Toxic Quotes

“Some people are in such utter darkness that they will burn you just to see a light. Try not to take it personally.”
― Kamand Kojouri

“Children who are not encouraged to do, to try, to explore, to master, and to risk failure, often feel helpless and inadequate. Over-controlled by anxious, fearful parents, these children often become anxious and fearful themselves. This makes it difficult for them to mature. Many never outgrow the need for ongoing parental guidance and control. As a result, their parents continue to invade, manipulate, and frequently dominate their lives.”
― Susan Forward, Toxic Parents: Overcoming Their Hurtful Legacy and Reclaiming Your Life

“What people don't understand about depression is how much it hurts. It's like your brain is convinced that it's dying and produces an acid that eats away at you from the inside, until all that's less is a scary hollowness. Your mind fills with dark thoughts; you become convinced that your friends secretly hate you, you're worthless, and then there's no hope. I never got so low as to consider ending it all, but I understand how that can happen to some people. Depression simply hurts too much.”
― Tyler Hamilton

“It was the tone of a woman who wrapped needles in silk.”
― D.L. Maddox, The Dog Walker: The Prequel

“MISERABLE

Release the toxic and infectious-
Spreaders of misery,
Souls destroying souls-
And poisonous liars.

Awaken from the hallucinations-
And take back your heart.
Reclaim your self-esteem-
And leave the toxic be.”
― Giorge Leedy, Uninhibited From Lust To Love

“Even if toxic people are right about what is "good," they are wrong if the approach is not healthy.”
― John L. Lund, How to Hug a Porcupine: Dealing With Toxic & Difficult to Love Personalities

“Negative people can only infest you with discouragements when they find you around... Just get lost and get saved!”
― Israelmore Ayivor, The Great Hand Book of Quotes

“Shame is internalized when one is abandoned. Abandonment is the precise term to describe how one loses one’s authentic self and ceases to exist psychologically.”
― John Bradshaw, Healing the Shame that Binds You

“I seem to be torn between 'I wish we'd met earlier' and 'I wish we'd never met'.”
― Ahmed Mostafa

“Speak with caution. Even if someone forgives harsh words you've spoken, they may be too hurt to ever forget them. Don't leave a legacy of pain and regret of things you never should have said.”
― Germany Kent

“I may seem happy, but I’m still hurting. A nasty, adulterous divorce will do that.”
― Cricket Rohman, Wanted: An Honest Man

“Resistance is the most toxic force on the planet.”
― Steven Pressfield, The War of Art

“If you want to bring the world closer to peace, be a peacemaker by creating peace whenever you can. If you find yourself engaged in an argument that only stirs anger in the heart, quickly make peace and carry on.”
― Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem

“It was in those moments that I became one of them, one of the leavers. I'm leaving and I'm never coming back, I thought. It felt powerful. I finally felt in control. Is this how it felt to all the others. the leavers, the takers, the breakers? I became what they were. I could disappear. -The Art of Leaving”
― Shilo Niziolek, Broad River Review

“She is INSANE," I scream, standing in the middle of Marshall's living room.
"Of course, she's insane. That would be your genealogy by the way.”
― Addison Moore, Toxic Part One

“There are two covenants that cease to exist in the Master's Kingdom - death and marriage."
"What an appropriate pairing," I muse.
"He thought so.”
― Addison Moore, Toxic Part One

“Bear in mind that since medications do not fix anything, they allow the underlying problem to continue uncorrected and actually accelerate. Meanwhile, new symptoms and new seemingly unrelated diseases are the inevitable consequence of this biochemical faux pas. Furthermore, drug side effects are the leading cause of death. NSAIDs as an example of only one group of medications, are fatally toxic to thousands of people each year by damaging joints, lungs, kidneys, eyes, hearts, and intestines. And they are covered by insurance.

You and your doctor have been screwed into believing every symptom is a deficiency of some drug or surgery. You've been led to believe you have no control, when in truth you're the one who must take control. Unfortunately, the modus operandi in medicine is to find a drug to turn off the damaged part that is producing symptoms.”
― Sherry A. Rogers, Detoxify or Die

“Right. Like I'm going to lose my freaking mind and hop right down the demonic bunny trail with Marshall so he can paw me every chance he gets.”
― Addison Moore, Toxic Part One

“We could call him Gynecological Gage or Assman - AssHOLE - take your pick.”
― Addison Moore, Toxic Part One

“Eat my food or die."
"If I eat your food I WILL die." He belches before reaching in the fridge for a soda. "Yeah, whatever. Gimme something to commit a slow suicide with.”
― Addison Moore, Toxic Part One

“The only thing that frightens me, Chloe, is that you keep lessening the six degrees of separation in our lives.”
― Addison Moore, Toxic Part One

“Y'all got your heads tucked so far up your rears, she's petrified the kid's gonna need a shrink before he can shit in a dish.”
― Addison Moore, Toxic Part One

“Sometimes I still think of you. It’s usually when the night’s chilly and nostalgia sets in. We remember moments to create bittersweet realities of past adventures which weren’t so. It wasn’t nice, it wasn’t fun, it was anxiety ridden and my mind created false memories to help sole the situation. It doesn’t help, it hurts, and that’s the reality you must remember when your mind gets the best of you.”
― Dominic Riccitello

“The Rights and Rungs of Esteem
by Stewart Stafford

Shall I tell you of a man I once called friend?
In retrospect, it amazes me that I did,
He was uniquely his own flawed self,
To my perplexity, I sometimes miss him.

His reflection always gave him pause,
Incessantly fanning the flames of flattery.
His plotting would run Machiavelli ragged,
Yet always served those he answered to.

I once saw him trip a commoner beneath
a passing horse without breaking stride.
He recalled it fondly in jest with a toast—
Dubbing it his “charity to a gaping ape.”

Scandalous, vandalous, vainglorious —
Preening astride his high steed,
Prison saw him pantomime humility;
He emerged, resumed, then expired.

© 2026 Stewart Stafford, All rights reserved.”
― Stewart Stafford

“You wallow in abusive relationships because that’s all you have in that moment. You need something darker to bring you to truth.”
― Dominic Riccitello

“I drank because it was lovely and I needed a calm to understand the reality.”
― Dominic Riccitello

“Toxicity is my fuel. Break me and you can take me.”
― Dominic Riccitello

“The Heartbreak of Abandoning Yourself

For a very long time, I was an accomplice to my own abuse. There is a particular kind of heartbreak that comes when someone treats you poorly. But there is an even deeper heartbreak… the kind that hurts the soul… that comes when you realize how long you helped them do it.

I saw things I pretended not to see. I justified things I knew were wrong. I accepted apologies that weren’t backed by change. I tore down my own boundaries and explained away malignant behaviors because losing them seemed more painful than losing pieces of yourself.

I gave way too many chances. I’ve since learned that when you give too many chances, you become a bullseye.

I was hurting, deeply, not just because they weren’t loving me properly… but it was because somewhere along the way, I stopped loving myself properly too.

Don’t let your history interfere with your destiny. Remember, while this realization can be devastating, it can also be the beginning of something beautiful… A standard of self-love you won’t compromise on. A life-changing choice that can set you on your happiest and healthiest path.

If you have ever been in this situation, I hope you come to that realization. As for me, NEVER AGAIN will being in a relationship with someone require me to stop loving myself.”
― Steve Maraboli

“We were riding fast, I got lost in the thought that this couldn’t end. Good things end. Bad things we reminisce.”
― Dominic Riccitello

“A darkness is something I admire. The beauty to experience an evil.”
― Dominic Riccitello