Find strength in empowering quotes to break free from abusive relationships and combat the cycle of abuse.
Relationships that are affected by physical and emotional abuse can result in significant distress, both physically and mentally. They often breed self-doubt and erode one’s sense of self-worth and self-esteem.
Those enduring such abuse may desperately hold onto the hope that their tormentor will change, but this typically only amplifies their pain.
In an effort to support individuals trapped in such harmful relationships, we present a compilation of 85 quotes related to abusive relationships designed to foster courage, strength and recovery.
These potent words of empowerment can act as a beacon to fight abuse and are perfect for sharing with those seeking solace and resilience in these testing times.
The underlying intent of this post is to motivate those suffering to prioritize their own health, step away from abusive relationships and commence their journey towards healing.
This compilation of quotes will instill hope and strength, reminding those impacted by abuse of their intrinsic value.
Top 10 Abusive Relationship Quotes
I have gone through so much, I deserve to be happy for once. ~ Unknown.
Just because it’s explainable, doesn’t mean it’s excusable. ~ Unknown.
Be gentle with your past selves for doing what they had to do to get through it. ~ Jordan Pickell.
An abusive relationship is worse than being in prison. I mean literally, not figuratively. ~ Joe Biden.
Don’t allow someone to mentally abuse you just because you love them. ~ Unknown.
Don’t put up with disrespect just to keep them in your life. ~ Unknown.
Being single and happy is better than being sad and afraid in an abusive relationship. ~ Unknown.
A healthy relationship doesn’t drag you down. It inspires you to be better. ~ Unknown.
The biggest abuses in society happen when people are not able to communicate and not able to connect. ~ Heather Brooke.
Never forget that walking away from something unhealthy is brave even if you stumble a little on your way out the door. ~ Mandy Hale.
Famous Abusive Relationship Quotes
Overcoming abuse doesn’t just happen, it takes positive steps every day. Let today be the day you start to move forward. ~ Assunta Harris.
It is better to break your own heart by leaving an abusive relationship, rather than having that person breaking your heart every day. ~ Unknown.
Peace is not just the mere absence of violence. ~ Unknown.
The scars from mental cruelty can be as deep and long-lasting as wounds from punches or slaps but are often not as obvious. ~ Lundy Bancroft.
Every abuse ought to be reformed, unless the reform is more dangerous than the abuse itself. ~ Voltaire.
We do learn so much about ourselves in our experiences. But also, know that it shouldn’t have happened. This was not a lesson you needed to learn. ~ Jordan Pickell.
Mental abuse is much more painful than physical abuse because you are consumed by your own thoughts. ~ Unknown.
Don’t confuse “familiar” with “acceptable”. Toxic relationships can fool you like that. ~ Steve Maraboli.
The disrespect and hatred each partner begins to feel leads to more and more emotional abuse and to each partner justifying inappropriate, even destructive, behavior. ~ Beverly Engel.
Verbal abuse is still abuse. It’s abuse in the form of words. Don’t assume that a few hurtful words won’t cost them their life. Words hurt. ~ Unknown.
You can’t change someone who doesn’t see an issue in their actions. ~ Unknown.
Any relationships that would reject you for being true to yourself are – by definition – abusive relationships. You’ll be much better off when you let them go. ~ Steve Pavlina.
Related: Deep Emotional Abuse Quotes You Can Relate To and Pain Quotes to Stay Hopeful and Calm
Popular Abusive Relationship Quotes
Emotional abuse is a nonphysical behavior or attitude that controls, demeans, punishes or isolates a person. ~ Dee Brown.
If you’re brave enough to say goodbye, life will reward you with a new hello. ~ Paulo Coelho.
Don’t let your loyalty become slavery. If they don’t appreciate what you bring to the table, then let them eat alone. ~ Unknown.
Your abusive partner doesn’t have a problem with their anger, they have a problem with your anger. ~ Unknown.
I’d lost myself in the abyss of someone else’s tyranny…again. ~ Cassandra Giovanni.
When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time. ~ Maya Angelou.
If I treat you the way you treated me, then you would hate me. ~ Unknown.
You’re not broken. Someone who didn’t love you convinced you that you are. ~ Unknown.
Great Abusive Relationship Quotes
Poisonous relationships can alter our perception. You can spend many years thinking you’re worthless, you’re unappreciated. ~ Steve Maraboli.
Abuse is the means in which violence retards love. ~ Inga Muscio.
Sometimes telling ourselves ‘Everything happens for a reason’ or ‘It made me stronger’ is a way to avoid our grief, our vulnerability, and our helplessness. ~ Jordan Pickell.
Relationships are like glass. Sometimes it’s better to leave them broken than to hurt yourself by putting them back together. ~ Inglath Cooper.
Get out now! Abuse only gets worse over time. No one deserves to be treated like dirt. No one! ~ Unknown.
If you carry joy in your heart, you can heal any moment. ~ Carlos Santana.
Get pissed because you deserve more than this abuse. Emotional abuse is the gateway to all abuse. Get out!. ~ Tracy Malone.
Forgive those who insult you, attack you, belittle you or take you for granted, but more than this… forgive yourself for allowing them to hurt you. ~ Unknown.
In emotionally abusive relationships there is a determined intent to formulate statements or actions which leave a person feeling awful. ~ Dee Brown.
When it comes to abuse, you believe there’s no way out. There is always help. There is always a way out. ~ Donna Mulvey.
Best Abusive Relationship Quotes
The insidiousness and power of emotional abuse paralleled the invisibility, strength, and purpose of a spider’s web. ~ Jess Hill.
It’s not love, it’s abuse. ~ Chandan Negi.
Love is not supposed to hurt. ~ Chandan Negi.
A person should never invest in a relationship they wouldn’t want for their children. ~ Unknown.
Don’t judge yourself by what others say to you. ~ Unknown.
Unfair blame is frequently put upon the victim of abuse because of assumptions that victims choose to stay in abusive relationships. ~ Unknown.
Emotional abuse is considered by many to be the most painful form of violence and the most detrimental to self-esteem. ~ Beverly Engel.
Scar tissue is stronger than regular tissue. Realize the strength. ~ Henry Rollins.
You’re in a relationship to be happy, to smile, to laugh, and to make good memories. Not to be constantly upset, to feel hurt, and to cry. ~ Unknown.
Powerful Abusive Relationship Quotes
Bruises heal, but you don’t forget words and emotions, how an abuser makes you feel about yourself. ~ Unknown.
I feel very sorry for people who are trapped in an abusive relationship and keep making excuses for their abuser. ~ Jill Stein.
Never accept anything less than you deserve. Remember, you teach people how to treat you. ~ Unknown.
In an abusive relationship – we’ll talk about men and women – women are often restrained, by words or out of fear, from leaving. They will tolerate abuse up to and including being put to death. ~ Rene Marie.
One’s dignity may be assaulted, vandalized and cruelly mocked, but it can never be taken away unless it is surrendered. ~ Unknown.
When a toxic person can no longer control you, they will try to control how others see you. The misinformation will seem unfair but rise above it, trusting that others will eventually see the truth, just as you did. ~ Jill Blakeway.
Sad Abusive Relationship Quotes
To make a difference in someone’s life you don’t have to be brilliant, rich, beautiful or perfect. You just have to care. ~ Mandy Hale.
Sometimes we refuse to see how bad something is until it completely destroys us. ~ Unknown.
Here bring your wounded hearts, here tell your anguish; Earth has no sorrow that Heaven cannot heal. ~ Thomas Moore.
Emotional abuse is designed to undermine others’ sense of self. It is deliberate humiliation, with the intent to seize control of how others feel about themselves. ~ Lorraine Nilon.
Don’t let others define you or they might pick the worst word in the dictionary. ~ Unknown.
Emotional abuse is the least understood form of abuse. ~ Beverly Engel.
Find the strength inside yourself to value your own worth more than staying with someone who only keeps you down. ~ Unknown.
You survived the abuse. You’re going to survive the recovery. ~ Mariska Hargitay.
The greater the power, the more dangerous the abuse. ~ Edmund Burke.
Deep Abusive Relationship Quotes
Part of the healing process is sharing with other people who care. ~ Jerry Cantrell.
Never let someone who contributes so little to a relationship control so much of it. ~ Unknown.
Stop telling yourself you can fix this. It’s been this way for a long, long time and nothing intends to change. Save yourself instead, get out while there’s still time. ~ Unknown.
It’s hard to look for the light when you’re lost in darkness. ~ Unknown.
The scars you can’t see are the hardest to heal. ~ Astrid Alauda.
Emotional abuse is a major epidemic in our culture. ~ Beverly Engel.
Meaningful Abusive Relationship Quotes
An abusive relationship should be easy to identify though often one of the most difficult to end. ~ Desmond Tutu.
It is not the bruises on the body that hurt. It is the wounds of the heart and the scars on the mind. ~ Aisha Mirza.
The moment that you start to wonder if you deserve better, you do. ~ Unknown.
Abuse changes your life… Fight Back and change the life of your abusers by Breaking Your Silence on Abuse! ~ Patty Rase Hopson.
Most of us knew in our bones that things with the world weren’t right, long before it became a crisis. ~ Pernell Plath Meier.
The quiet but inexorable breaking down of self-esteem is much more sinister – it’s violation of the soul. ~ Rachel Abbott.
The No. 1 reason women stay in abusive relationships – because they’re not able to take care of themselves financially. It’s also the No. 1 reason why women go back. ~ Kerry Washington.
So these were the 85 top quotes about Abusive Relationship.
If you like these quotes and sayings, then you can also read my other posts on Stay Humble quotes and Miserable People quotes.
