be different from narcissists. Instead of using ‘I’ repeatedly, it would be wise to replace it with ‘we’.” ~ Mwanandeke Kindembo
216. “A lot of parents will do anything for their kids except let them be themselves. ” — Banksy
217. “Self-absorbed parents express and experience few emotions, usually only anger and fear. They use the words for feelings, but these are empty and meaningless. ” – Nina W. Brown
218. “Fighting became a way of life and seemed perfectly normal for your family.” – Steven Farmer
219. “As long as you continue to react so strongly to them, you give them the power to upset you, which allows them to control you. ” ― Susan Forward
220. “All of us develop our expectations about how people will treat us based on our relationships with our parents.”- Susan Forward
221. “Dysfunctional parents let their children know how burdened they have been by their children and how many sacrifices they had to make in order to raise them.”- Dr Marita Sirota
222. “I don’t care what you think unless it is about me.” ~ Kurt Cobain
223. “The unpredictability of a narcissistic mother’s moods and behavior can be a constant source of stress and anxiety for her children. ”
224. “In troubled families, abuse and neglect are permitted. It’s talking about them that is forbidden.”- Marcia Sirota
225. “Getting angry when something about their behavior is challenged in the nicest way is a typical reaction of a narcissistic parent. ” ― Diana Macey
226. “Your mother's happiness is not your responsibility. It has never been.”
227. “A toxic narcissistic mother will often use her child as a reflection of her own success, rather than valuing them for who they are as an individual.”
228. “Narcissists are emotional porcupines, watch out for the quills!” ― Tracy A. Malone
229. “My toxic mother can only intimidate me if I let her. While she’s busy trying to bully the child, I, the adult, can reject her, ignore her, or report her to authorities. ” ― Rayne Wolf
230. “Your toxic parent may charm the pants off perfect strangers, your friends and more distant relatives. All of which just appears to make you out the bad guy.”
231. “All toxic mothers are more dangerous than absent fathers due to their contagious toxic energy which poisons your soul. ” — unknown
232. “Many children of toxic parents find it exceptionally difficult to identify who they are once they grow up.”- JR Thorpe
233. “An unloving mother robs the child of a sense of belonging. The need to belong can become a lifelong quest for him or her.”
234. “A narcissist parent is easily frustrated by a healthy, independent child that they can't control through parental emotional manipulation.” – Shannon Thomas
235. “Toxic people defy logic. Some are blissfully unaware of the negative impact that they have on those around them, and others seem to derive satisfaction from creating chaos and pushing other people’s buttons.”
236. “Most children would rather preserve the fantasy of a loving connection with their fathers and mothers, at all costs, even if it costs them their self-esteem.”
237. “How to tell if someone is not good for you? You being yourself feels like a betrayal. ” — unknown
238. “Good parenting gives headaches, but bad parenting gives heartaches.” – Shiv Khera
239. “You might as well bang your head into a brick wall if you expect the narcissist to be reasonable, empathetic or human in any way. If you sense or witness any of these traits, there is an ulterior motive. When the narcissist is being nice, it’s because they have something to gain.” ~ Tina Swithin
240. “At the slightest of inconvenience, a narcissist would turn arrogant.”
241. “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
242. “Toxic moms are self-absorbed parents, which is why they are controlling and possessive in the first place to their children. ” — Samuel Zulu
243. “When you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, then you’ll be successful. ”
244. “Co-parenting is not a competition. It’s a collaboration of two homes working together with the best interest of the child at heart. Work for your kids not against them.”
245. “Gaslighters deliberately play subtle mind games and psychological manipulations; which are carried out gradually in stages.” ~ Invajy
246. “You don't have to leave your whole family in the past, just those who don't deserve a place in your future.”
247. “To love oneself is the beginning of a life-long romance.” ~ Oscar Wilde
248. “Growing up with a toxic narcissistic mother can leave you feeling like you are constantly walking on eggshells, never knowing when the next outburst will come.”
249. “Blood relatives often have nothing to do with family, and similarly, family is about who you choose to make your life with.”
250. “You don’t have to repeat the trauma of your childhood. Use the pain your mother inflicted on you to motivate you to find a better way to raise your own children. ” — Barrie Davenport
251. “Emotionally immature parents can act out their need for enmeshment even with people who aren’t close family members. If there’s an enmeshment void, they’ll go outside the immediate family to fill it. They might also become enmeshed with a group, such as a church or other organization. ” – Lindsay C. Gibson
252. “There’s a reason narcissists don’t learn from mistakes and that’s because they never get past the first step which is admitting that they made one.” ~ Jeffrey Kluger
253. “The hateful and stinging words of a narcissistic parent can linger in the mind of an adult child long after the adult has left home.”- Shannon Thomas
254. “Toxic narcissists cling on to empathetic and genuine people whenever they get a chance.”
255. “Narcissistic mothers will often use their children’s vulnerabilities as a way to control and manipulate them. ”
256. When a toxic person can no longer control you, they will try to control how others see you. The misinformation will feel unfair, but stay above it, trusting that other people will eventually see the truth just like you did. – Jill Blakeway
257. “If you were raised as a child by a narcissistic mom, you might have spent a lifetime being mistreated and shamed for things that you never did. Toxic shame is a result of being told you are not enough. You may feel worthless and unlovable. ” ― Dana Arcuri
258. “A narcissist’s criticism is their autobiography.” ― M. Wakefield, author of Are You in an Emotionally Abusive Relationship?
259. “What’s so sad is when we’re younger, if you have a bad parent, that is normal to you, and that’s what you think of as healthy.” – Jennifer Lawrence
260. “Families are homes built on a foundation of trust and love. A toxic family can never be a home, because the foundation doesn't exist.” – Unknown
261. “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.”
262. “You can be a good daughter or you can be a good mother, but you can't be both. It is your decision and it is yours only.”
263. “Being a parent does not give you an excuse for bad manners.” – Rosalind Wiseman
264. “The biggest impediment to loving life is our inflated egos. Only by suppressing our ego and controlling our selfish thoughts can we truly comprehend the immaculate beauty of every day unfolding before us. ” ― Kilroy J. Oldster
265. “Toxic mothers plant seeds of guilt, low self-esteem, and low self-worth into their daughters, which further manifests when those daughters get into their own relationships, making them extremely needy or even toxic just like their own moms. ” — unknown
266. “Narcissistic mothers will often use their children’s accomplishments as a way to enhance their own reputation and status. ”
267. “Family is supposed to be our safe haven. Very often, it is the place where we find the deepest heartache.”
268. “You consider yourself your most fascinating subject. ” ― Britt Bennett
269. “A narcissistic mother doesn’t love her child, she loves the power and control she has over them.”
270. “I have a gaping painful hole in my soul where good, loving parents and a normal, safe childhood should have been. ” — Lily Hope Lucario
271. “Just because someone gives you life doesn’t mean they will love you in the right way. ” — unknown
272. “An unpredictable parent is a fearsome god in the eyes of a child.” – Susan Forward
273. “Abusive parents often blame their children for their abusive and immature behavior as a way of covering their tracks so that they don’t look bad. ” — unknown
274. “Some of your unrealistic expectations for yourself result from the messages received from your self-absorbed parent about how you were expected to take care of the parent. ” – Nina W. Brown
275. “In troubled families, abuse and neglect are permitted. It’s talking about them that is forbidden. ”– Marcia Sirota
276. “Relationships with narcissists are held in place by hope of a ‘someday better,’ with little evidence to support it will ever arrive.” ~ Ramani Durvasula
277. “Many victims of narcissistic abuse are hypersensitive. They don't want to be told by others that they wrong when they fight with their narcissist. They see it as standing up for themselves, when in reality it is perpetuating what the narcissist wants ― drama and a reaction. ” ― Shannon L. Alder
278. “There’s nothing worse than a man that can be everything to everybody else. Except a father to their own child.” – Unknown
279. “There was nothing more unattractive than narcissism, she thought: nothing could transform beauty into a cloying, unattractive quality than that self-conscious appreciation of self. ” — Alexander McCall Smith
280. “A child should never feel as if they need to earn a mother’s love.” – Sherrie Campbell
281. “Don’t let guilt come up your way.”
282. “You must let go of the responsibility for the painful events of your childhood and put it where it belongs.” – Susan Forward
283. “How starved you must have been that my heart became a meal for your ego. ” — Amanda Torroni
284. “Anyone could father a child. But a good parent puts his child's needs before his own. A parent should be selfless, not selfish.”
285. “If a mother cannot sacrifice for her kids, she doesn’t deserve them!” – Unknown
286. “Did you have parents or just some people who thought they should own somebody?” – Catherine Lacey
287. “Children of narcissistic parents are often turned against their siblings in a competition to vie for the affection and love they always craved but never received.”
288. “You can always leave your childhood trauma your abusive mom or dad behind. Never be a victim.” – Unknown
289. “That which he projects ahead of him as his ideal, is merely his substitute for the lost narcissism of his childhood ― the time when he was his own ideal.” ― Sigmund Freud
290. “It is the self parents who are to blame. Pay attention. Be involved in your children’s lives. They are your legacy, your only hope. ” — Aaron B. Powell
291. “Since narcissists deep down feel themselves to be faultless, it is inevitable that when they are in conflict with the world they will invariably perceive the conflict as the world’s fault.” ~ Scott Peck
292. “Healthy levels of narcissism and self-enhancement are necessary, with a low level of self-enhancement being detrimental to our wellbeing and success. ” ― Theresa Jackson
293. “People tend to raise the child inside of them rather than the child in front of them.”
294. “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. ” — Dr. Ramani Durvasula
295. “Narcissist parents do not know their children; they aren’t interested in what they have to say unless it affects them. ” — Tina Fuller
296. “Narcissists would rather lie and humiliate you than to admit that they were in the wrong.” ~ Mitta Xinindlu
297. “The constant criticism and negativity from a narcissistic mother can wear down her children’s self-esteem over time. ”
298. “Spanking a child is about the parent not the child. The child will learn more from positive correction than physical manipulation. ” — Asa Don Brown
299. “The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do. ”
300. “A river cuts through rock, not because of its power, but because of its persistence. ”
301. “Projection is narcissist’s signature technique.” ~ Invajy
302. “The toxic parent sees the child as a threat to their own ego and having the child overshadow the parent is not an option in their mind.”- Shannon Thomas
303. “Narcissistic love is riding on the rollercoaster of disaster filled with a heart full of tears. ”— Sheree Griffin
304. “How to tell if someone is not good for you? You being yourself feels like a betrayal. ” — unknown
305. “We are all born the same, we are completely cute, innocent, sweet, and we need that reflection of ourselves as little human beings to live, and I was not receiving that from my mother. ” ― Anneke Lucas
306. “It is both tragic and freeing to accept that your mother is not capable of being the mother you always needed her to be.” – Stephi Wagner
307. “Parenting is not for sissies. You have to sacrifice and grow up. ” — Jillian Michaels
308. “The toxicity that comes from them is often the result of their own unmet needs, insecurities they have which they project on their children to find solace.”
309. “He that falls in love with himself will have no rivals.” — Benjamin Franklin
310. “Sometimes, the people closest to you betray you, and your home isn't a place you can be happy anymore. It's hard but it's true.”
311. “Selfish genes actually explain altruistic individuals, and to me that’s crystal-clear. ” — Richard Dawkins
312. “Real love moves freely in both directions. Don’t waste your time on anything else.”
313. “If parents wish to preserve childhood for their own children, they must conceive of parenting as an act of rebellion against culture.”
314. “No one has probably helped me more with my narcissism than my dog. ” ― Tucker Max
315. “No child should ever have to bear the burden of parenting their own parents. To toxic parents, you existed to serve them all the time.”- Kim Saeed
316. “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
317. “Anybody who wishes to go beyond the free-will of another person is already practising narcissistic characteristics. ” ― Mwanandeke Kindembo
318. “Some people seem like a bright light during your darkest moment. . . a beautiful refuge. . . but it's a trap. . . there is only more pain there. Now that I think about it. . . I imagine that's what bugs feel like when they fly into the zapper. ” ― Steve Maraboli
319. “You’re human. You’ll screw up. Denying that is crazy. Forgiving yourself has all the benefits of self-esteem without making you a narcissist that’s out of touch with reality.” – David D. Burns
320. “When we recognize that we are not responsible for our childhood deprivations, and that we are entitled to feel anger (but not to act on it – awareness is not a license to kill), then we are able to let go of that anger and not be controlled by it. ”― Victoria Secunda
321. “A narcissist will undermine your capability of putting efforts as a parent even in front of your children.”
322. “Being a selfish parent is a sign of not having learned from experience.” – Unknown
323. “People who love themselves, don’t hurt other people. The more we hate ourselves, the more we want others to suffer.”
324. “When you have this hurt for this long, particularly when a bond so sacred as the mother to child is broken, it’s a slow walk to healing. ” — Iyanla Vanzant
325. “Worry a little bit every day and in a lifetime you will lose a couple of years. If something is wrong, fix it if you can. But train yourself not to worry: Worry never fixes anything. ”
326. “Remember, you are not managing an inconvenience; You are raising a human being.” – Kittie Frantz
327. “Narcissistic mothers will often use their children to fulfill their own unmet emotional needs, rather than providing them with the support they need. ”
328. “To all you parents out there, don’t make your little girls, or little boys, so thirsty for love that they will want to drink water that will poison them. ” – Lisa Bedrick
329. “That which he projects ahead of him as his ideal, is merely his substitute for the lost narcissism of his childhood - the time when he was his own ideal. ” ― Sigmund Freud
330. “Don't try to make children grow up to be like you, or they may do it.”
331. “A narcissist wants you to adopt his version of himself.” – Hart Pomerantz
332. “The narcissist would love nothing more than to know you are eating uncooked Top Ramen out of a dumpster for dinner tonight while wearing yesterday’s underwear. ” — Tina Swithin
333. “Since narcissists deep down feel themselves to be faultless, it is inevitable that when they are in conflict with the world they will invariably perceive the conflict as the world’s fault.” ― M. Scott Peck
334. “Individuality should not translate to narcissism. Realizing the strength of individuality is an accomplishment while being narcissistic is a failure. ” ― Amitav Chowdhury
335. “Silent treatment is a narcissist’s most used weapon.”
336. “In a narcissist’s world you are not their one and only. You are an extension of that person and last place in their mind, while they secure back up narcissistic supply.” ~ Shannon L. Alder
337. “When you say “No” to a toxic family, you say “Yes” to loving yourself.”
338. Both my mother and father were always focused on their needs. Example; if there was no milk in the house, my father would wait until we went to bed, then go out and buy a little pint of milk for himself. It never occurred to him that his children didn’t have milk
339. “Fear based parenting is the surest way to create intimidated children.”
340. “You don't have to leave your whole family in the past, just those who don't deserve a place in your future.” – Unknown
341. “Toxic parents are the root cause of all dysfunctional families because the fish rots first at its head.”
342. “No other being is lesser human than the one who thinks of others as such.” ~ Abhijit Naskar
343. “Hate is the complement of fear and narcissists like being feared. It imbues them with an intoxicating sensation of omnipotence.” ~ Sam Vaknin
344. After we left home my parents never called us. When we all had children, they never asked about or called them either. When we would visit on holidays, the conversation was ALL about them. They rarely asked about us
345. “You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great. ”
346. “Dysfunctional parents do not apologise. It is one feature that the children of narcissists would instantly agree on. They will lie and justify themselves, but never accept they did anything wrong.”
347. “Growing up with a narcissistic mother can make it difficult to express your true self and interests, as you are often expected to fulfill her needs first. ”
348. “Growing up with a toxic narcissistic mother can leave you feeling like you are alone in the world, without anyone to turn to for support.”
349. “There’s a definition of narcissism that when a parent is narcissistic, instead of the child seeing himself reflected in the mother’s face and the mother’s joy, the child of the narcissistic parent feels like, ‘What can I do to make her, okay, to make her happy?'” — Susan Sullivan
350. “She could feel him, glaring at her with a psychotic look in his eyes, taking pleasure in her suffering, using it to fuel his next move. ” ― Arti Manani
351. “Gaslighting is what a narcissist does best.”
352. “It is both tragic and freeing to accept that your mother is not capable of being the mother you always needed her to be. ” — Stephi Wagner
353. “Our mothers tell us that there are no monsters under our beds or hidden inside our closets, but they don’t warn us that sometimes monsters come dressed as people that claim to love you more than the sun loves the moon. ” — Nikita Gill
354. “The ones that love us least, are the ones we’ll die to please. ” – Paul Westerberg
355. “Growing up and trying to have your own values and personality is not received well, and the narcissistic parent will try to sabotage you any way they can. ” ― Diana Macey
356. “No one has probably helped me more with my narcissism than my dog.” ~ Tucker Max
357. “Daughters of Narcissistic Mothers go through a grieving process. This is in turn is part of the healing process. We only get one Mother, and it is a huge loss accepting the fact.”
358. “Children of narcissists learn that love is abuse. The narcissist teaches them that if someone displeases you, it is okay to harm them and call it love. ”― M. Wakefield
359. “She could feel him, glaring at her with a psychotic look in his eyes, taking pleasure in her suffering, using it to fuel his next move.” ~ Arti Manani
360. “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 Ouimet
361. “You must let go of the responsibility for the painful events of your childhood and put it where it belongs.”
362. “Sometimes, the people closest to you betray you, and your home isn't a place you can be happy anymore. It's hard but it's true.” – P.C. Cast
363. “The first step to healing from a toxic narcissistic mother is to recognize that the abuse was not your fault, and that you deserve better.
364. “Selfish people don’t consider how their decisions affect others. Their own convenience is all that matters. ” — Unknown
365. “Narcissistic mothers will often use their children to extract sympathy and attention from others, rather than valuing them as individuals. ”
366. “Family is supposed to be our safe haven. Very often, it’s the place we find the deepest heartache.” – Lyanla Vansant
367. “Narcissistic abuse is not just that someone dumped you or who you had a little tiff with them. NA is psychological abuse and brainwashing using intermittent reward and punishment, coercive control and withholding normal empathetic, emotional reactions to lower your self esteem.” ― Alice Little
368. “Every narcissist is a hero and a legend in his own mind. ” ― Oscar Auliq-Ice
369. “Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people. ”
370. “Love is intermittent reinforcement with spouses and children alike. The child is love-bombed when the narcissist feels the child reflects their false self. The moment the child fails to do so, the narcissistic parent blithely discards them.” ~ M. Wakefield
371. “Narcissistic mothers will often use their children to bolster their own sense of importance and power, making them feel like pawns in a larger game. ”
372. “Dysfunctional parents let their children know how burdened they have been by their children and how many sacrifices they had to make in order to raise them.”
373. “Cutting your toxic mother off is not bad, it’s called self-care. ” — unknown
374. “All parents damage their children. This was their life together. Neglect. Violence. Silence. ” — Mitch Albom
375. “Don’t even try to put effort into letting them know that you are leaving them.”
376. “Family is supposed to be our safe haven. Very often, it is the place where we find the deepest heartache.” – Iyanla Vanzant
377. “As individuals and as a nation, we now suffer from social narcissism. The beloved echo of our ancestors, the virgin America, has been abandoned. We have now fallen in love with our own image, with images of our making, which turn out to be images of ourselves.” ~ Daniel J. Boorstin
378. “Manipulation and control are favourite weapons abusive dads often use on their children for control.” – Unknown
379. “Growing up with a narcissistic mother can lead to feelings of guilt and shame, as though you are responsible for her behavior. ”
380. “The habits that took years to build, do not take a day to change. ”
381. “Some people think that the world revolves around them but even the Sun is not the center of the Universe. ” ― Halle Teart
382. “Narcissist mothers teach their daughters that love is not unconditional, that it is given only when they behave by maternal expectations and whims. ” ― Dr. McBride
383. “It is not love that should be depicted as blind, but self-love.” ~ Voltaire
384. “A man who loves others based solely on how they make him feel, or what they do for him, is really not loving others at all – but loving only himself.” ~ Criss Jami
385. “Narcissists withhold affection to punish you. Withhold attention to get revenge. And withhold an emotional empathetic response to make you feel insecure. ” ― Alice Little
386. “Be more than a father, be a dad. Be more than a figure, be an example. ” – Steve Maraboli
387. “Some people seem like a bright light during your darkest moment… a beautiful refuge… but it’s a trap… there is only more pain there. Now that I think about it… I imagine that’s what bugs feel like when they fly into the zapper.” ~ Steve Maraboli
388. “Sometimes, narcissistic parents are also better loved from a distance to avoid further emotional damage.”
389. “First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, and then you win. ”
390. “Abuse is indeed a way to vent out a narcissist’s anger and dissatisfaction.”
391. “Out of all the addictions in the world, Attention is slowly but surely becoming one of the most dangerous. ” ― Saahil Prem
392. “Being a selfish parent is a sign of not having learned from experience.”
393. “Narcissistic abuse is not just that someone dumped you or who you had a little tiff with them. NA is psychological abuse and brainwashing using intermittent reward and punishment, coercive control and withholding normal empathetic, emotional reactions to lower your self esteem.” ~ Alice Little
394. “Narcissist parents want total control. Take back your control. If possible, don’t accept any money, favor, items or anything from them.”- Tina Fuller
395. “To love oneself is the beginning of a life-long romance. ” — Oscar Wilde
396. “Narcissism is voluntary blindness, an agreement not to look beneath the surface.” ~ Sam Keen
397. “For some, life may be a playground to undermine the brainwaves of others or simply a vainglorious game with an armory of theatrics, illustrating only bleak self-deception, haughty narcissism, and dim deficiency in empathy.” ― Erik Pevernagie
398. “The worst lies were the lies I told myself about the lies others told me.” ~ Alice Little
399. “In troubled families, abuse and neglect are permitted. It’s talking about them that is forbidden. ” — Marcia Sirota
400. “Gaslighting is a major tool of manipulation. It’s about distorting your perceptions and asserting what works better for the abuser. ” ― Diana Macey
401. “Many children of toxic parents find it exceptionally difficult to identify who they are once they grow up.”
402. “Unstable and dysfunctional homes are offshoots of narcissist parents ruling them.” – Unknown
403. “To be your own god is to be the biggest participant in creating your own hell.” ― Craig D. Lounsbrough, author
404. “A family who relies on their children for happiness make both their children and themselves miserable.”
405. “I’m a recovering narcissist. I didn’t know I was a narcissist, actually. I thought narcissism meant you love yourself, and then someone told me there’s a flip side to it. So it’s actually drearier than self-love; it’s unrequited self-love.” ― Emily Levine
406. “A toxic narcissistic mother can leave her child with a distorted sense of self, making it difficult for them to trust their own thoughts and feelings.”
407. “It is possible for you to show respect for your self-absorbed parent in interactions with him or her without agreeing with the parent’s characterization of you or having to buy into the parent’s denigrating comments about you. ” – Nina W. Brown
408. “Toxic people defy logic. Some are blissfully unaware of the negative impact that they have on those around them, and others seem to derive satisfaction from creating chaos and pushing other people’s buttons.” – Travis Bradberry
409. “Your family, your real family, will always welcome you home with open arms. Anyone who says you can lose their love isn't really family, no matter what blood says.”
410. “I think writers are the most narcissistic people. Well, I musn't say this, I like many of them, a great many of my friends are writers.” ― Sylvia Plath
411. “In a narcissist's world you are not their one and only. You are an extension of that person and last place in their mind, while they secure back up narcissistic supply. ” ― Shannon L. Alder
412. “I was worthy of her love whether she gave it to me or not. Every child is worthy of love. ” ― Richard Paul Evans
413. “Toxic people make you think you’re holding a grudge when you’re really holding a boundary.” — Mel Robins, motivational speaker
414. “His arrogance is going to bury whatever parts of him which survived the death of his pretentiousness. ” ― Niedria Dionne Kenny
415. “Healthy levels of narcissism and self-enhancement are necessary, with a low level of self-enhancement being detrimental to our wellbeing and success.” ~ Theresa Jackson
416. “No, we don’t control who our parents are. We don’t control what color we are. We don’t control what home we are born into. But we control our attitude. We control our work ethic. We control our drive and our commitment.” – Dabo Swinney
417. “The narcissist test: Step 1—Take a moment to think about yourself. Step 2—If you made it to step two, you are not a narcissist.” — Anonymous
418. “A toxic narcissistic mother will often undermine her child’s accomplishments, making it difficult for them to feel confident and proud of their achievements.”
419. “Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will. ”
420. “Ego is borne of the need to ‘prove’ oneself instead of making the choice to ‘be’ oneself. ” ― Craig D. Lounsbrough
421. “If you don’t make the time to work on creating the life you want, you’re eventually going to be forced to spend a lot of time dealing with a life you don’t want. ”
422. “I like to be admired from afar, and then complimented up close. ” ― Gena Showalter
423. “You can teach a narcissist to show up on time, but you can’t train them to listen once they get there.” ― Dr. Ramani Durvasula
424. “Real family does not come from your blood. It is the people standing beside you when no one else is.”
425. “Toxic narcissistic mothers will use their children as pawns in their power games, without any regard for their feelings or needs.”
426. “Narcissus does not fall in love with his reflection because it is beautiful, but because it is his. If it were his beauty that enthralled him, he would be set free in a few years by its fading. ” — W. H. Auden
427. “The lion is most handsome when looking for food.” — Rumi
428. “Your children vividly remember every unkind thing you ever did to them, plus a few you really didn't.”
429. “Daughters of narcissistic mothers absorb the message “I am valued for what I do, rather than for who I am.” ~ Karyl McBride
430. “Anyone could father a child. But a good parent puts his child’s needs before his own. A parent should be selfless, not selfish.” – Penelope Ward
431. “The toxic parent sees the child as a threat to their own ego and having the child overshadow the parent is not an option in their mind.”
432. “To all you parents out there, don't make your little girls, or little boys, so thirsty for love that they will want to drink water that will poison them.”
433. “Getting angry when something about their behaviour is challenged in the nicest way, is a typical reaction of a narcissistic parent. ” ― Diana Macey
434. “Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you. ”
435. “Covert narcissists prey on people with the right weaknesses for them to exploit. This is why the abuse is wrapped in a pretense of care, and they can get people fooled for a very long time. ” ― Diana Macey
436. “No man should bring children into the world who is unwilling to persevere to the end in their nature and education.” – Plato
437. “It’s not the load that breaks you down, it’s the way you carry it. ”
438. “Sometimes it’s better to end something and try to start something new than imprison yourself in hoping for the impossible.”
439. “A Narcissist will never admit they have a problem, if confronted with their own bad behavior they will do their very best to make people believe they are the victim.” ~ Harvey Stuarts
440. “What are narcissists looking for, after all? Just someone at their level that they can feel superior to. ” ― Luigina Sgarro
441. “If your child feels loved, they feel safe. If your child feels loved, they can open up to you. If your child feels loved, they will be courageous in life because they know they have a cushion to fall back on. If there’s one big gift we can give or children is to know they are truly loved, no matter what.”
442. “Growing up with a toxic, narcissistic mother is like being in a constant emotional war zone.”
443. “Feel sorry for your narcissistic mother, by all means. But know that you have every right to feel sorry for her from a safe distance. ” — Danu Morrigan
444. “But the line between moral behavior and narcissistic self-righteousness is thin and difficult to discern.” ~ Dean Koontz
445. “Remember, you are not managing an inconvenience; You are raising a human being.”
446. “I spend my life constantly calling in ‘imaginary’ debts that aren’t owed to me in order to avoid the ‘real’ debts that I owe to others, and so everybody ends up bankrupt. ” ― Craig D. Lounsbrough
447. “Throw me to the wolves and I will return leading the pack. ”
448. “I love narcissists — even more than they love themselves. You don’t have to buoy them up. They are their own razzle-dazzle show and you are the blessed, favored with a front-row seat.” – Patricia Marx
449. “he toxic effects of your self-absorbed parent on you can be detrimental to your relationships, to your ability to think in constructive ways, and above all to improve how you feel about yourself. ” – Nina W. Brown
450. “Narcissist parents do not know their children; they aren’t interested in what they have to say unless it affects them.”- Tina Fuller
451. “It is the selfish parents who are to blame. Pay attention, be involved in your children’s lives. They are your legacy, your only hope. ” — Aaron B. Powell
452. “Narcissistic love is riding on the rollercoaster of disaster filled with a heart full of tears.”
453. “Nice people don’t necessarily fall in love with nice people.” ― Jonathan Franzen, author of Freedom
454. “The ultimate obscenity is not caring, not doing something about what you feel, not feeling! Just drawing back and drawing in, becoming narcissistic. ” ― Rod Serling
455. “Love doesn’t die a natural death. Love has to be killed, either by neglect or narcissism.” ― Frank Salvato
456. “Parental Alienation is an emotional act of violence that is aimed at an adult, but critically wounds a child. ” — Steve Maraboli
457. “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.”
458. “When people are driving themselves crazy, they have neuroses or psychoses. When they drive other people crazy, they have personality disorders.” ~ Albert J. Bernstein
459. “Don’t just leave- stay away.”
460. “Growing up with a narcissistic mother can make it difficult to form a healthy sense of identity, as you are constantly told who you should be. ”
461. “The main priority of everyone surrounding a highly narcissistic person is to ensure that they are looking after themselves, maintaining their own mental and physical health and wellbeing, before looking after the narcissist. ” ― Theresa Jackson
462. “Here too, we can see that not being open to learning something new does not automatically make someone a narcissist. In fact, a narcissist is required to be more knowledgeable in many fields; mostly in psychology.” ~ Mwanandeke Kindembo
463. “There are no illegitimate children – only illegitimate parents.”
464. “Children are not born for the benefit of their parents, neither are they the property of their family. Children belong to the future. ” ― Anthon St. Maarten
465. “When someone tells me “no,” it doesn’t mean I can’t do it, it simply means I can’t do it with them. ”
466. “Somewhat paradoxically, parenting programs should focus on the behavior of the parents, not the behavior of the children.”
467. “Bad parents see no wrong in the way they treat their children.” – Unknown
468. “It’s no use to argue with parents who always think they are right all the time and you are always wrong.”
469. “When confronted with their abusive nature, narcissists will portray them as victims.”
470. “The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried. ”
471. “Children are not possessions. You don’t “allow” the father/mother extra time. When you say things like that you imply that you think of your children as things, not humans.”
472. “You don’t have to carry on the legacy of their abuse and the hurt it caused you.”
473. “A narcissist’s criticism is their autobiography. ” ― M. Wakefield
474. “Growing up with a narcissistic mother can leave you feeling like you are never enough, no matter what you do. ”
475. “If you want something you have never had, you must be willing to do something you have never done. ”
476. “But both the narcissist and his partner do not really consider each other. Trapped in the moves of an all-consuming dance macabre, they follow the motions morbidly - semiconscious, desensitized, exhausted, and concerned only with survival. ” ― Sam Vaknin
477. “The parent may be self-depreciating, but will become angry or hurt if others agree with the self-depreciating comments. The self-absorbed parent will use personal put-downs in an effort to get others to disagree. ” – Nina W. Brown
478. “Toxic narcissistic mothers can be charming and charismatic in public, while behind closed doors, they are controlling and abusive.”
479. “A family portrait is only complete with love to fill its frame.”
480. “Narcissists burn your sanity, erode your self-esteem, and make you doubt your own judgments and perceptions.” ~ Invajy
481. “I wish that people would stop destroying other people just because they were once destroyed.” ~ Karen Salmansohn
482. “For someone as amazing as you, attention is like food, and you’re always hungry.” ~ Seth McDonough
483. “Any mother that could be cruel to a child is not going to apologize to that child when they have grown up.” – Rayne Wolf
484. “Never has a book been as sorely misused as the Bible to justify beatings.”- Susan Forward
485. “If you want to go from being adored to devalued in the blink of an eye, simply insult the narcissist.” ~ Tigress Luv
486. “Victimization is a common tactic toxic mothers use to victimize their children to make them submissive to their controlling tyrannical rule. ” — Samuel Zulu
487. “As individuals and as a nation, we now suffer from social narcissism. The beloved echo of our ancestors, the virgin America, has been abandoned. We have now fallen in love with our own image, with images of our making, which turn out to be images of ourselves. ” ― Daniel J. Boorstin
488. “Fear-based parenting is the surest way to create intimidated children. ” — Tim Kimmel
489. “There’s a definition of narcissism that when a parent is narcissistic, instead of the child seeing himself reflected in the mother’s face and the mother’s joy, the child of the narcissistic parent feels like, ‘What can I do to make her okay, to make her happy?’”
490. “I wonder if the course of narcissism through the ages would have been any different had Narcissus first peered into a cesspool. He probably did.” ~ Frank O’Hara
491. “Being a parent shouldn't be when it is convenient for you. It is a 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year commitment.” – Unknown
492. “Instead of treating your child like how you were treated. Treat them with the same love and attention you wanted from your parents while growing up.”
493. “It is not love that should be depicted as blind, but self-love. ” ― Voltaire
494. “If your parents ignored you, or if they are just not emotionally available, or if they yell a lot, that is a type of trauma. ” — Tucker Max
495. “I don't care what you think unless it is about me. ” ― Kurt Cobain
496. “One of the main effects of social media is our confusing of someone’s obsession with their appearance with self-love or confidence.” ― Mokokoma Mokhonoana, author and philosopher
497. “Toxic people make you think you’re holding a grudge when you’re really holding a boundary.” ~ Mel Robins
498. “My dad taught me everything I know. Unfortunately, he didn't teach me everything he knows.”
499. “The hateful and stinging words of a narcissistic parent can linger in the mind of an adult child long after the adult has left home.” – Shannon Thomas
500. “Don’t set yourself on fire to keep someone else warm.” ~ Anonymous
501. “Dysfunctional parents do not apologize. It is one feature that the children of narcissists would instantly agree on. They will lie and justify themselves, but never accept they did anything wrong. ” ― Diana Macey
502. “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are. ”
503. “Dysfunctional parents let their children know how burdened they have been by their children and how many sacrifices they had to make in order to raise them.” – Dr Marita Sirota
504. “Great parenting happens when you start controlling yourself and stop controlling your child” — Unknown
505. “A person can’t pick up the children and just squeeze them to which-a-way they want them to be.” – Carson McCullers
506. “Narcissism falls along the axis of what psychologists call personality disorders. . . but by most measures, narcissism is one of the worst, if only because the narcissists themselves are so clueless. ” — Jeffrey Kluger
507. “You’ve been lied to so many times that you know who not to trust. That’s not trust issues; that’s lessons learned.” – Unknown
508. “Follow your own passion – not your parents’, not your teachers’ – yours.”
509. “Unhealthy families discourage individual expression. Everyone must conform to the thoughts and actions of the toxic parents. ”- Dr. Susan Forward
510. “Jealousy runs in a narcissist’s blood.”
511. “Anybody who wishes to go beyond the free-will of another person is already practising narcissistic characteristics.” ~ Mwanandeke Kindembo
512. “The best security blanket a child can have is parents who respect each other.” – Jane Blaustone
513. “An unpredictable parent is a fearsome god in the eyes of a child.”
514. “If you teach hatred to your children, one day your child will have that hatred reflected back onto them and onto you.”
515. “The emotional manipulation and gaslighting from a narcissistic mother can make it difficult for a child to trust their own thoughts and feelings. ”
516. “Parents. Honestly. Sometimes they really do think the world revolves around them. ” — Randa Abdel-Fattah
517. “I wonder if the course of narcissism through the ages would have been any different had Narcissus first peered into a cesspool. He probably did. ” ― Frank O'Hara
518. “Sometimes you need to give up on people, not because you don’t care, but because they don’t.” – Unknown
519. “I was trapped in an awful spiral of insecure narcissism.” ~ Amy Poehler
520. “Even though friends say they are interested in your life, they never really want to talk about you as much as you want them to.” ~ Charise Mericle Harper
521. “Who said that parents’ beliefs should be adopted by their children?” ― Lukasz Laniecki
522. “Every narcissist is a hero and a legend in his own mind.” ~ Oscar Auliq-Ice
523. “I'm too ugly to be a narcissist. ” ― Mitch Albom
524. “Many children of toxic parents find it exceptionally difficult to identify who they are once they grow up. ” — JR Thorpe
525. “The invalidation of a narcissistic mother can make it difficult for her children to trust their own instincts and make decisions for themselves. ”
526. “A narcissist man mostly cares about his image rather than anything else in this world.”
527. “When a toxic person can no longer control you, they will try to control how others see you. The misinformation will feel unfair, but stay above it, trusting that other people will eventually see the truth just like you did.” – Jill Blakeway
528. “Being a narcissist isn’t easy when the question is not of loving your own image, but of recreating the self through deliberate acts of alienation." – Orlan
529. “Remind yourself that you went through a rollercoaster.”
530. “The best, most mature co-parents will tell their therapist – and not their child – how much the other parent sucks.”
531. “Too bad for any parent who has become accustomed to ruling by force, because at some point the kids just get too big to slap around. ” — Barbara Ehrenreich
532. “Leave your pride, ego, and narcissism somewhere else. Reactions from those parts of you will reinforce your children’s most primitive fears.”
533. “Since narcissists deep down feel themselves to be faultless, it is inevitable that when they are in conflict with the world, they will invariably perceive the conflict as the world’s fault. ” ― M. Scott Peck
534. “In the minds of my parents, they are the victims; I am the abuser. ” — Christina Enevoldsen
535. “All of us develop our expectations about how people will treat us based on our relationships with our parents.” – Susan Forward
536. “Narcissists are the ones who will never send you a sincere apology.”
537. “The question ‘How are you (doing)?’ is the most common way of indirectly saying ‘Ask me how I am (doing)’.” ~ Mokokoma Mokhonoana
538. “But the line between moral behavior and narcissistic self-righteousness is thin and difficult to discern. ” ― Dean Koontz
539. “If you have to parent your mother and put up with her childish and selfish behaviors, it may be time to create more serious boundaries for your own self-protection. ” — Barrie Davenport
540. “In a normal family situation, parents concern about how their children are doing, what they’re feeling. Narcissistic parents don’t care about their children feelings at all. Only their feelings matter.”
541. “That which he projects ahead of him as his ideal, is merely his substitute for the lost narcissism of his childhood – the time when he was his own ideal.” ~ Sigmund Freud
542. “For some, life may be a playground to undermine the brainwaves of others or simply a vainglorious game with an armory of theatrics, illustrating only bleak self-deception, haughty narcissism and dim deficiency in empathy.” ~ Erik Pevernagie
543. “Love doesn’t die a natural death. Love has to be killed, either by neglect or narcissism.” ~ Frank Salvato
544. “The emotional manipulation and abuse from a toxic narcissistic mother can cause long-term damage to a person’s mental health.”
545. “Being a control freak is a weakness, not a strength. If you can't allow others to shine, you're exhibiting signs of narcissism and showing a lack of self-confidence. It is isolation through ego. ” ― Stewart Stafford
546. “Self-love for ever creeps out, like a snake, to sting anything which happens. . . to stumble upon it. ” ― George Gordon Noel Byron
547. “But that’s the thing about narcissists. They can try to fool you, with all their heart, but in the end, they’re just fooling themselves. ” ― Ellie Fox
548. “Being a selfish parent is the biggest crime you can do to your child.” – Unknown
549. “Anyone can have a child and call themselves a parent. Real parents are those who put that child above their own selfish needs and wants. ” — Unknown
550. “Growing up with a narcissistic mother can lead to feelings of isolation and disconnection, as you are not able to connect with her on a meaningful level. ”
551. “My dad had limitations. That’s what my good-hearted mom always told us. He had limitations, but he meant no harm. It was kind of her to say, but he did do harm.” – Gillian Flynn
552. “Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I’ll try again tomorrow. ”
553. “The gaslighting and manipulation from a narcissistic mother can make it difficult for her children to trust their own reality and perceptions. ”
554. “No matter how socially skilled an extreme narcissist is, he has a major attachment dysfunction. The extreme narcissist is frozen in childhood. ” — Samuel Lopez de Victoria
555. “Americans are experiencing an epidemic in narcissistic behavior in a culture that is intrinsically self-conscious and selfish, and citizens are encouraged to pursue happiness and instant gratification of their personal desires.” ~ Kilroy J. Oldster
556. “You will be forced to get over hurdles all by yourself if you are with a narcissist.”
557. “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. ”
558. “You don’t have to feel guilty if you have to distance yourself for a while from your toxic mom if she becomes too toxic to be around her in peace without causing any drama. ” — unknown
559. “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.”
560. “Toxic mothers are image-oriented rather than love-oriented.”
561. “What are narcissists looking for, after all? Just someone at their level that they can feel superior to.” ~ Luigina Sgarro
562. “The worst lies were the lies I told myself about the lies others told me. ” ― Alice Little
563. “Parents. Honestly. Sometimes they really do think the world revolves around them.”
564. “Fighting became a way of life and seemed perfectly normal for your family. ” — Steven Farmer
565. “Narcissistic mothers will often use their children as a way to compete with other parents, trying to prove that they are the best. ”
566. “Dysfunctional parents do not apologise. It is one feature that the children of narcissists would instantly agree on. They will lie and justify themselves, but never accept they did anything wrong. ” ― Diana Macey
567. “As a parent, you should be more concerned with your child’s happiness than your petty insecurities and jealousies. Just a thought!” – Unknown
568. “The more dysfunctional, the more some family members seek to control the behaviour of others. ” – David W. Earle
569. “Sometimes, unconditional love from you, which you were never given by your abusive and toxic mom, is all that your toxic mom may need to help her realize where she came up short. ” — unknown
570. “How many narcissists does it take to screw in a lightbulb? None, they don’t use lightbulbs, they use gaslighting!” — Anonymous
571. “Leave your pride, ego, and narcissism somewhere else. Reactions from those parts of you will reinforce your children’s most primitive fears. ” — Henry Cloud
572. “Children of narcissists learn that love is abuse. The narcissist teaches them that if someone displeases you, it is okay to harm them and call it love.” ~ M. Wakefield
573. “By aggrandizing one’s own abilities and achievements, the grandiose person remains out of touch with who they truly are and as such, remains prone to crossing the boundaries of others.” ~ Steven Franssen
574. “Narcissistic mothers will often use their children as a way to gain attention and admiration from others, rather than valuing them for who they are. ”
575. “No other being is lesser human than the one who thinks of others as such. ” ― Abhijit Naskar
576. “Family is supposed to be our safest haven. Very often, it’s the place we find the deepest heartache. ” — Lyanla Vansant
577. “The most confusing thing about a narcissist is that they really don’t understand why you’re leaving. They will make promises, give gifts and do whatever it takes to keep their victim from walking away, even though that was the initial plan all along.”
578. “This is called crazy making, and it is what narcissists do. They push to provoke bad feelings, and when they do and their victim reacts, they feel better. Somehow they transfer their state of mind onto their victims. ” ― Diana Macey
579. “A toxic narcissist will crave constant praise.”
580. “Somehow I believed it was my obligation to try to do the right thing by her because she had given birth to me. ” ― D. G. Kaye
581. “Nobody plays the parental alienation card quicker than the abusive parent who’s lost control over the survivor’s mind.”- E.S
582. “I am a recovering narcissist. I thought narcissism was about self-love till someone told me there is a flip side to it. It is actually drearier than self-love; it is unrequited self-love.” ~ Emily Levine
583. “An unpredictable parent is a fearsome god in the eyes of a child. ” ― Susan Forward
584. “I don’t care what you think unless it is about me.” ― Kurt Cobain, lead singer of Nirvana
585. “It made me feel responsible, as well as the usual ‘everything we do is for you. ’ I felt bad they had to work so hard to buy food and clothes for me, and I felt I had to justify my existence and repay them somehow. ” ― Diana Macey
586. “The hateful and stinging words of a narcissistic parent can linger in the mind of an adult child long after the adult has left home.”
587. “Gaslighting is mind control to make victims doubt their reality.” ~ Tracy A. Malone
588. “If people are not laughing at your goals, your goals are too small. ”
589. “You can always leave your childhood trauma and your abusive mom or dad behind. Never be a victim.” – Unknown
590. “You can teach a narcissist to show up on time, but you can’t train them to listen once they get there.” ~ Dr. Ramani Durvasula
591. “Anyone can have a child and call themselves a parent. A real parent is someone who puts that child above their own selfish needs and wants.”
592. “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
593. “You have the right to put up a fence between you and your family, and the choice whether to include a gate.” – Unknown
594. “Keep in mind, there was probably a time when you loved your ex. And even if you can’t stand the sight of them now, your child never fell out of love. And they never will.”
595. “Sadly, most toxic mothers don’t even know that the unhealthy behavior they display to their children is toxic in the first place. ” — Samuel Zulu
596. “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.” — Dr. Ramani Durvasula
597. “Narcissists, however, are similar to a spider that has built a web for its prey to bring itself. ” ― Mwanandeke Kindembo
598. “Narcissists are mostly ignorant.”
599. “Because of the absence of connection and bonding between mother and kid, being surrounded by toxic mothers can be one of the most lonely times in a child's life.” – Unknown
600. “Give more time and thought to your child's happiness than your petty insecurities and jealousies to make life for your whole family a much more joyful experience.” – Unknown
601. “Abusive parents often blame their children for their abusive and immature behavior as a way of covering their tracks so that they don’t look bad.”- Unknown
602. “There may be no ‘I’ in ‘team’ but there are three in ‘narcissist!'” — Anonymous
603. “Narcissists are like parasitic bugs that leech onto you and essentially suck the life out of you, then when you are no longer useful, they discard you.” – Silvi Saxena, MBA, MSW, LSW, CCTP, OSW-C
604. “Love without sacrifice is like theft.” ~ Nassim Nicholas Taleb
605. “Narcissism is not about self-love. It’s a clinical trait that belies a deep sense of emptiness, low self-esteem, emotional detachment, self-loathing, extreme problems with intimacy. ” — Drew Pinsky
606. “The toxic parent sees the child as a threat to their own ego and having the child overshadow the parent is not an option in their mind.” – Shannon Thomas
607. “Silent treatment cannot be argued with. It’s based on emotions and not on logic. The line of communication is cut off, and it means the existence of the child can be reduced to nothing. ” ― Diana Macey
608. “Most narcissistic mothers see motherhood as a burden and like to let it be known how much work it is. ” — Michelle Piper
609. “Parents are the ones who are least inclined to pardon their kids for the shortcomings they instilled in them.” – Unknown
610. “It is the selfish parents who are to blame. Pay attention, be involved in your children’s lives. They are your legacy, your only hope.” — Aaron B. Powell
611. “Sympathy and empathy are not something that narcissists have in their books.”
612. “A true parent prioritizes their children's needs and wants over their own.” – Unknown
613. “Half the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important. . . They justify it because they are absorbed in the endless struggle to think well of themselves. ” — T. S. Eliot
614. “When 99% of people doubt your idea, you’re either gravely wrong or about to make history. ”
615. “Narcissism is voluntary blindness, an agreement not to look beneath the surface. ” — Sam Keen
616. “Because of the absence of connection and bonding between mother and kid, being surrounded by toxic mothers can be one of the most lonely times in a child's life.”
617. “Hate is the complement of fear, and narcissists like being feared. It imbues them with an intoxicating sensation of omnipotence. ” ― Sam Vaknin
618. “I was trapped in an awful spiral of insecure narcissism. ” ― Amy Poehler
619. “The only crime is pride. ” ― Sophocles
620. “Denial is the lid on our emotional pressure cooker: the longer we leave it on, the more pressure we build up. Sooner or later, that pressure is bound to pop the lid, and we have an emotional crisis. ” ― Susan Forward
621. “Narcissistic parents view their children as objects to be controlled, rather than individuals with their own thoughts and feelings. ” – Ramani Durvasula
622. “The absent are never without fault, nor the present without excuse.” – Benjamin Franklin
623. “A year from now you may wish you had started today. ”
624. “The emotional rollercoaster of a narcissistic mother’s behavior can leave her children feeling confused and unsure of what to expect. ”
625. “Your parents may be toxic but you need to love and respect them as your biological parents who had just the right gene combination to have you.”
626. “I am a recovering narcissist. I thought narcissism was about self-love till someone told me there is a flip side to it. It is actually drearier than self-love; it is unrequited self-love. ” — Emily Levine
627. “Yes, Eleanor loathed herself and yet required praise, which she then never believed.” ~ Hanif Kureishi
628. “The biggest impediment to loving life is our inflated egos. Only by suppressing our ego and controlling our selfish thoughts can we truly comprehend the immaculate beauty of every day unfolding before us.” ~ Kilroy J. Oldster
629. “Parents forgive their children least readily for the faults they themselves instilled in them.”
630. “White feminist narcissism has no truck with the idea that we are anything but victims.” ~ Alison Phipps
631. “Daughters of narcissistic mothers absorb the message “I am valued for what I do, rather than for who I am. ” ― Karyl McBride
632. “Statistics show that a narcissistic mother has a 98% chance of raising a narcissistic son. As a result, he will lie, cheat, steal, & in some cases, kill. ” ― Mitta Xinindlu
633. “Too bad for any parent who has become accustomed to ruling by force, because at some point the kids just get too big to slap around. ” – Barbara Ehrenreich
634. “Love without sacrifice is like theft. ” ― Nassim Nicholas Taleb
635. “What would you do if you weren’t afraid?”
636. “Fighting became a way of life and seemed perfectly normal for your family. ”– Steven Farmer
637. “My father never did any of the things that my friends’ fathers did with them. We never tossed a football around or even watched games together. He would always say, ‘I don’t have time—maybe later,; but he always had time to sit around and get drunk.”- Dr. Susan Forward
638. “Half the pain in human life comes from gazing in mirrors. ” ― Marty Rubin
639. “Americans are experiencing an epidemic in narcissistic behavior in a culture that is intrinsically self-conscious and selfish, and citizens are encouraged to pursue happiness and instant gratification of their personal desires. ” ― Kilroy J. Oldster
640. “Narcissistic parents will try to hurt you any way they can emotionally. Be aware that if they can’t get to you directly, they will try to hurt you through your children. ” — Tina Fuller
641. “You may feel guilty for leaving your family behind, but you'll never regret moving yourself forward.” – Unknown
642. “We can only speculate why, but physically abusive parents seem to share certain characteristics. First, they have an appalling lack of impulse control.”- Dr. Susan Forward
643. “A narcissist’s criticism is their autobiography.” ~ M. Wakefield
644. “Narcissistic mothers often use guilt and shame to manipulate their children, making it difficult for them to set healthy boundaries. ” – Lindsay C. Gibson
645. “Narcissists are emotional porcupines, watch out for the quills!” ~ Tracy A. Malone
646. “The only crime is pride.” ~ Sophocles
647. “Love is intermittent reinforcement with spouses and children alike. The child is love-bombed when the narcissist feels the child reflects their false self. The moment the child fails to do so, the narcissistic parent blithely discards them. ” ― M. Wakefield
648. “The spirit of arrogance most definitely makes you shine. It paints a bright red target on your own forehead. ” ― Criss Jami
649. “If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things. ”
650. “Being a selfish parent is the biggest crime you can do to your child.”
651. “Relationships with narcissists are held in place by hope of a ‘someday better,’ with little evidence to support it will ever arrive. ” — Dr. Ramani Durvasula
652. “Narcissism is, indeed, the new world order.” ~ Ramani Durvasula
653. “There are only two days in the year that nothing can be done. One is called Yesterday and the other is called Tomorrow. Today is the right day to Love, Believe, Do and mostly Live. ”
654. “When narcissists behave in an exhibitionistic manner, they are seeking the same sort of admiration as toddlers, and for the same reasons. They want attention. Some examples include inappropriate dress, talking too loudly, or gesturing in expansive and space-intruding ways.” ~ Mark Ettensohn
655. “Narcissistic personality disorder is the only mental condition where the patient is left alone but everyone else needs treatment.” — Anonymous
656. “Ego is borne of the need to ‘prove’ oneself instead of making the choice to ‘be’ oneself.” ― Craig D. Lounsbrough
657. “Stop letting people who do so little for you control so much of your mind, feelings and emotions. ”
658. “When I look at narcissism through the vulnerability lens, I see the shame-based fear of being ordinary. I see the fear of never feeling extraordinary enough to be noticed, to be lovable, to belong, or to cultivate a sense of purpose.”
659. “Narcissus weeps to find that his Image does not return his love.” ~ Mason Cooley
660. “Some people play victims of crimes they committed.” – Unknown
661. “Narcissists don’t see their children as separate people that have a right to experience life from their own angle. There is no option in their heads in which the kids will be in charge of their own lives ‘unaided’ by the narcissist.”
662. “The activity you’re most avoiding contains your biggest opportunity. ”
663. “A narcissist will coordinate their entire life around belittling and berating you while they build an idealized version of themselves in your head. They want to make sure that when everyone else sees them, they see the best possible version of a person.”
664. “If you want to go from being adored to devalued in the blink of an eye, simply insult the narcissist.” – Tigress Luv
665. “A man who loves others based solely on how they make him feel, or what they do for him, is really not loving others at all — but loving only himself. ” — Criss Jami
666. “Narcissism is, indeed, the new world order. ” ― Dr. Ramani Durvasula
667. “Wounded parents often unintentionally inflict pain and suffering on their children …”
668. “I loved myself and since I loved me, I loved him because I realized he was good for me. A type of self worth, a type of narcissistic love. ” ― Dominic Riccitello
669. “Let’s get out of the habit of telling people, ‘that’s still your mom, your dad, or your sister. ’ Toxic is toxic. You are allowed to walk away from people who constantly hurt you. ” — Bynnada
670. “We are to give (and take) true love without falling into the narcissistic habit of only trying to take it in. ” ― Criss Jami
671. “Apparently, my parents were not worried about me being sick because they did not suggest any such thing. My sickness was nothing but a failure of character. ” ― Diana Macey
672. “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone. ”
673. “And we need to know what it is to be human if we are to avoid becoming narcissists. ” ― Alexander Lowen
674. “It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop. ”
675. “For the most part people are not curious except about themselves. ” ― John Steinbeck
676. “I have always been suspicious of romantic love. It looks too much like a narcissism shared by two.” – Rita Mae Brown
677. “A narcissist man will show his love based on what you do for them.”
678. “Work hard in silence, let your success be your noise. ”
679. “The ultimate obscenity is not caring, not doing something about what you feel, not feeling! Just drawing back and drawing in, becoming narcissistic.” ~ Rod Serling
680. “Being in a family where you were neglected sucks but that shouldn’t define you.”
681. “Narcissistic parents demand loyalty and devotion from their children, often at the expense of their children’s own needs and desires. ” – Julie L. Hall
682. “Just stick with it. What seems so hard now will one day be your warm up. ”
683. “Narcissistic mothers will often pit their children against each other, causing ongoing strife and tension within the family. ”
684. “Narcissism and self-deception are survival mechanisms without which many of us might just jump off a bridge.” – Todd Solondz
685. “Without communication, there is no relationship. Without respect, there is no love. Without trust, there is no reason to continue.” – Unknown
686. “The lack of emotional support from a narcissistic mother can make it difficult for her children to form healthy relationships and attachments later in life. ”
687. “For someone as amazing as you, attention is like food, and you’re always hungry. ” ― Seth McDonough
688. “When a father, absent during the day, returns home at six, his children receive only his temperament, not his teaching. ” — Robert Bly
689. “Some scars don’t hurt. Some scars are numb. Some scars rid you of the capacity to feel anything ever again. ” — Joyce Rachelle
690. “Narcissist parents don’t care about their children’s feelings at all. Only their feelings matter.”- Kim Saeed
691. “Give more time and thought to your child's happiness than your petty insecurities and jealousies to make life for your whole family a much more joyful experience.”
692. “To all you parents out there, don’t make your little girls, or little boys, so thirsty for love that they will want to drink water that will poison them.” – Lisa Bedrick
693. “Don’t set yourself on fire to keep someone else warm.” — Anonymous
694. “If you accept the expectations of others, especially negative ones, then you never will change the outcome.”
695. “Toxic amnesia is a useful way of life which narcissists follow.”
696. “Anyone can claim to be a “parent” if they have a child. A true parent prioritizes their child's needs and desires before their own.” – Unknown
697. “The children of self-absorbed parents, who experience these behaviors and attitudes from birth, are not allowed to become separate and distinct individuals in their own right, and may find that this affects their adult lives in often negative ways. ” – Nina W. Brown
698. “A greedy father has thieves for children.”
699. “If you want to go from being adored to devalued in the blink of an eye, simply insult the narcissist. ” — Tigress Luv
700. “How many narcissists does it take to screw in a lightbulb? None, they don’t use lightbulbs, they use gaslighting!” ~ Anonymous
701. “Toxic mothers always remain the strangest, craziest people we’ve ever met. ” — Marguerite Duras
702. “Dysfunctional parents do not apologize. It is one feature that the children of narcissists would instantly agree on. They will lie and justify themselves, but never accept they did anything wrong.”
703. “Narcissists refuse to accept custody of the kid.”
704. “Nobody can be kinder than the narcissist while you react to life on his terms. ” — Elizabeth Bowen
705. “Anyone can have a child and call themselves a parent. A real parent is someone who puts that child above their own selfish needs and wants.” – Unknown
706. “I don’t count my sit-ups. I only start counting when it starts hurting. When I feel pain, that’s when I start counting, because that’s when it really counts. ”
707. “A toxic narcissistic mother will use guilt and shame to control her child, making it difficult for them to establish healthy boundaries.”
708. “Parent-child relationships aren't created at birth, they're created in life.” – Unknown
709. “Sometimes you need to give up on people, not because you don’t care but because they don’t. ” — unknown
710. “Pathological narcissists can lose touch with reality in subtle ways that become extremely dangerous over time. When they can’t let go of their need to be admired or recognized, they have to bend or invent a reality in which they remain special despite all messages to the contrary.” ~ Bandy X Lee
711. “Toxic moms are immature emotionally, which is why they behave the way they do. So, don’t mind their toxic behavior and concentrate on living your best life and don’t let their drama affect the quality of your livelihood. ” — unknown
712. “They are not sorry for harming you. So, don't feel guilty for cutting them off.”
713. “They are not sorry for harming you. So, don’t feel guilty for cutting them off.” – John Mark Green
714. “Narcissistic love is riding on the rollercoaster of disaster filled with a heart full of tears.”~ Sheree Griffin
715. “Children of narcissists learn that love is abuse. The narcissist teaches them that if someone displeases you, it is okay to harm them and call it love. ” — M. Wakefield
716. “An unpredictable parent is a fearsome god in the eyes of a child.”- Susan Forward
717. “Narcissism falls along the axis of what psychologists call personality disorders…but by most measures, narcissism is one of the worst, if only because the narcissists themselves are so clueless.” – Jeffrey Kluger
718. “Narcissist try to convince you that in world no one other cares for your except him/her. The abuser may manipulate you to feel unlovable and not worthy resulting into cutting ties with friends and family.” ~ Invajy
719. “You give up your narcissism, your egotism. That’s how you achieve chemistry.” ~ Nick Nolte
720. “You shouldn’t do that. Not to your child. You should carry your own burdens.” Cassandra Clare
721. “An abuser's psychological diagnosis isn't the problem. Their sense of entitlement is. ” ― Caroline Abbott
722. “No matter how socially skilled an extreme narcissist is, he has a major attachment dysfunction. The extreme narcissist is frozen in childhood.” ~ Samuel Lopez de Victoria
723. “Self love: Being content with the work-in-progress you are. Not seeking approval from others. Being yourself. Comparing yourself only to who you were in the past, not to others. Not thinking you are better than anyone else. Narcissism: None of the above.” — Zero Dean, author and life coach
724. “People, no matter the economic class, find ways to feed their narcissism.” – Lynne Tillman
725. “Today i will do what others won't so tomorrow i can do what others can’t. ”
726. “I already know what giving up feels like. I want to see what happens if I don’t. ”
727. “Two things define you: Your patience when you have nothing and your attitude when you have everything. ”
728. “They should love you, just as you are. Parents should love their kids, right?” “You’d think so.” ― N.R. Walker
729. “Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live.” – Unknown
730. “An abuser’s psychological diagnosis isn’t the problem. Their sense of entitlement is.” ~ Caroline Abbott
731. “Even though friends say they are interested in your life, they never really want to talk about you as much as you want them to. ” ― Charise Mericle Harper
732. “The lion is most handsome when looking for food.” ~ Rumi
733. “The damage done by a toxic narcissistic mother is not just emotional, it can also be physical and long-lasting.”
734. “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard. ”
735. “A narcissistic parent will provoke an independent child to anger in order to feel superior and prove the child’s flaws.”- Shannon Thomas
736. “Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do. ”
737. “Just because your mother gave birth to you doesn’t mean they are capable of caring for you. Just because a woman had a child doesn’t necessarily equate to being safe, respectful, or healthy. NOT ALL MOTHERS CAN LOVE. ” ― Dana Arcuri
738. “In the academic literature, making children responsible for the emotional well-being of the parents was referred to as emotional incest. It is a heavy burden for young children because they do not even know how to look after their own emotions yet. ” ― Diana Macey
739. “Growing up with a narcissistic mother can make it difficult to establish boundaries in other relationships, as you are used to having none with her. ”
740. “A child should never feel as if they need to earn a mother’s love. ” — Sherrie Campbell
741. “Money has always been the primary language of power.”- Susan Forward
742. “Controlling parents will always assume their children are their property they can possess.” – Unknown
743. “You might as well bang your head into a brick wall if you expect the narcissist to be reasonable, empathetic or human in any way. If you sense or witness any of these traits, there is an ulterior motive. When the narcissist is being nice, it’s because they have something to gain. ” — Tina Swithin
744. “How man narcissists does it take to screw in a light bulb? None, they don’t use light bulbs , they use gaslighting!”
745. “Narcissistic mothers will often try to undermine their children’s accomplishments, making it difficult for them to feel proud of their achievements. ”
746. “A narcissistic mother sees her child not as a unique individual, but as an extension of herself. ” – Karyl McBride
747. “You consider yourself your most fascinating subject.” ~ Britt Bennett
748. “Good parenting gives headaches, but bad parenting gives heartaches. ” — Shiv Khera
749. “We are to give (and take) true love without falling into the narcissistic habit of only trying to take it in.” ~ Criss Jami
750. “It has been my observation that parents kill more dreams than anybody.”
751. “Parents are destined to sin against their kids; it’s inevitable. As is narcissism and the human condition. Everyone has their ego and their ambitions. Life happens in between. ” — Alice Ripley
752. “At the end of the day, the most overwhelming key to child’s success is the positive involvement of the parents.” – Jane D. Hull
753. “I hated every minute of training, but I said, “Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion. ””
754. “N