Gaslight Quotes

“invalidation is crazy-making, and it is also at the root of gaslighting, where victims' feelings are purposely denied or manipulated in order to make them question their sanity.”
― Samantha Rodman, How to Talk to Your Kids about Your Divorce: Healthy, Effective Communication Techniques for Your Changing Family

“Gaslighting is an attempt to change the truth.”
― Tracy Malone

“Gaslighting is implanted narratives cloaked in secrecy.”
― Tracy Malone

“Breakfast alone by gaslight is about as ghastly as champagne in daylight.”
― Jessie Douglas Kerruish, The Undying Monster: A Tale of the Fifth Dimension

“This term is used in the 1944 Ingrid Bergman film Gaslight, in which a husband purposefully drives his wife insane by flickering lights, making noises in the attic, and then claiming the very real experience was all in her head.”
― Samantha Rodman, How to Talk to Your Kids about Your Divorce: Healthy, Effective Communication Techniques for Your Changing Family

“I want to know why you don’t like me, Malloy. I like you, even if you do hit people.”
He sighed. “I never said I didn’t like you, Mrs. Brandt.”
Reasonable again. She wanted to smack him. “And why don’t you ever call me Sarah? You think I’m beautiful, but you never call me Sarah.”
He muttered something she didn’t understand.
“You do think I’m beautiful,” she insisted. “You said so!”
“Yes, I do,” he said grudgingly. “And I do like you, Sarah. Now let’s talk about something else, because you’re going to be very embarrassed if you remember any of this conversation tomorrow.”
― Victoria Thompson, Murder on Washington Square

“There’s nothing you could do to me that hasn’t already been done. Life already broke my heart.”
― Dannika Dark, Gaslight

“You're a grown man now, Nathan. I'm sorry for any problems you have, but part of being an adult is to stop blaming your parents for whatever shortcomings you have. That's pretty basic.”
― Noah Van Sciver, The Lizard Laughed

“Did you take a vow of poverty or something?"
"This is a housedress, Malloy," she said, indignant again. "I was cleaning when you came. I gave my other clothes away because I got some new ones. From my mother."
"Did your mother take a vow of poverty?”
― Victoria Thompson, Murder on Mulberry Bend

“And I still want to know why you hit that man in front of me. You wanted me to see it, didn’t you?”
“Why would I want you to see it?”
Sarah was getting very annoyed with him. He usually wasn’t this dense. “Because you wanted me to think badly of you, and I demand to know why!”
“You do, do you?” he said in a very odd tone.
“Yes, I do, and I’m not getting out of this cab until you tell me!”
“I don’t want to tell you.”
“Then what do you want?”
She knew he was looking at her, although she doubted he could see very much in the darkness. “I want to show you,” he said.”
― Victoria Thompson, Murder on Washington Square

“Was that all it took?"
"What?" she asked, completely bewildered.
"To shut you up," he clarified with a definite grin this time. "All it took was agreeing with you."
She glared at him. "If you'd ever tried agreeing with me before, you'd have known that," she snapped.
"I had to wait until you were right about something," he replied, then hurried to open the door before she could smack him, which she dearly wanted to do.”
― Victoria Thompson, Murder on Waverly Place

“PSA: If you decide to label a behavior as gaslighting on social or in real-time, be sure you are correct. Because if you are not, you’d be the one gaslighting.”
― Richie Norton

“Dogs cocked their legs on anything perpendicular, carriages clopped and growled along the cobblestones, and all with the prevailing aroma of rancid fish quietly melding the confusion together...”
― Martin R Jackson : Running with Finn McCool

“Rather than falling into the trap of wanting an explanation or validation from the gaslighter, turn to self-validation. When you reaffirm the reality of the abuse you’ve experienced, you’ll get one step closer to healing from the narcissist. Anchor yourself in what happened and don’t let anyone rewrite reality for you.”
― Gary Thomas

“Remember: As long as there's any part of yourself that believes you need your gaslighter to feel better about yourself, to boost your confidence, or to bolster your sense of who you are in the world, you'll be leaving yourself open for gaslighting.”
― Robin Stern, The Gaslight Effect: How to Spot and Survive the Hidden Manipulation Others Use to Control Your Life