While the title of this article might seem inherently mean, the purpose of this selection of toxic people quotes isn’t to bash someone for their dubious behavior, but rather for you to understand the signs a person should likely try to avoid. Toxic people come in many forms, and we hope that these smart quotes from famous people will help you discern them and distance yourself from their ways. So, here’s our list of 115 quotes trying to do just that, and we hope that these wise words will ultimately help you deal with these kinds of people.
As a rule of thumb, though, these are some of the ways that toxic people try to wiggle into your life and poison any chance of a healthy, friendly relationship. They will try to manipulate you into doing something you wouldn’t normally do, and they will constantly confuse you with their behavior. As a result, you never feel fully comfortable around them, and you’ll always feel like you need to defend yourself to them. Of course, even these not-so-subtle hints are sometimes hard to notice, especially if you do believe in said person’s goodness of heart despite their mean stance toward you. And it does happen to all of us, so there’s no need to deem yourself shortsighted or lacking sense in social matters. However, toxic people often employ more subtle tricks to make you do as they wish, and these eye-opening quotes will help you see their minute advances in their harmful goals.
So, scroll down below to check out our revealing quotes talking about toxic people around you. In the best case, you will find that there are no such people around you! However, if you think that someone matches the descriptions in these smart quotes, be sure to think before continuing your friendship with them. Vote for the most mind-opening quotes and share this article with anyone you think might benefit from reading these words.
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“We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails.” - Dolly Parton
“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
“I will not allow anyone to walk in my mind with dirty feet.” – Mahatma Gandhi
Not unless it’s 13 yr old naked girls anyways. I can’t stand him 😂
“Love yourself first, and everything else falls into line.” – Lucille Ball
“Don’t confuse “familiar” with “acceptable”. Toxic relationships can fool you like that.” – Steve Maraboli
“Because one believes in oneself, one doesn't try to convince others. Because one is content with oneself, one doesn't need others' approval. Because one accepts oneself, the whole world accepts him or her.” - Lao Tzu
“If you walked away from a toxic, negative, abusive, one-sided, dead-end low vibrational relationship or friendship — you won.” – Lalah Delia
I love this advice. It makes me feel even better about the time I left my previous job with an ungrateful and abusive boss.
“Pay no attention to toxic words. What people say is often a reflection of themselves, not you.” – Christian Baloga
“If you accept the expectations of others, especially negative ones, then you never will change the outcome.” – Michael Jordan
“Don't sacrifice yourself too much, because if you sacrifice too much there's nothing else you can give, and nobody will care for you.” - Karl Lagerfeld
B.S.!!! There is ALWAYS more, even if it is a simple thing like a smile or a thank you. I unfortunately am in a rather serious health condition (cancer) that has stopped my giving to others as much as I would like. I tend to keep this to myself, other than to you my friends, so when I give those which I have spent time with a call or text the most common type of reply is "Where you been? We missed you. When are you going to come back?"
“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
“Handling toxic people is not an art, they will be the victim of their own toxicity.” ― P.S. Jagadeesh Kumar
Right. In a similar vein, you can leave a toxic people, but they are gonna be stuck with themselves for the rest of their life.
“What’s the greater risk? Letting go of what people think – or letting go of how I feel, what I believe, and who I am?” - Brené Brown
“Because at some point you have to realize that some people can stay in your heart but not in your life.” – Sandi Lynn
“Toxic people create chaos, point fingers, shift blame and avoid taking responsibility.” – Dr. Anne Brown RNMS
“Relationships end, but they don’t end your life.” – Steve Martin
“The hardest part of being in an emotionally abusive relationship, it’s actually admitting you’re in one.” ― Anna Akana
“Like arsenic, toxic people will slowly kill you. They kill your positive spirit and play with your mind and emotions. The only cure is to let them go.” - Dennisse Lisseth
“Hanging around the small-minded eventually makes us small-minded. The plant only grows as big as the environment it’s in.” - Torron-Lee Dewar
“Until you let go of all the toxic people in your life you will never be able to grow into your fullest potential. Let them go so you can grow.” – DLQ
“Avoid negative people, for they are the greatest destroyers of self-confidence and self-esteem. Surround yourself with people who bring out the best in you!” – Auliq Ice
“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
“There came a time when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” - Anaïs Nin
“Once you realize you deserve a bright future, letting go of your dark past is the best choice you will ever make.” - Roy T. Bennett
“Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life, but define yourself.” - Harvey Fierstein
“Remember always that you not only have the right to be an individual, you have an obligation to be one.” - Eleanor Roosevelt
“No matter how valuable you are and your ideas, fools will certainly play both of you down, so exclude yourselves from the inflammatory environs of fools.” – Michael Bassey Johnson
“May you reach that level within, where you no longer allow your past or people with toxic intentions to negatively affect or condition you.” ― Lalah Delia
“An oppressive nature is like inclement weather, surrounding others and crushing them down with its infectious gloom.” ― Stewart Stafford
“I don't want everyone to like me; I should think less of myself if some people did.” - Henry James
“If you are insecure, guess what? The rest of the world is too. Do not overestimate the competition and underestimate yourself. You are better than you think.” - T. Harv Eker
“Letting go helps us to live in a more peaceful state of mind and helps restore our balance. It allows others to be responsible for themselves and for us to take our hands off situations that do not belong to us. This frees us from unnecessary stress.” - Melody Beatti
“You lift your spirits by moving away from what upsets you. If the stove is hot, you can’t ask how to touch it but be happy about it.” – Queen Tourmaline
“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
“What’s more toxic than what they have done, think, or have said about you is how you let your mind receive it. In a world as ours filled with so much noise and hate, what suffers the most is our minds. Know when to keep your mind shut!” – Chinonye J. Chidolue
“Controllers, abusers, and manipulative people don’t question themselves. They don’t ask themselves if the problem is them. They always say the problem is someone else.” — Darlene Quimet
“Self-love is an ocean and your heart is a vessel. Make it full, and any excess will spill over into the lives of the people you hold dear. But you must come first.” - Beau Taplin
“If you spend your time hoping someone will suffer the consequences for what they did to your heart, then you’re allowing them to hurt you a second time in your mind.” - Shannon L. Alder
“It’s very possible and very okay to forgive someone and still not want to spend time with them.” - Karen Salmansohn
“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
“I found peace of mind when I walked away from small fights not worth fighting. I stopped fighting for people who gossiped about me. I stopped fighting for those who didn’t respect me. I quit worrying about those who wouldn’t value me for being me.” – Dana Arcuri
“While you can’t control someone’s negative behavior, you can control how long you participate in it.” – Anonymous
“Life is short. Don’t waste it with negative people who don’t appreciate you. Keep them in your heart but keep them out of your life.”
“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
“An entire sea of water can’t sink a ship unless it gets inside the ship. Similarly, the negativity of the world can’t put you down unless you allow it to get inside you.” – Goi Nasu
“You own everything that happened to you. Tell your stories. If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should have behaved better.” – Anne Lamott
“My encouragement: delete the energy vampires from your life, clean out all complexity, build a team around you that frees you to fly, remove anything toxic, and cherish simplicity. Because that’s where genius lives.” – Robin S. Sharma
“Every day you must unlearn the ways that hold you back. You must rid yourself of negativity, so you can learn to fly.” – Leon Brown
“Don’t let people get the best of you they can say what they want but don’t let that distract you from achieving your goals.” – Alcurtis Turner
“Letting go means to come to the realization that some people are a part of your history, but not a part of your destiny.” – Steve Maraboli
“People appear like angels until you hear them speak. You must not rush to judge people by the color of their cloaks, but by the content of their words!” – Israelmore Ayivo
“Cutting people out of your life doesn’t mean you hate them, it simply means you respect yourself. Not everyone is meant to stay.” – Anonymous
“As you remove toxic people from your life, you free up space and emotional energy for positive, healthy relationships.” – John Mark Green
“We all have those toxic people around us that make our lives miserable… The day we take them out from our lives, we will all become better people; including them…” – Rodolfo Peon
“Save your skin from the corrosive acids from the mouths of toxic people. Someone who just helped you to speak evil about another person can later help another person to speak evil about you.” – Israelmore Ayivor
“Yes, the people around us can be insensitive, narcissistic, toxic, and sometimes even abusive, but it is up to us to take that energy on or let it flow through us. No one is responsible for taking away our happiness but us.” – Aletheia Luna
“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
“When being in a toxic relationship in life at times you may have to step outside yourself, to see yourself, so you can find yourself and love yourself again.” – Angel Moreira
“The idea is quite simple, stay a light year away from people who make you feel less about yourself.” – Mohith Agadi
“Stop letting people who do so little for you control so much of your mind, feelings, and emotions.” – Will Smith
“There’s folks you just don’t need. You’re better off without ‘em. Your life is just a little better because they ain’t in it.” – William Gay
“Don’t let negative and toxic people rent space in your head. Raise the rent and kick them out.” – Robert Tew
“A lot of people who have experienced trauma at the hands of people they’ve trusted take responsibility, and that is what’s toxic.” – Hannah Gadsby
“Entitlement is an expression of conditional love. Nobody is ever entitled to your love. You always have a right to protect your mental, emotional, and physical well-being by removing yourself from toxic people and circumstances.” – Dr. Janice Anderson & Kiersten Anderson
“People who try to bring you down every day aren’t important in your life, so you better treat their opinions as such.” – Terry Mark
“Fire false friends as early as possible. Do it before they dig out the dream seeds you’ve planted! The earlier, the better; the quicker, the safer!” – Israelmore Ayivor
“My father once said, ‘If you’re in the desert and you’re dying of thirst, are you going to drink a glass of blood or are you going to drink a glass of water?’ I think what he was trying to say, interesting coming from my blood father, is sometimes there are people in your family that can be toxic.” – Nicolas Cage
“The people in your life will either help you shake hands with yourself or they’ll teach you what you don’t want. Everyone, eventually, does one or the other. All pain transforms into learning. All love transforms to self-awareness.” – Vironika Tugaleva
“The friends who would forsake you for choosing to live a positive life would also leave you if you find yourself going through some painful consequences due to some negative decisions and actions.” – Edmond Mbiaka
“We do not have to be mental health professionals to identify the traits of the possible sociopaths among us.” – P.A. Speers
“Don’t ever stop believing in your own transformation. It is still happening even on days you may not realize it or feel like it.” – Lalah Delia
“I have found the best way to deal with a toxic person is to not respond in any other way than monotone voice and a businesslike manner.” – Jen Grice
“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.
“Sometimes it’s better to end something and try to start something new than imprison yourself in hoping for the impossible.” – Karen Salmansohn
“You don’t have to live happily ever after with every single person in your life in order to live happily ever after. Some unfortunate endings are necessary.” – Joyce Rachelle
“I am worth more than these excuses. I am worth more than this inconsistent, unhealthy, disappointing dynamic. I am worthy of finding someone that is never going to allow us to settle into this toxic, distorted version of love.” – Liz Newman
“Weeding out the harmful influences should become the norm, not the exception.” – Carlos Wallace
“Forgiveness is a personal process that doesn’t depend on us having direct contact with the people who have hurt us.” – Sharon Salzberg
“Many people get into a relationship as a way to compensate for something they lack or hate within themselves. This is a one-way ticket to a toxic relationship because it makes your love conditional – you will love your partner as long as they help you feel better about yourself.” – Mark Manson
“I’ve found the most tragic aspect of losing loved ones wasn’t the big boom of the fallout, but realizing later how much healthier I was without them.” – Maggie Young
“Don’t let toxic people sabotage your happiness, ruin your positive attitude, contaminate your mind or destroy your self-confidence. Instead, surround yourself with generous, positive, and nurturing people who will lift you up.” – Farshad Asl
“Never waste your time trying to explain yourself to people who are committed to misunderstanding you.” — Unknown
“To be of good quality, you have to excuse yourself from the presence of shallow and callow minded individuals.” — Michael Bassey Johnson
“Unhappy people can be very dangerous, don’t forget that.” ― S.E. Lynes
“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 our their struggles.” ― Aletheia Luna
“People who love themselves, don’t hurt other people. The more we hate ourselves, the more we want others to suffer.” - Dan Pearce
“Love yourself enough to set boundaries. Your time and energy are precious. You get to choose how you use it. You teach people how to treat you by deciding what you will and won’t accept.” - Anna Taylor
“If a negative viewer looks at you with an ugly fiendish eye, find a way and pluck off his eyes, or better still, protect your good image.” - Michael Bassey Johnson
“Look around you at the people you spend the most time with and realize that your life can’t rise any higher than your friendships.” - Mandy Hale
“They like you more when you don’t challenge them. They prefer to have an upper hand over you.” - Mitta Xinindlu
“What’s more toxic than what they have done, think, or have said about you is how you let your mind receive it. In a world as ours filled with so much noise and hate, what suffers the most is our minds. Know when to keep your mind shut!” - Chinonye J. Chidolue
“One of the greatest regrets in life is being what others would want you to be, rather than being yourself.” - Shannon L. Alder
“When I loved myself enough, I began leaving whatever wasn't healthy. This meant people, jobs, my own beliefs and habits – anything that kept me small. My judgement called it disloyal. Now I see it as self-loving.” - Kim McMillen
“Some of us think holding on makes us strong, but sometimes it is letting go.” - Hermann Hesse
“Why do people persist in a dissatisfying relationship, unwilling either to work toward solutions or end it and move on? It's because they know changing will lead to the unknown, and most people believe that the unknown will be much more painful than what they're already experiencing.” - Anthony Robbins
“You really don’t have to burn any bridges to let go… You don’t have to destroy anything. You can just decide to cross over and move on.” - Marta Mrotek
“There are things that we never want to let go of, people we never want to leave behind. But keep in mind that letting go isn’t the end of the world, it’s the beginning of a new life.”
“Keeping baggage from the past will leave no room for happiness in the future.” - Wayne L. Misner
“We must be willing to let go of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.” - Joseph Campbell
“I found in my research that the biggest reason people aren't more self-compassionate is that they are afraid they’ll become self-indulgent. They believe self-criticism is what keeps them in line. Most people have gotten it wrong because our culture says being hard on yourself is the way to be.” - Kristen Neff
“Don’t rely on someone else for your happiness and self-worth. Only you can be responsible for that. If you can’t love and respect yourself – no one else will be able to make that happen. Accept who you are – completely; the good and the bad – and make changes as YOU see fit – not because you think someone else wants you to be different.” - Stacey Charter
“What’s broken is broken—and I’d rather remember it as it was than mend it and see the broken places as long as I lived.” - Margaret Mitchell
“Like arsenic, toxic people will slowly kill you. They kill your positive spirit and play with your mind and emotions. The only cure is to let them go.” – Denisse Lisseth
“The less you respond to negative people, the more powerful your life will become.” – Robert E. Baine, Jr.
“Keeping bad company is like being in a germ-infested area. You never know what you’ll catch.” – Frank Sonnenberg
“It’s one thing if a person owns up to their behavior and makes an effort to change. But if a person disregards your feelings, ignores your boundaries, and continues to treat you in a harmful way, they need to go.” – Daniell Koepke
“If you attach to the negative behavior of others it brings you down to their level.” – Guru Singh
“Losing will not always amount to a loss, sometimes you have to lose those toxic relationships and bad habits to create a space for better things.” – Gift Gugu Mona
“Don’t waste yourself in rejection, nor bark against the bad, but chant the beauty of the good.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“When people pressure you to engage in negative decisions and actions, look at them boldly in the eyes and dare them to do good.” – Edmond Mbiaka
“Toxic people attach themselves like cinder blocks tied to your ankles, and then invite you for a swim in their poisoned waters.” – John Mark Green
“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
“When you notice someone does something toxic the first time, don’t wait for the second time before you address it.” – Shahida Arabi
“Letting go of toxic people in your life is a big step in loving yourself.” – Hussein Nishah
“You will find that it is necessary to let things go; simply for the reason that they are heavy. So let them go, let go of them. I tie no weights to my ankles.” – C. JoyBell C.
“Poisonous relationships can alter our perception. You can spend many years thinking you’re worthless. But you’re not worthless. You’re underappreciated.” – Steve Maraboli
“If a person finds negative people in his life, then he needs to mend his own nature than that of others, for his own basic grounding decides the level of acidic or toxicity surrounding him.” – Anuj Somany
“You create more space in your life when you turn your excess baggage to garbage.” – Chinonye J. Chidolue
“If someone thinks you’re being dramatic or selfish, then they obviously haven’t walked a mile in your shoes. It’s not important for you to explain yourself. You get a pass here. Don’t let anyone else try to saddle you with guilt or shame. If you need your space, take it.” – Sarah Newman
“It’s awfully hard to be happy when you feel you’re not worthy enough for those feelings. You’ve been knocked down so many times happiness to you is an unnatural state of mind. Lose the fake smile, get up and get rid of the toxic reasons you’re unhappy, no matter, who, or what’s standing in your way. Time to get real!” – Ron Baratono
“Real love moves freely in both directions. Don’t waste your time on anything else.” – Cheryl Strayed
“There are many good seeds in you. Therefore you must avoid every bad soil in the world.” – Israelmore Ayivor
“Stack all the rocks you want, but if you don’t let go of the toxic people and behaviors in your life, nothing will change.” – Steve Maraboli
“Negative people can only infest you with discouragements when they find you around… Just get lost and get saved!” – Israelmore Ayivor
“Sometimes there are things in life that aren’t meant to stay. Sometimes, change may not be what we want. Sometimes change is what we need.” – Don Bolena Jr.
“Everybody has bad relationships, and, at the end of the day, they are just a great way to set yourself up for a good relationship.” – Anne Hathaway
“There are people who break you down by just being them. They need not do anything. Dissociate.” – Malebo Sephodi
“If it comes, let it come. If it goes, it’s ok, let it go. Let things come and go. Stay calm, don’t let anything disturb your peace, and carry on.” – Germany Kent
“The best emotional relief is not venting our problems, that only fuels the pain. It is focusing on something else, taking control of our lives, and staying away from people that keep reminding us about our problems.” – Rodolfo Peon
“It’s amazing how quickly things can turn around when you remove toxic people from your life.” – Robert Tew
“Surround yourself with positive people who believe in your dreams, encourage your ideas, support your ambitions, and bring out the best in you.” – Roy Bennett
“When someone tells me ‘no,’ it doesn’t mean I can’t do it, it simply means I can’t do it with them.” — Karen E. Quinones Miller
“Stay away from negative people. They drain your energy like vampires suck out human’s blood. Hell. They’re the real ‘dementors’.” ― Riza Prasetyaningsih
“No one forces a person to be negative, and no one forces anyone to be positive. The choice is up to an individual and that person alone.” — Byron Pulsifer
“I think most people know when they’re in a toxic relationship – it requires an enormous amount of effort to keep it going, and you don’t get what you want from it.” – Joanna Coles
“There are only two kinds of people who can drain your energy: those you love, and those you fear. In both instances it is you who let them in. They did not force their way into your aura, or pry their way into your reality experience.” ― Anthon St. Maarten
“If you do not respect your own wishes, no one else will. You will simply attract people who disrespect you as much as you do.” - Vironika Tugaleva
“I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence.” - Frederick Douglas
“You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” - Martin Luther King, Jr.
“When we go back in to the past and rake up all the troubles we've had, we end up reeling and staggering through life. Stability and peace of mind come by living in the moment.” - Pam W. Vredevelt
“Life is too short to hang around people who are causing you to compromise. Pulling you down. Your time is too valuable to waste it with people who don’t have a dream. People that aren’t going anywhere.” – Joel Osteen
“You cannot expect to live a positive life if you hang with negative people.” — Joel Osteen
Relevation 7-8 "And the beast was allowed to wage war against God’s holy people and to conquer them. And he was given authority to rule over every tribe and people and language and nation. And all the people who belong to this world worshiped the beast. They are the ones whose names were not written in the Book of Life that belongs to the Lamb who was slaughtered before the world was made." Osteen is a true beast.
