Throughout life we sometimes encounter people who are very negative. Who try to drag us down or all too often criticize our goals and dreams.
It could be at work, in school or as we take up a new hobby or sport.
But sometimes it can be in your family. Closer to you. Harder to spend less time with or avoid than, for example, someone at work.
So in today’s post I’d like to share 80 of the the most powerful toxic family quotes.
To help you to recognize toxic family members or someone in your immediate surroundings, help you break out of the influence that person has had over you and to start living a freer, happier and healthier life today.
And if you want even more helpful inspiration and motivation then check out this post with you are amazing quotes and this one filled with quotes on dealing with fake family members.
Insightful Toxic Family Quotes
“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.”
Sherrie Campbell
“Saying ‘no’ to a toxic family member shows that you understand what family truly means.”
Unknown
“I have found the best way to deal with a toxic person is to not respond in any other way than a monotone voice and a businesslike manner.”
Jen Grice
“The more dysfunctional, the more some family members seek to control the behavior of others.”
David W. Earle
“No matter what you’ve suffered, the abuse was not your fault. Not as an innocent child, teenager, nor as an adult.”
Dana Arcuri
“Toxic parents care more about how you make them look than how you actually feel.”
Unknown
“In my family, as in all dysfunctional families, instead of parents who act as strong and nurturing role models for their children, you get these needy people who use their children. I was the kid who tried to take on the marriage.”
John Bradshaw
“You can miss a person every day and still be glad that they are no longer in your life.”
Tara Westover
“Just because someone gives you life doesn’t mean they will love you the right way. Your heart knows when you have given too many chances. Family is supposed to be our safe haven. Very often, it’s the place we find the deepest heartache.”
Lyanla Vansant
“All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”
Leo Tolstoy
“The current relationship between companies and the workforce is like marrying into a dysfunctional family. Only you don’t get to escape when the holiday meal is over.”
Bill Jensen
“Fear of something is at the root of hate for others, and hate within will eventually destroy the hater.”
George Washington Carver
“Toxic mothers are image-oriented rather than love-oriented.”
Sherrie Campbell
“As important as it is to learn how to deal with different kinds of people, truly toxic people will never be worth your time and energy – and they take a lot of each. Toxic people create unnecessary complexity, strife, and, worst of all, stress.”
Travis Bradberry
“Family is where you’re meant to be most free, don’t let blood chain you down.”
Michelle Melee
“If you accept the expectations of others, especially negative ones, then you never will change the outcome.”
Michael Jordan
“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.”
Dalai Lama
Helpful Toxic Family Quotes
“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.”
Deborah Reber
“Don’t let negative and toxic people rent space in your head. Raise the rent and kick them out.”’
Robert Tew
“Do not be waylaid by a toxic family Whatsapp group. You fought hard to emerge as your own person in real life. Do not succumb to this new medium that replicates all the sad, toxic hierarchies of broken families. Walk out. Do it now.”
Itayi Garande
“Let go of toxic family members. Embrace friends and other family or relatives that supports your path towards your dreams and goals. Because life is too short for tolerating toxic relationships and letting them hold you back any longer.”
Unknown
“Toxic family relationships spoil all other relationships unless you remove the poison before it’s too late.”
Unknown
“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 that constantly hurt you.”
Bynnada
“It’s okay to cut toxic family members out of your life. Blood ain’t thicker than peace of mind.”
Unknown
“It’s not flesh and blood but the heart which makes us fathers and sons.”
Jonathan Schiller
“You don’t have to leave your whole family in the past, just those who don’t deserve a place in your future.”
Unknown
“It’s rare for a toxic person to change their behavior. More often, the only thing that varies is their target and the blame they place. Because some toxic people are difficult to identify, keep in mind that a victim mindset is sometimes a red flag. So, listen when someone talks about their life and circumstances. If the list of people they blame is long… it’s probably only a matter of time before you’re on that list.”
Steve Maraboli
“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
“People who love themselves, don’t hurt other people. The more we hate ourselves, the more we want others to suffer.”
Dan Pearce
“You can’t change the toxic behavior of your toxic parents but you can decide how you respond.”
Unknown
“It’s okay to cut ties with toxic friends and family you’ve got to prioritize your own well-being.”
Brenden Dilley
“You can’t live a positive life if you always got people around you dragging your energy or thoughts down or keeping you in a standstill year after year.”
Unknown
“If the family you chose before your birth no longer supports your path towards fulfilling your true destiny, it is never too late to find a new tribe.”
Anthon St. Maarten
“People who try to bring you down everyday aren’t important in your life, so you better treat their opinions as such.”
Terry Mark
“Energy vampires prey on others because they are in pain, and their behavior is a disguised cry for help. However, the important thing to remember is that you are not responsible for resolving their issues. While you can offer help to an energy vampire, it is ultimately their responsibility to sort out their struggles.”
Aletheia Luna
“Sometimes it’s better to end something and try to start something new than imprison yourself in hoping for the impossible.”
Karen Salmansohn
“We don’t get to choose our family, but we can choose our friends. With courage, we can weed out narcissistic people. We can focus on those who do appreciate us, love us, and treat us with respect.”
Dana Arcuri
“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.”
Mark Twain
You may also find this post helpful: 105 Words of Encouragement for Men (to Help You or a Loved One)
Relatable Toxic Family Quotes
“Ending the toxic cycle within your own life isn’t easy. When you don’t come from a healthy family, you do your best to ensure a healthy one comes from you.”
Steve Maraboli
“Some of the hardest people to cut off are family members. But sometimes they are the main ones that need to go.”
Unknown
“Weddings are never about the bride and groom. Weddings are public platforms for dysfunctional families.”
Lisa Kleypas
“Families are like fudge—mostly sweet with a few nuts.”
Les Dawson
“Don’t let toxic people infect you with the fear of giving and receiving one of the most powerful forces in this world… love!”
Yvonne Pierre
“Letting go of toxic people in your life is a big step in loving yourself.”
Hussein Nishah
“Humans can be so ugly sometimes that the ones you love the most would only love to see you fall. It’s a cruel world.”
Sidney Albury
“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.”
John Ash
“A good family will see your boundaries and move around them, a toxic family won’t even realize they’re there.”
Unknown
“Like all the best families, we have our share of eccentricities, of impetuous and wayward youngsters and of family disagreements.”
Queen Elizabeth II
“With toxic siblings, your brother or sister is never wrong. They often have the mentality that nothing is their fault, and everyone else is wrong.”
Christene Lozano
“Narcissist parents don’t care about their children’s feelings at all. Only their feelings matter.”
Kim Saeed
“Parent child relationships should be positive and supporting. Sometimes they aren’t though. But you can find support in other places in life though.”
Unknown
“Some people play victims of crimes they committed.”
Unknown
“Not all toxic people are cruel and uncaring. Some of them love us dearly. Many of them have good intentions. Most are toxic to our being simply because…they aren’t inherently bad people, but they aren’t the right people for us. And as hard as it is, we have to let them go.”
Daniell Koepke
“No matter how much you love the person, you cannot change them. You may influence them; but at the end of the day, they must decide for themselves.”
Robert E. Baines Jr.
“When we are raised in toxic families, we often go through a time period, and for some of us, a lifetime of repeating the toxic patterns we were raised in with other people in our lives. We do this until we decide we’ve had enough pain and choose to genuinely examine our patterns and stop the craziness for good.”
Sherrie Campbell
Short Toxic Family Quotes
“A toxic family is even worse than a toxic relationship.”
Rohan Chouhan
“A child should never feel as if they need to earn a mother’s love.”
Sherrie Campbell
“A dysfunctional family is not a family at all, it’s a toxic relationship parading as a requirement.”
Unknown
“The human race is one big dysfunctional family.”
Robert Barron
“The black sheep blazes the trail for other family members to follow when they finally see the wolf.”
Unknown
“Real love moves freely in both directions. Don’t waste your time on anything else.”
Cheryl Strayed
“People talk about dysfunctional families; I’ve never seen any other kind.”
Sue Grafton
“If you attach to the negative behavior of others, it brings you down to their level.”
Guru Singh
“Saying “No” to family doesn’t make you a bad person, it makes you an honest person.”
Unknown
“Weeding out the harmful influences should become the norm not the exception.”
Carlos Wallace
“You may feel guilty for leaving your family behind, but you’ll never regret moving forward.”
Unknown
“Everyone needs a house to live in, but a supportive family is what builds a home.”
Anthony Liccione
“Tragically, your worst enemies will always come from your own household.”
Unknown
“People only throw shade on what’s shining.”
Genereux Philip
“Blood doesn’t make you family. Some of the most demonic and demeaning people in your life share your DNA.”
Temi Ade
“Let negative people live their negative lives with their negative minds.”
Moosa Rahat
“You didn’t choose your family, but you can choose how to define family.”
Unknown
“A toxic mother talks but never listens, and she gives advice but never takes any.”
Sherrie Campbell
“You create more space in your life when you turn your excess baggage to garbage.”
Chinonye J. Chidolue
“Dysfunctional families have sired a number of pretty good actors.”
Gene Hackman
“If you cannot get rid of the family skeleton, you may as well make it dance.”
George Bernard Shaw
“People inspire you, or they drain you. Pick them wisely.”
Hans F. Hasen
“One of the greatest regrets in life is being what others would want you to be, rather than being yourself.”
Shannon L. Alder
“The wrong person will give you less than what you’re worth but that doesn’t mean that you have to accept it.”
Sonya Parker
If you liked these toxic family quotes then share them with someone who needs them right now via email or on social media.
Want even more help and timeless thoughts? Check out this post with inspiring quotes about handling toxic people, this one that is all about how family isn’t always blood and also this post about how to deal with liars.