Thomas Avant > Quotes

“My hope is that I have been able to break the familial curse of narcissism. One thing I know to be true about myself is that I do care about the plight of others, and I feel a strong sense within to fight against injustice and to support those who struggle and are belittled, marginalized, and oppressed by others. If you are not angered by the abuse and manipulation of others, something is definitely wrong psychologically.”
― Thomas Avant, Damaged People: Narcissism and the Foundation of a Dysfunctional American Society

“It’s quite simple for people to cling to religious teachings in their local church as a means of understanding a vast world, but it can limit the critical and analytical thinking we all need to truly understand people, history, sociology, psychology, and all the subjects necessary for a well-rounded education. Many are completely unwilling to read anything other than religious texts. It seems the culture of many conservative Christian communities can encourage people to move further and further into a self-righteous bubble.”
― Thomas Avant, Damaged People: Narcissism and the Foundation of a Dysfunctional American Society

“Religious fanaticism is one of the greatest dangers we face. More wars have been fought in the name of god than for any other reason in history. Religion and scripture, used as a tool by damaged people, is the single greatest manipulator in our history, and, when used as a weapon, can destroy a healthy democracy.”
― Thomas Avant, Damaged People: Narcissism and the Foundation of a Dysfunctional American Society

“When you’ve experienced struggle, pain, and suffering, you are better able to empathize with others. This, in itself, may be why so many white Americans, as a privileged class, are unable to empathize with the struggle of minorities. Many white Americans have never experienced a similar and profound struggle. This may explain it, but it’s still unacceptable. Knowledge and truth are the key to unlocking the empathy that lies within themselves. The context in which I grew up shaped me”
― Thomas Avant, Damaged People: Narcissism and the Foundation of a Dysfunctional American Society

“In the afterword to Christopher Lasch’s 1979 book, The Culture of Narcissism: American Life in an Age of Diminishing Expectations (page 248), he writes, “The best defenses against the terrors of existence are the homely comforts of love, work, and family life, which connect us to a world that is independent of our wishes yet responsive to our needs.”
― Thomas Avant, Damaged People: Narcissism and the Foundation of a Dysfunctional American Society

“If we are to become a productive society, we must begin to address the critical issues—healthcare for all as a right, environmental stewardship, income equality, social welfare programs, racial equality, criminal justice reform, workers’ rights, money in politics, etc.—to provide a healthy and meaningful life for all in this country. When”
― Thomas Avant, Damaged People: Narcissism and the Foundation of a Dysfunctional American Society

“Silence is complicity and white America’s silence on the issue of racial injustice condones and perpetuates the cycle of inequality. We all have a moral duty to defend all people in the face of marginalization. We should all be outraged, whether affected or unaffected, when we see”
― Thomas Avant, Damaged People: Narcissism and the Foundation of a Dysfunctional American Society

“Toxic families create a narrative and it doesn’t matter whether you’re telling the truth—if it doesn’t fit the narrative, you don’t have a voice.”
― Thomas Avant, Damaged People: Narcissism and the Foundation of a Dysfunctional American Society

“They struggle under the direction and leadership of the rich white man, and yet they continue to vote for them. The only logical explanation I can find for this ignorant behavior is that they vote based on false pride in their whiteness. They are damaged by their desire to belong to the social group in which they’ve always comfortably resided. They desire to be valued and accepted by family and peers. They fear ostracization by those in their social networks. They are also damaged by their narcissistic desire to be better, in some way, than another group of people.”
― Thomas Avant, Damaged People: Narcissism and the Foundation of a Dysfunctional American Society

“This is also a direct indicator of the marriage between capitalism and Christianity. No principle could be more antithetical to Jesus’ message than capitalism run afoul. Unfettered, unregulated capitalism lends itself to the accumulation of massive amounts of money by a small number of people, who also—in this country—have the ability to use that wealth to dictate public policy for the rest of us.”
― Thomas Avant, Damaged People: Narcissism and the Foundation of a Dysfunctional American Society

“vote against their own self-interests and have for many years, primarily based on their own racism and the false notion that what benefits the wealthy also benefits themselves. They refuse to acknowledge the commonalities they share with individuals of all races.”
― Thomas Avant, Damaged People: Narcissism and the Foundation of a Dysfunctional American Society

“The lesson: if you must suspend your logic and intuition to believe someone, you’re probably being lied”
― Thomas Avant, Damaged People: Narcissism and the Foundation of a Dysfunctional American Society

“Racism is a product of damaged people, who seek to elevate their status at the expense of another group. Many choose not to speak out against racism because they feel the stakes are too high,”
― Thomas Avant, Damaged People: Narcissism and the Foundation of a Dysfunctional American Society

“For centuries in America, white society has attempted to convince poor, working-class white citizens that they are better than their minority counterparts, solely based on their whiteness. The political aristocracy has pitted the two groups against each other to serve its own self-interest. This strategy of divide and conquer has allowed detrimental public policy to flourish for decades, at the expense of the vast majority of American citizens of all socioeconomic backgrounds.”
― Thomas Avant, Damaged People: Narcissism and the Foundation of a Dysfunctional American Society

“The lesson: if you must suspend your logic and intuition to believe someone, you’re probably being lied to.”
― Thomas Avant, Damaged People: Narcissism and the Foundation of a Dysfunctional American Society

“The greatest danger to a democracy is an uninformed electorate, where legislators bow to the demands of the ignorant majority instead of governing based on the best interests of greater society. If poor whites began voting based on their actual needs and banded together with their fellow citizens of color, the ruling class would be forced to start serving the will of the people. However, as long as the white majority—damaged by ignorance and collective narcissism—continues to vote along lines of racial identity, we all suffer. Thus, throughout American history up to the”
― Thomas Avant, Damaged People: Narcissism and the Foundation of a Dysfunctional American Society