Zeina Mansour

“When you notice someone does something toxic the first time, don't wait for the second time before you address it or cut them off.

Many survivors are used to the "wait and see" tactic which only leaves them vulnerable to a second attack. As your boundaries get stronger, the wait time gets shorter. You never have justify your intuition.”
― Shahida Arabi

“أنا رجل لي نزوات الشياطين ولي ابتهالات القديسين، أحيانا في التراب أتمرغ، وأحيانا في السماء أحلق”
― محمد زكي عبد القادر, على حافة الخطيئة

“هل من الصواب أن أترك شيئا في الحياة، وفي استطاعتي أن أجربه دون تجربة .. لقد وجدنا في الحياة لكي نعيشها بالطول والعرض، بالسطح والعمق، بما فيها من تفاهات وأمجاد، بما فيها من جد وهزل، ونحن نعيش مرة واحدة”
― محمد زكي عبد القادر, على حافة الخطيئة

“The fact of the matter is, if you haven’t been in an abusive relationship, you don’t really know what the experience is like. Furthermore, it’s quite hard to predict what you would do in the same situation. I find that the people most vocal about what they would’ve done in the same situation often have no clue what they are talking about – they have never been in the same situation themselves.
By invalidating the survivor’s experience, these people are defending an image of themselves that they identify with strength, not realizing that abuse survivors are often the strongest individuals out there. They’ve been belittled, criticized, demeaned, devalued, and yet they’ve still survived. The judgmental ones often have little to no life experience regarding these situations, yet they feel quite comfortable silencing the voices of people who’ve actually been there.”
― Shahida Arabi, Becoming the Narcissist’s Nightmare: How to Devalue and Discard the Narcissist While Supplying Yourself